Understanding e-Commerce Referral Programs

A mere website was a boost to your business a few years ago. E-Commerce was a trend in business, it still is, but there is something more to it. It is flooding, but this doesn’t mean irrelevance. There are more players in online business meaning need for smart techniques to stay in the competition.

E-commerce

Today, there are billions of e-commerce websites. Investing in a professional website or setting up an online store is not enough, there are millions of others like you irrespective of the niche you choose. To make money on the internet, you have to be noticed; you need to build a reputation and provide relevant products and services meaning target the right audience to build traffic.
Previously, keywords and other tricks of capturing web crawlers were the key strategies to building traffic. These no longer work in the industry; Google no longer considers keywords in the algorithm ratings. It is about relevance and real followers on a site that influences ranking on search engines.
Today, customer referral is the most effective and popular way of attracting traffic and making sales if you are in the e-commerce industry.

Customer referral

It is impossible to be competitive in the e-commerce industry today if you are working alone. You need to collaborate with customers in creating a brand. Develop an army of loyal customers and advocates for your product or services to help in marketing. Marketing is an irreplaceable aspect of any business; e-commerce is not immune to this. You have to promote your products and services using secondary measures to connect to new customers. You cannot market too much; you can only stop after everyone in the world knows about your business meaning there is no end to marketing.
While other strategies work, customer referral is effective.
Of course, when customers are satisfied with a product, and they like it, they will share with friends either by mouth or post their experience on social media. This happens naturally, you cannot rely on this as a strategy after all there you have little input. The satisfied customers will only share to an extent probably boasting of results on their body or how their life is enhanced, and the focus will not be on the product.

Introduce rewards

You can enhance this referral process with incentives. Motivate the customers to talk more about your product or service. Let them share the brand with colleagues, friends, and family with a reward in mind. This is the basis of a customer referral program.
The marketing technique not only attracts potential customers but also solidifies relationships with existing customers. Someone who visited your site and bought a product will likely be back for another if there is word going around about quality. Reviews and positive talk influence the customer world; no one wants to be the first. If there is word going around and it seems like a trend, even the ignorant will want to be part of the move.
Setting up such a program may seem daunting and expensive until you find out the tools, where to begin and what to avoid. There is no better way of reaching out to individuals other than customer referral. It integrates with other marketing techniques; it complements posters and use of print media.

Things to consider!

A customer referral program can only be effective if you have the basics right. It is simple to set up, but you have to spend time on the fundamentals before engaging in the promotion of products. Remember customer referral is a marketing technique and works on the same basis.
Here are some important elements to work on before you set up a customer referral program for your e-commerce business.

-Quality

This has to come first in the list, do not compromise on quality! It is tempting to cut costs, which compromise on quality to increase revenue. This cannot work with referral programs. Remember you are asking other customers to talk about the product meaning they have to be convinced of its effectiveness and efficiency. There is no way around it; no one will refer a friend, colleague or family member on something they are not yet convinced of. Quality builds confidence. A reward will not lure a customer to refer your product if they think it is of poor quality. Be sure the customers you are targeting for the referral program are convinced and willing to spread positive word.

-Budget

Setting up a customer referral program comes with a cost. You have to invest in SaaS tools and set apart money for the monthly subscriptions. It is still about attracting customers; the graphics, content, and user interface has to be on point. Don’t be one of the mediocre online sites; no customer will want to spend a minute on such an e-commerce website. Also, rewards have an attached cost. Depending on how you structure your incentive program, you may also have to give discounts in exchange for referrals.

-Know your audience

Audience is the customer base. You need to research about specific interests of the people you are targeting with your products to be relevant with your incentives. Not every reward is relevant. Invest time in research on behavior and lifestyle of your customers before setting up a customer referral program. It has to be relevant to succeed.