16 Clever Ways to Promote Your Referral Program

The success of your Referral program depends on the volume of customers engaging with it, which makes Referral promotion a necessary factor for its success.

Did you know that most eCommerce websites only advertise their referral program in their website’s footer? This results in low referral conversion because most customers need to be made aware of your program, ultimately leading to campaign failure.

To avoid this, you must start promoting your referral program across multiple channels and websites. Making your referral program more visible will urge your customers to engage with it.

Delaying referral promotion will negatively impact your campaign. So, now is the time to start promoting your referral program.

Luckily, not just one. There are a variety of ways to do it. Referral promotion is as important as running a program, and this article will delve deeper into the best referral promotion ideas for your store.

Why is referral promotion needed?

After setting up a referral program, many eCommerce business owners believe their work is done. They’ll put in the time and effort to choose the finest rewards, write awesome recommendation emails, and they’ll set it live.

And, then? They’ll just wait for the magic to happen without promoting it.

Their referral program will not convert enough as their customers aren’t aware of their referral marketing program. Just displaying your referral program in the sub-menu of your website will not increase conversions.

You need to promote your referral programs to your customers and encourage them to participate and start referring their friends.

Our experts have covered the 19 clever ways to promote your referral program to let customers know you’re running a referral marketing program.

How to promote your referral program?

Feature it on your homepage

After your referral program is launched, the first step in your referral promotion strategy is to feature it on your homepage, as it is the first thing a customer will see when they visit your website.

A website header or banner will be suitable for promoting your referral program for your customers to see.

Design an attractive banner to get their attention and add a compelling CTA to urge them to click on it.

Pro tip – Clearly mention the details of your referral program to encourage your customers to take part in it.

Leverage the power of email campaigns

Though social media is a robust platform, introducing your referral program to your existing customers via email makes more sense as it’ll be more direct and personal.

Why?

Emails have 50-100 times higher click-through rates than Social media. Personalizing it will only increase these numbers, so you must use email as the prime channel for referral promotions.

Your email copy must inform the customers about your referral program and encourage them to partake. Mentioning the rewards they can earn by referring a customer will only increase their interest in referring their friends.

Pro tip – Target your referral promotion emails to your loyal/ repeat customers to increase your conversion rates.

Create a unique referral program page

The best referral program strategy is to build a dedicated page to let your website visitors know you’re running a program. A dedicated page not only promotes the program but gives keen information about the referral program. In addition to your existing customers, even your new customers will learn about your brand and the outline of the referral program.

Referral program examples:

The Body Shop has nailed its referral promotion landing page. It informs customers and gives them a quick walkthrough of what they can expect from their referral program.

Ask customers at the right time.

The best way to promote referral links is by asking at the right time. But remember, when you ask the customer is more important than how you ask.

The best time to ask customers to refer their friends is when they consistently engage with your brand, like driving repeat purchases. They’re highly likely to refer your store to their friends when a customer is on good terms with the store.

Referral program examples:

Holidays are one of those times when a customer will drive repeated sales in your store. Like Stevenson & White did, delight your customers with a holiday bonus and ask them to refer their friends. It is hard to say no to a generous request like that.

Use images for promotions

Images and visuals capture customers’ attention before they even read the first word. Use images in your Referral marketing promotion to captivate visitors and explain more about the referral program.

Referral program examples:

Text-based explanations of your referral program might need to be more exciting. Use attractive images to break up any lengthy text and keep the landing page easy to read.

You can create a hero shot in the center stage of your best referral landing page. Include the most important content of your referral program. It will catch the attention of many customers.

Make your referral program easy to understand

Create captivating text that is straightforward and easy to grasp for your customers. Making your referral program simple to grasp using clear language and appealing images is one of the finest strategies to promote a referral program.

Referral program examples:

You can also mention your referral program in other key places, including,

• Website Menus or ads
• Home page
• Blog posts
• Email marketing campaigns
• Newsletter
• Thank You Page

Popups

Popups grab a visitor’s attention. The average popup conversion rate is 3.09%, making it one of the best ways to promote your referral program and get referral signups.

Promoting your referral program via popups works because it appears suddenly and cannot be avoided. Add a compelling CTA to push your customers to click on it.

Thank customers in their post-purchase email

Consider using the “Thank You Email” you send customers for referral promotions. When a customer completes their purchase, you can send an email thanking them for their purchase.

Remember when we said to choose the right time to ask for a referral? Well, now is the time. Your customer has just purchased a product and requesting your customers to refer their friends through Thank you email is a smart thing to do.

Referral program examples:

Create a compelling CTA in your emails

Your CTA in the emails can make or break the referral chain. When a customer makes a referral after reading your email, placing the right CTA in the mail is necessary. Make your email offer an impossible CTA and an impression of urgency with a clear figure.

Referral program examples:

Make your email concise and explain the benefits they get when they start referring others. It is also necessary to make your CTA visible in the mail and on your landing pages. Consider bold font size and redirect customers to the best referral landing page.

Likewise, you can also include the referral promotion CTA in your blogs too. Blogs can attract traffic, and placing the CTA in your blog is an effective referral promotion strategy.

Add a referral program widget to your referral program page

Referral Program widgets help promote referral programs to your customers. Discreetly, many marketers have been using widgets to promote the eCommerce referral program.

Referral program examples:

And it is very easy to use a referral widget. You can make use of the referral widget in your emails, referral program page, landing page, and other promotional channels. It helps the customers to instantly sign up as an advocate and start earning through your referral program.

You can use the widget as a sticky bar on your landing pages to entice customers to visit your online store if you’re clever.

Make use of social media influencers.

As social media platforms have become highly credible, many eCommerce store owners have started targeting their audience through social media posts and ads. Influencers are people who have amassed a huge audience on social media and have an impact on their audience’s decisions.

You can use social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, etc. Using it wisely, you can promote your referral program through social media influencers. You can invite the influencers to your online store and reward them with incentives. You can also showcase their testimonial or ask them to join your referral program, which would greatly benefit your referral promotion strategy.

Run social media ads for your referral program

Gone are the days when social media ads were left unseen. Now, social media ads have become the ideal platform to promote eCommerce referral programs. Experts say that it is the best way to promote referral links.

Using social media ads, you can target the audience and encourage them to sign up for your referral program. The referral program will reach your audience, and the referral chain will continue. Rather than focusing on social media posts or profile bio tactics, social media ads help you in a better way.

Early release

Another effective referral promotion strategy involves the launch of your referral program. Teasing customers with a pre-launch and hyping them up will increase their curiosity.

Also, you can test your referral program by releasing the beta version only to your loyal inner circle of customers. Ask for their feedback and see how your referral program is performing. This will help you streamline your referral program before it goes live.

Test your referral program outputs constantly

Once you have done all the promotion preparations for your referral program, try to test it earlier. Constant testing helps you to optimize your referral program according to your target audience. When it comes to referral program promotions, try to be clear with the message. It is also wise to handle emotional triggers.

And it is necessary to make it easy for people to understand from entering your referral marketing program. Use simple and understandable terms in your referral program promotions. Test out the engagement and conversion rate of your referral promotions.

Connect with your customers through live chat

Live chat on your referral program page is an amazing opportunity to make customers know more about your referral program benefits. When a customer interacts with you on live chat, feel free to explain crisp information about your referral program. Illustrate the benefits they get out of their referrals.

Referral program examples:

You need to train your support team to promote your referral program through live chat. You want to make the referral strategy powerful and measure its performance to crosscheck. If not, personalize and tune up your interaction methods and make the chat more impressive.

Give a higher reward for your customers’ first referral

Most of the best referral programs provide a consistent referral reward to the customers. Companies like Uber have been providing both loyal and new customers throughout their entire program.

Referral program examples:

But, to be unique, it is necessary to segment your audience and incentivize them accordingly. As a change, you can start offering huge rewards to customers who sign up for the first time. When they have been surprised with your incentives for the first time, there is a high chance of them bouncing back to your online store’s referral program.

Key Takeaways

The referral program minimizes customer acquisition expenses and increases customer retention rates. Let’s not forget the generous word of mouth it brings in its wake.

But all these are possible only if the referral program is visible to your customers. Keeping your referral program hidden is a no-brainer, and that’s why referral marketing promotion is so important.

This article lists some of the best ways to promote your referral program. Using popups, sending emails, running social media ads, and including visual elements are some of the best ways to promote your referral programs.

How many of these referral promotion ideas are you using for referral promotion? Did the ideas improve your referral program conversion rate? Please Comment on your experience.