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.

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Referral marketing isn’t just about using your existing customers to gain new leads. With a well-built incentive program, you can actually increase brand loyalty among existing customers while simultaneously growing your customer base through referral traffic. That’s a win-win for you.

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 ...

Because the concept of referral marketing is still somewhat new to many companies, some marketers and growth strategists opt to start small — launching a referral program, but testing it with just a few dozen (smaller companies) or a few thousand (larger enterprise brands) customers before unveiling it to their full database of contacts. While that “pilot” approach might make sense on the surface, it almost always fails.

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 ...

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.