Referral Program Software

Buying Guide for Referral Program Software

A good product or service will eventually lead to your customers returning to buy the same or other products offered by your company. However, if these customers could also spread the word about how useful or value-for-money your products are, then your sales would likely multiply. By going a step further and rewarding your advocates for referring your products to their family, friends and associates, you can increase your sales many times over. This is the essence of a referral marketing program.

A customer referral program has many benefits. However, without the right tools your referral marketing plans can end in catastrophe. Not only will you have to spend a lot of time and resources managing such a program, but as you grow and the number of referrals increases, you may encounter issues, such as advocates (or new customers) not receiving their rewards or discounts. Such issues can not only throw a spanner in your referral program, but they can also seriously dent your company's image.

Referral marketing software can be very useful in ensuring that your program runs smoothly. It can also free up a lot of your time that you can spend in managing the day-to-day operations of your business. Here are some key aspects to look for in referral software, to make the most of your referral marketing program.  

Automated Tracking and Reward Fulfillment

Tracking referrals and rewarding your advocates manually can be time-consuming and result in costly errors. Software that automates the process of tracking and rewarding your advocates can be very beneficial. In addition, it is very important to be able to customize aspects such as your user interface, emails to advocates, conversion triggers, etc. In addition to being able to add your own touch to your program, customization also gives you the flexibility to design a program based on your unique business requirements.

Reward Program Options

Rewards are a key motivational factor when it comes to your advocates referring your products. Your software must be able to provide different reward options for different marketing campaigns, or even for different groups of advocates. Instant rewards, goal-based rewards, contests and sweepstakes each reward type can offer optimum utility based on your current marketing goals.  

Ecommerce Integration

In a largely connected world, your referral software cannot be a standalone application. With more and more businesses operating online, it's important to be able to easily integrate your software with popular third party applications, including ecommerce, shopping cart, payment and analytics applications. This ensures that your referral program is able to effortlessly communicate and share data with your favorite and preferred business applications.

Social Media Optimization and Mobile Readiness

When it comes to helping your advocates refer your products to their friends and family, no other platform can be more useful than social media. Readily accessible and visible Facebook, Twitter and Google+ buttons can help your advocates instantly share information with their friends and associates. Mobile optimized user interfaces are equally useful in this context. People are more connected today via their smartphones than ever before. To help your advocates reach out on the go, it's important for your software to be mobile friendly.   

Program Analytics

Automating the main components of your referral program allows trouble free operations. However, it's important to constantly monitor the progress of your marketing campaign to ensure that it is on track to achieving your desired goals. You may have to regularly make changes to your program to ensure maximum profitability. To do this, you need to be able to view the various performance parameters such as the number of active advocates, your top 5 advocates, the number of referrals made, conversion rates, revenue earned, referral sources, etc. In addition, access to social media stats such as clicks, reward attainability and conversions can help you tweak your marketing program to optimize it better.

Conclusion

Word-of-mouth advertising is often considered to be one of the best ways of acquiring new customers. A referral program that rewards your advocates for every new customer that they bring on board can pay rich dividends. Not only does it give you an opportunity to gain new leads and make more sales, but you are also able to win over the loyalty of your existing customers. To grow your business and improve your brand image, choose a customer referral software that is best suited to your specific business needs.