In almost every industry, referrals are the gold standard of customer acquisition. Research has repeatedly shown that referred leads close faster, buy more, and stay longer — all with significantly less effort and at a much lower CPA than non-referred prospects. A University of Pennsylvania study[1] found that referred customers are more loyal and profitable — by a 16% margin — than their non-referred counterparts.

When it comes to successful relationship marketing, we know that getting your work done requires many different web tools. In fact, the average business uses between 10 and 16 apps. You have your email app, CRM, note-taking tool, cloud storage tool, team communication app, along with project management tools and various to-do lists. Sometimes, it can be a struggle to get them all working in tandem. Now that Ambassador has 1,000 integrations, you can choose your favorite tools and easily ...

More likely than not, customers joined your referral program because they love your product and the incentives offered. While not every customer referral program will yield the same results, there are some steps you can take to set your brand’s program up for success. In essence, your aim is to help your customers help you. Here are five best practices you can share with members of your referral program so they can effectively engage their networks and send more sales your way.

Imagine you’re sending a newsletter to your new customers. In most cases you would launch your email marketing tool and start the process of creating a campaign. Now what if you didn’t have a tool, where would you start?

Word-of-mouth marketing drives billions of dollars in sales every year, so it’s no surprise that variations of this age-old strategy are now surfacing as performance, advocate, influencer, and referral marketing. What’s surprising is just how many thriving brands are sticking to a pen-and-paper approach for managing customer recommendations even though the consumer economy is getting more digital by the day.

We had such a great response to our recent epic referral email rundown that we had to do another one. This time, we dug into our own customer archives to share emails that are expertly optimized to drive referrals.

Just like every other component of marketing, a referral program requires a well-planned strategy to meet and exceed goals. Strategic thinking becomes increasingly important when it comes to one often overlooked aspect of referral programs — developing an incentive structure.