Referrals are a powerful tool for businesses looking to attract new clients. Studies show that more than 90% of consumers trust referrals much more than any other form of advertising. Very powerful indeed!
Referrals are created through word-of-mouth. They happen when happy and satisfied clients talk about your service with others, creating new interest in the services you provide.
Marketing plays a crucial role in supporting and encouraging referrals. In this article, we’ll explore how marketing supports referrals and the various strategies you can use, to create more of them in your business.
Marketing creates brand awareness and reach that initiates and fuels referrals
Marketing initiates and fuels the referral process because it creates awareness and reach. People have to know who you are and remember you before they’ll talk about you with others. With an accurate marketing strategy in place you will reach and connect with more people, which reminds them about your brand and encourages them to talk about your business with others.
So decide how you want to reach more people with your marketing, whether organically or with paid advertising. Create a marketing strategy and establish how, where, when, and how you want to connect with clients and how to keep that engagement consistent to build loyalty and help fuel your referral process.
Marketing builds credibility
Would you pay someone to help you solve a problem without a clue about who they are? Nope… we agree.
Following a referral most people will undertake research before reaching out to a business. To start a business relationship, you will want to see who they are, how they operate, and most importantly if and how they have been able to resolve similar problems or opportunities for someone else. In other words, you need social proof. You need to trust them.
Marketing helps to create that credibility. Content such as your website, blogs and Google reviews, allows you to demonstrate your expertise to whoever visits your pages after a referral. Marketing also creates your brand, which will help your potential clients understand what makes your business unique and why they should choose you over your competitors.
So, start actively creating credibility both online and offline to support those referrals. Create a plan and a system to actively ask your happy clients to write a review on your Google My Business account. Share real case studies on your website that talk about how you have been able to resolve your client’s problems. Create regular quality blog posts that show your expertise to impress potential clients visiting your website after they have been referred to your business.
Provides tools to your network to promote your business
Today’s word of mouth isn’t only done face to face, but also digitally. Social media is a great example as it is a powerful tool for businesses to connect with new clients, build a community, and spread the word about their service.
So use social media to your advantage. Post content and engage with followers. Create a positive brand image that encourages referrals. Prime your followers to re-share your content and tag them in your posts’ comments, so the algorithms will show the conversation to their friends, putting your business in front of potential new clients
Having active social channels and a current website also allows your clients to easily share information about your business with others via email.
Remember, social media platforms need an accurate content plan to be effective, so ensure to get professional help to do it effectively.
If you would like to know more about how to create marketing that supports referrals get in touch via hello@wearesavvy.com.au to see how we can help.