Building awareness is essential for referral programs to be successful. If your customers don’t know about your program, they won’t make referrals—and you'll miss out on a stream of new customers. impact.com recommends creating an integrated marketing plan for your referral program, just like you would for any other customer acquisition channel.
This article contains step-by-step instructions to help you create a marketing plan for your referral program.
Start by listing all channels you can use to get the word out about your program. Aim for a combination of evergreen and one-off channels with high engagement rates. Your goal is to use this combination of channels to reach 100% of your active customer base at least 5 to 8 times within 1 month of launching.
Consider using some of these common channels to market your referral program:
Social media
Employee email signatures
Company website pages and blog posts
In-app messaging
Email marketing
Hold messaging
Interactions with the Sales and Support teams
Community message boards
For each channel in your list, plan out your key messaging and call to action (CTA). Make your CTA clear and concise—it should highlight the benefits and rewards for participants.
An effective CTA appeals to one of three motivators: self-interest, social connection, or altruism. Knowing who your customers are and what motivates them is a key piece in structuring your program and CTA.
Now that you've listed all of your channels, establish a schedule for how often you'll promote the program on each channel. Plan not only for your program's launch, but also for ongoing communication.
Time frame | Goal |
|---|---|
Within 1 month of launch | Reach 100% of your active customer base 5-8 times. |
Within 3 months of onboarding to your product or service | Reach each new customer 5-8 times using a variety of channels. |
Quarterly | Reach 100% of your customer basis. |
Don't shy away from sending an email and an in-app message in the same month or even the same week. Messages sent via different channels likely have different content, length, and audiences, and are not likely to feel repetitive to your customers.
As you create your schedule, keep the following in mind:
Prioritize your high-performing channels.
Create a plan for launch and a plan for ongoing marketing throughout the year.
If your business is seasonal, consider adding extra support at key times of the year.
Add extra marketing activity during special promotions, offers, or changes in your program.