Choose perfect promotion channels for your referral

You really know your clients. You know the goals of approaching them. Now, we’re going to find out HOW.

The promotional channels are diverse. Yet it is often not a question of settling for a couple of them. It’s better to think of all the available channels as of an system where every single part ensures the common effect.

Work with social media

With social media, brands get closer to the clients. To succeed with this channel, one needs to create very organic content, so that people could engage. In case with referral programs, this could be new types of posts, subtly promoting a referral.

Paid advertisements on social media is also a good tool. The huge plus of it is super-precise targeting. It is also not too expensive: you always can run a sample campaign for $10 to see how many clients you can win.

Another great thing about social media are the influencers who live there. Trick: look for the people who resemble your average customer; look for people who are loved, not envied.

Use email marketing tools

Okay, why is everybody so crazy about collecting email databases? Because these databases are perfect to reach interested people! The question is, how to email people without spamming them?

First of all, segment well. Following to the actions people take in your apps, you will eventually get very clear groups of “ambassadors”, “plain” and “neutral” clients. It is important to send out the right message to each group.

Make your website work for you

In case your website is the heart of your community, never, never forget to tell about your referral there. Actionable banners, nice (read: attractive, not irritating) pop-ups, add-ons in user accounts, special menu items — these are good ways to increase engagement into your referral program.

The only thing to remember is that every message placed (in any form) has to be gentle enough so that people don’t feel forced into something they do not want.

Throw SMS services into gear

The advantage of the SMS-service is that one can use it both for letting new clients know about the referral and for reminding the existing users about it. Again, that’s a receipt of good targeting.

In case with SMS services, it’s extremely important how you approach the clients. First of all, avoid being too bold. Do not send texts too often — unless you want to end up in the blacklist. Do not sound directive — always offer people do things, never push them to do things.

“Sign up and get your coupon!” button — here we’re pushing to do what matters to us.

“I’d love to share my experience!” button — here we’re offering to do something what matters to the client.

And of course, leave a possibility for people to unsubscribe. This is simply good manners 😇

Do not forget about offline

Digital is huge. But offline still matters for a lot of people. They do go to events, actually talk to each other, and buy stuff in regular supermarkets. What does it give us?

A concert, a festival, a charity action — use those moments to share your referral. The trick is, the social side of your business is attractive to people. In addition, such events draw a lot of visitors. Give them a bonus and then ask to refer the service to someone they know. Done!