If you polled a group of marketing experts and asked them to name their favorite type of lead, one response would clearly stand out: Referrals.

Fashion, specifically, retail, is changing. With retail stores closing, marketing tactics of “discoverability” – for example, placing new products next to customer favorites – are seeing diminishing returns. According to a Morningstar report, malls across the United States are closing in record numbers, citing ecommerce as a primary reason.

Most marketing executives understand developing and establishing a brand is important. It's not necessarily easy, and, it's only half the battle. To win, you must take it a step further. That step is to not only recognize your brand, but to develop a passion for it. According to consulting firm Bain & Company, it costs 6 times more to attract a new customer than it does to keep an existing one. What’s more, a mere 5% increase in customer retention can boost profits by up to 95%. This is where ...

It's not at all difficult to imagine that word-of-mouth is one of the oldest forms of marketing. Long before most people could even write — much less live-tweet an event — farmers and craftsmen were urging their customers to tell friends and family where to find the best olive oil and sturdiest spears. But old doesn’t mean irrelevant. There’s been a renewed interest in referral programs lately, so let's explore the importance of them in our digital age.

Here’s an existential question to answer: If you have a referral marketing program in place and no one knows about it, does it really exist? If your referral program isn’t public facing or it’s difficult to use and share with the click of a button, then you’ll severely limit your performance. The most successful brands feature their referral programs on their website, in mobile apps, and across highest-performing marketing channels — and they ensure the referral experience is painless and ...

Out of all the marketing strategies out there in our uber-connected world, the power of word-of-mouth is still unparalleled. And what better way to leverage word-of-mouth than with referral marketing? A study done by University of Pennsylvania uncovered that referred customers are more loyal and profitable than their non-referred counterparts -- by 16 percent! Our own research conducted in partnership with Nielsen's Harris Poll Online revealed that 82% of Americans seek recommendations from ...