Referral Programs: How to Keep Customers Coming Back

When you are looking for a new restaurant to go to or store to shop at, who gives you the most reliable suggestion? It is most likely not Google, but instead a friend or family member. Did you know that customers who are acquired through referral have a 37% higher retention rate? Or that 83% of customers are happy to refer when they have had a positive shopping experience? This means that referred customers are really some of the most valuable customers that you can get.

Yet, it is not always simple to encourage or convince your existing customers to refer their friends and family to you. Unless it comes up in conversation, most of your existing customers might not consider referrals at all, which is why referral programs are so important.

What is a Referral Program?

Simply put, a referral program is a program that loyal customers can sign up for where they can earn rewards or benefits when they refer paying customers to your business. The types of rewards, amount of referrals, and the amount of money spent can all go into how your program operates.

Types of Rewards

To begin with, make sure that the rewards that you are offering make sense. You want to motivate your customers to refer to your business and be excited enough by the incentives to follow through.

Here are a few types:

• Monetary Incentives: This is usually a discount off of a product, gift card, or store credit.
• Double-sided Rewards: A double-sided reward is where the both the customer referring and the referred customer receive a reward for the referral.
• Incremental Rewards: This is where the customer receiving the reward can get more or bigger rewards depending on the amount of people she refers and the amount that the referred customer spends.

Advertising the Program

If your customers do not know about your rewards program, how can they take advantage of it? Advertising the program is essential to the program’s success.

Rewards programs should be advertised:

• In store
• On social media
• On your website

Your digital marketing game should be solid in order to effectively market your rewards program. GemFind’s team of digital marketing professionals can get your reward program out into the world, using SEO, website updating, and even help with social media.

Contact GemFind’s team today for your free marketing consultation.

 Contact us today to get started. 800-373-4373