In this blog post, we’ll explore the ins and outs of tax services referral programs. We will discuss why they’re great for your business and provide you with expert best practices for launching one. So get ready to supercharge your client base with this fantastic marketing approach!

What is a tax services referral program?

A tax services referral program is all about encouraging and rewarding customers for telling their friends about your stellar tax filing service.

These programs offer incentives when a current client refers their friends, family, or followers to your business. Referred customers usually receive an attractive discount or another benefit when they complete their first tax return with you. And referring customers get an incentive too, like a discount or cash back, as a thank you for their successful referral.

The wonderful thing about tax services referral programs is that they make it easy for accountants like you to track who’s bringing in new clients, so everyone gets rewarded in a timely manner.

Benefits of a tax services referral program

There is a reason why more and more tax professionals are jumping on the referral program bandwagon. In fact, there are several. Here are some of the advantages you can expect to enjoy when running a tax services referral program:

• Increases awareness of your tax services: As people spread the word about how great you handle their taxes, more potential clients will be drawn in.
• Effective for client acquisition: Friends trust recommendations from family members or workmates above ads or hype. As a result, referred customers will appreciate the personal endorsement and give your service a try.
• Brings in loyal clients: Due to friends vouching for them, referred clients are likelier than others to stick around.
• Cost-effective method: You’ll discover that referral marketing requires less investment than traditional advertisements while producing better outcomes.
• Trackable word-of-mouth promotion: The beauty of these incentives lies in pinpointing which customers are spreading the word about your business, and how often.

Essentials for a successful tax services referral program 

Even with all the benefits, not all tax accountants are ready to start a referral program. In order for a tax preparer referral program to be successful, you must have the following elements in place before you launch:

• A healthy network of satisfied clients, who would willingly recommend your tax prep services
• A track record of stellar service to clients
• A digital presence (website or portal) where you can track clients’ referrals
• Capacity to handle an influx of new clients
• Knowledge of existing clients:
  • Demographics
  • What made them enroll for your services
  • Why they chose you over competitors
  • How they communicate with their friends
  • What rewards would motivate them to refer friends
• A profile of the ideal new client (the ideal referred friend)

Tax services referral program best practices

Unlike traditional word-of-mouth, referral programs aren’t something you can just leave to chance.

This section will explore the top tips for designing a user-friendly refer-a-friend program that keeps customers coming back:

Offer the right rewards

The key to convincing people to bring more friends is fantastic rewards. If people feel like they won’t get much out of your program, they’ll be less likely to participate. To create an appealing incentive, rewarding both the individual who made the referral and the newly referred client is key – this is known as a double-sided rewards structure.

Promptly granting rewards when newly referred customers use your service will keep spirits high all around. The best rewards are discount coupons or credits towards the tax preparation fee. These are great reward options for both the referring client’s next appointment and the referred client’s first appointment. You might also pay the referral rewards in cash, as both referring and new clients will appreciate money back after doing their taxes.

Other options for the referring client might include gift cards for popular local stores, gift baskets, and sports tickets or event tickets. No matter what you choose, make sure everybody comes away feeling appreciated.

To maintain interest, provide unlimited rewards without setting caps on successful referrals. Keep amounts reasonable, yet enticing enough to generate excitement. You’ll know what is acceptable to pay by calculating a customer’s average Lifetime Value (LTV). This is how much a customer typically spends during their lifetime with your business. Your reward should be directly proportional to the LTV.

Think about using different reward structures

It’s a good idea to mix things up with your referral offerings. For instance, you might implement a tiered structure that gives more rewards for higher numbers of successful referrals within the same tax year. This way, valued customers know they’ll get even better results by referring additional friends or family.

For example, you might offer a 20% discount on the next service for one successful referral, and reward customers with completely free preparation of the next season’s taxes after three referrals in the same tax season. This encourages customers to stick with you over time while experiencing increasingly valuable incentives.

Another fun idea is holding a Tax Season Referral Draw, where each referral earns an entry into an exclusive contest with memorable prizes. Not only does this create excitement among loyal clients, but it also opens up opportunities for those who participate infrequently!

Recognize unusually efficient referrers with bonus prizes tailored just for them – curated gift baskets or experiences they’d love. When tallying referrals at the end of the year, you’ll see who’s sent you the most business. These types of individualized gestures go a long way toward fostering loyalty and goodwill.

You might also give added incentives to dedicated promoters if their referred person continues to use your tax services in subsequent years. Ensure these “retention bonuses” add an extra layer of appreciation and convince them how much you value their repeat business.

Use software to track your referrals

When running a referral program, it’s crucial to establish and monitor progress toward measurable client acquisition goals. This will allow you to see if the program delivers the desired results. Plus, staying on top of successful referrals ensures all rewards are issued in a timely fashion.

Enter referral software – an essential tool for managing a tax services referral program. Without it, it would become extremely challenging to manage the sheer volume of information, especially if you’re an individual tax preparer or part of a large firm. With dedicated referral software at your disposal, you can precisely track the source of each referral.

Referral software also lets you keep track of success rates and fine-tune your program accordingly. What’s more, with automatic referral links generated by the software, clients can easily share their unique links with others. The result? Referrals turn into conversions, and rewards are automatically issued once earned.

Know when to ask for referrals

Recognizing opportune moments to ask clients for referrals often results in higher chances they’ll share your services with friends and family members. Here are some ideal times:

1. Shortly after their tax appointment.
2. Whenever they discuss your services with friends (in person or online).
3. After leaving positive feedback or rave reviews.
4. During regular follow-ups, when you know they’re satisfied.

You might also want to consider asking top clients right before, or at the beginning of, tax season, so your business stays fresh in their minds.

Make it easy to share

The very basis of a referral program is to make it as easy as possible for people to share your services. It should take as few clicks or taps as possible to find and share your tax services through the referral program. Once clients are on the program page, a good measure is to integrate various sharing options into your service. Whether through emails, social media platforms, or messaging apps, remember to ensure referral links are automatically generated and ready to be shared. Clients should also be able to copy their referral links for direct sharing, anywhere that’s convenient to them.

Encourage your clients to use your referral program frequently by providing clear instructions on how it works, in only a few simple steps. Offer an uncluttered page layout so users can locate relevant information quickly. Also, you don’t want to give them more work than necessary. Don’t make your referral form too long – only ask for the necessary information.

Finally, remember to optimize your website and program for mobile access, especially if you offer mobile tax services. Nowadays, most people use their phones to access the internet, so the website should be designed with mobile users in mind.

Don’t just limit your program to tax season

Some tax preparers choose to run limited-time programs exclusively during peak periods, since that’s when their services are most relevant. However, it’s important to remember that tax services referral programs can be valuable all year round. People are often looking for reliable tax preparers, even during the off-season. 

Your clients will be more inclined to promote you when constant rewards are on offer. You’ll also see better time and money investments materialize, as initial program setup costs are spread across a longer period. Referral programs take time and money to set up and promote – deactivating shortly after setup isn’t the best time and money investment.

By maintaining a continuous program, you capitalize on increased trackable shares, encourage repeat referrals from individual clients, and eventually reap greater returns.

Promote your program on a variety of channels

Unless you have time to personally invite all your clients, you must promote your referral program to the right people in the right places. Ensure that all clients are aware of the rewards for sharing by promoting your referral program in your various digital channels:

• Post about the program on your business social media account
• Promote the program on your website’s homepage
• Include a referral section in your online portal, so clients can find it when they log in
• Place “refer a friend” options in website headers and footers
• Send mass program promotional emails
• Send personal email invitations to top clients 
• Promote the program in email newsletters
• Mention the program in transactional emails or invoice emails
• Direct clients to the program after they have given high ratings on a client satisfaction survey

Note that these methods pertain to digital channels. But if you have a local firm where clients come to you in person, you can also take advantage of physical marketing materials like referral brochures, banners, and business cards. Display them throughout your office and encourage clients to pick up a few for their friends.

When to time your promotions?

• You’ll want to promote the program most heavily right before, and at the beginning of, tax season.
• But you should also promote it year-round, since your program is ongoing. (Ongoing promotion is especially vital if you serve types of clients who are consulting you outside of the standard tax season, like small business owners and self-employed individuals). 

Thank customers for referrals

Finally, don’t forget to thank your clients for referring their friends. Sometimes all it takes is some gratitude to encourage further recommendations – particularly those that lead to new clientele. Send personalized thank-you notes (preferably handwritten) after each successful referral.

If you’re active on social media, consider sharing public words of thanks to showcase your appreciation.

Bottom line

Referral marketing can be a great way to drive new business for tax preparers and accountants. Following these steps will increase the success of your tax services referral program and help grow your practice. However, nothing beats a professional solution for your business. Investing in the right software can help ensure that your referral program runs seamlessly and efficiently.

Check out Referral Rock, a referral marketing software designed to help you automate customer referrals and track their progress. With Referral Rock’s comprehensive features, tax preparers and accountants can easily set up and manage the entire process from one centralized platform. Get started today to maximize the success of your referral program!

If you aren’t encouraging your web design clients to refer others to your business, you’re missing out on a lot of great opportunities.

Learn more about the benefits of a web design referral program, as well as best practices to optimize your results, below.

What is a web design referral program?

A web design referral program is a system that involves rewarding previous clients when they recommend that friends, family members, or colleagues invest in your services and create a new website.

Ideally, your web design referral program will be highly streamlined, with clear instructions that the referrer must follow to qualify for a reward.

The program will also include a way to automatically track referrals and the existing client responsible for every referral. That way, you aren’t responsible for creating a list of people’s names and figuring out who has reached out to you or not (you don’t need any more work on your plate!)

Why do you need a web design referral program?

A web design referral program offers numerous benefits to your business, whether you’re running a small startup or a larger operation. Here are some of the top reasons to start seeking referrals:

• Leverage happy existing clients: Your current clients are some of your best advertisements. Utilize them and their positive experience to generate leads and acquire new clients.
• Gain trust more easily: Because website design is such a big investment, people typically take a while to choose a web designer. If they get a recommendation from a friend or colleague, though, they’re more likely to trust that person’s opinion and, by default, you.
• Save money: A referral program costs much less than search engine ads and social media ads. Referrals are also low-risk, because you only pay when a referral results in a sale. So, you don’t have to worry about throwing tons of money away on an initiative before you see the results
• Easy monitoring: The best referral programs allow for easy tracking of every referral, which helps you stay in the loop when it comes to your program’s performance.
• Easy implementation: Referral programs are generally easy to implement, too. Even with a packed schedule, you can still find time, especially when you take advantage of technology created to simplify the process. 

Are you ready for a web design referral program?

Even with all of the benefits, not every web design business is ready for a referral program. You’ll need the following essentials in place before you launch the program for the program to be a success:

• A healthy base of existing customers who love your work – ideally, some of them should already be recommending your services without prompting
• A customer experience worth recommending
• A high level of customer satisfaction, including high ratings from customer reviews 

Web design referral program best practices

A web design referral program is a relatively affordable, low-risk method of promoting your business. However, it still requires some initial investment from you and your team.

To ensure you see the best results from your efforts, follow these best practices:  

Choose motivating rewards

Think about past referral programs you’ve participated in. What was your reasoning for doing so? Of course, you wanted to support a fellow business owner. However, chances are that you were also interested in the rewards the program offered.

One of the most important steps to a successful referral program is motivating rewards. Here are some critical factors to keep in mind when deciding what to offer:

• Make rewards double-sided (meaning they’re a win-win and benefit the referrer and friend). These kinds of rewards both encourage more frequent referrals from existing clients and encourage the referred friend to hire you so they and the referrer both benefit.
• Make the reward valuable. Since web design is a relatively large purchase, the reward should reflect the value of the purchase your advocate drove. People aren’t going to refer you – or hire you – just because you’re offering a free tote bag or water bottle.
• Relate the referred friend’s reward to your web design services in some way. Otherwise, they won’t be motivated to hire you. Discounts, credits toward the design services, cash back after the services are paid for, and free or discounted service upgrades are great friend rewards. And if you provide website maintenance services as well as design, you could offer a discount on subsequent services after the website is completed.

While service-related rewards are good for the referred friend, they might not be ideal for the referrer, especially if they aren’t using you for recurring services and you already finished their project. Service-related rewards also don’t work if the referrer isn’t the one paying for your services directly (this often happens when you’re running a B2B referral program). In these cases, you’ll need to think of other ways to thank the referrer. For example, you could consider a cash reward, gift basket, or travel-related reward.

Of course, if you perform ongoing website maintenance, and the referrer is the one paying for your services, then discounts on recurring payments for your services are a solid type of referrer reward. 

Think about using gamified reward structures

Gamification is an excellent way to boost motivation and make your referral program more exciting. 

To up the ante, create a tiered system with rewards increasing in value as the number of successful referrals someone makes goes up. For example, the reward for one successful referral could be a $50 gift card to a local restaurant, but the reward for three successful referrals might be a gift basket valued at a much higher price.

Another option is to run a referral contest. The person who produces the most successful referrals in a specific period (a month, quarter, etc.) gets an extra high-value reward.

You can also turn the referral program into a drawing. People get one entry for every successful referral, meaning the more referrals made, the more entries someone gets. Then, at the end of a given period, you draw a name to decide who gets the reward.

Run your program with referral software

If you’re worried about how you’re going to find time to create and manage a referral program, remember that you don’t have to do everything manually.

Referral software will streamline the program creation process with a variety of template options, create referral links for easy tracking, assist with instant reward delivery via Paypal and other platforms, and collect data to measure your program’s success. The right referral tool will also automate repetitive tasks like email promotions, enable you to run complex reward structures like tiered programs if you wish, and integrate with your existing software and processes.

Which software should you use?

Referral Rock referral software offers best-in-class referral tracking features, as well as concierge onboarding and help with online sharing and engagement experiences. No developers are required, either, so you can hit the ground running with your new software right away.

Mobilize your best advocates first

Any of your clients could potentially connect you with a great referral. However, the people who are most likely to benefit your business are those who match your ideal client profile. Focus on promoting the program to those people first.

When deciding whom to work with as you prepare your referral program, look for those who also match these other criteria:

• Have worked with you long-term
• Have given you direct positive feedback to show they appreciate your work
• Already speak positively about your services online, in reviews, or in person
• Recently left a review or positive comment online
• Already referred you to someone before you were offering incentives

Once you’ve identified your best business advocates, reach out to them with a personalized note. Invite them to participate in the new referral program you’re testing.

After you’ve got these people invested, you can open the program up to all clients.

Make it easy to share your web design services

The easier it is for clients to participate in your referral program, the more likely they are to actually follow through. Ideally, they’ll be able to access the program and share a referral link in just a few clicks.

Make sure the referral program page is well-written and features clear instructions on how to refer, as well as a clear description of the reward for doing so. 

• Create an enticing headline that states exactly what customers should do (share) and what’s in it for them (the reward).
• Concisely explain the program (and what must be done for the rewards to be earned) in a few steps.
•  Include an easy-to-find call-to-action button to encourage your clients to share your services with others.

Give multiple options for sharing, based on the ways that customers naturally share things they love with friends (including email, social media, and a referral link that customers can copy and share anywhere). It also helps to include a link to a frequently asked questions page so people know where to go if they’re confused about something.

Tap into the power of social media

As a business owner, you know the power of word-of-mouth marketing. Social media sharing is the digital marketing version of this age-old practice. It makes sense to include social media sharing options in your web design referral program, since one social share will potentially get your business in front of thousands of relevant eyes.

Your clients are already sharing things they love on social media, with many friends at once. Encourage them to promote your web design services on their favorite platforms as well.

Include social sharing buttons on your referral program landing page. That way, people can easily talk about why they work with you for website design and redesign services.

Ask for referrals at optimum times

You’re more likely to get people interested in participating in your program if you ask them at the right time. Here are some examples of good times to reach out:

• When you’ve finished designing or redesigning a site
• When they’ve left you a positive review
• When they’ve left you a positive social media comment 
• When they’ve given you positive feedback in person 
• When you’re sending the invoice for the completed project (and you know they’re happy with it)
• On the anniversary of a design project that you know they liked
• When you know they’ve already recommended you to others

Because your clients are already happy and satisfied with your work in these situations, they’ll be more inclined to promote your services.

Know how to ask for referrals

In addition to timing your request for referrals correctly, you must also consider how you ask for one. Here are some important elements to include in your request, whether you write it in an email or ask face-to-face:

• Thank the client for supporting you
• Remind them of what makes an ideal client for your web design services, so they know who to refer
• Be direct: ask if they know someone else who fits your ideal client profile and could benefit from your web design services
• Give them a direct link to the referral program page

It might feel awkward to do this at first. However, most clients will be happy to participate after you’ve done such a good job on their website.

Promote your program extensively

You must promote your referral program to see results. Make sure you promote the program on your website, in emails, newsletters, and on social media. Bring it up in person, too, and remind people to check it out. Mention the rewards they can earn if they participate as well.

Some great places to promote the program include:

• On your website (place a hero image or banner where it’s easy to find, and/or buttons in the top and bottom menus) 
• In conversations with clients, when you know a customer is satisfied
• In personal referral emails sent to your most satisfied customers
• In mass emails focused on your program, sent to all customers
• In news/update emails, confirmation emails, invoices, and other emails unrelated to your referral program
• Through social media posts
• In email signatures and social media bios

Send the lead a personal note from the referrer

When someone refers a friend, that person should receive a message that highlights the benefits of your services. It helps to personalize this message (especially when working with potential B2B clients).

Ideally, the referrer – not your business – will write a message explaining why they recommend your web design services. You can also offer an editable message that they can use as a starting point, though.

Whoever writes the message, make sure it includes the following: The referral rewards available; a link to the website you designed for the referrer, and an obvious call-to-action located above the fold. It should also be in the referrer’s name, and from their point of view, for the most personal touch.

Show your appreciation

Always thank clients who have referred friends or colleagues to your business. Send them a thank you note for the referral (ideally handwritten, but this could also be emailed). You can also post a public thank-you message on social media, including links to the website you designed or case studies, to further promote your services and show your appreciation.

Follow other B2B referral program best practices

Don’t be afraid to draw inspiration from other B2B referral programs. Check them out and see what works well, then find ways to incorporate those best practices into your program.

You can also review this B2B referral program guide for more beneficial insights.

Wrap-up

A web design referral program is a valuable tool that can help you grow your business with the help of your most satisfied clients.

By leveraging these clients and their positive experiences, you can gain the trust of potential clients more easily and encourage them to invest in your services.

Utilize the best practices (especially the use of referral software like Referral Rock) discussed above to develop and implement an effective web design referral program.

To ensure that you are asking for testimonials effectively, it is important to understand the best ways to approach customers and use each available communication channel for maximum impact. Email, SMS, social media, and even in-person interactions are all powerful ways to gather testimonials – as long as you are mindful of best practices.

How to ask for a testimonial? In this comprehensive guide, we will discuss who to ask for a testimonial, how to craft the perfect request, and the most effective ways to showcase the testimonials once you have them.

The importance of testimonials

The power of client testimonials is indisputable. Studies have shown that potential customers are more likely to purchase a product or service if they can observe the experiences of other purchasers. This phenomenon is known as “social proof” — meaning that people want to see evidence that other customers are happy with the products and services they are considering.

In addition to helping build credibility and trust among potential customers, testimonials can also play a major role in increasing conversion rates and improving SEO. By featuring customer experiences on your website and social media channels, you can increase engagement and trust among website visitors and search engine users. When done correctly, this has been shown to result in higher conversion rates as well as improved ranking on SERPs.

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When to ask for a testimonial

Reaching customers when they are most satisfied with your products and services is essential for obtaining useful and positive customer references. Consider asking customers for testimonials when:

• They have completed their purchase or received a service
• They have had time to experience the product or service
• They are talking about your brand on social media
• They cite their positive experience in an email, social media comment, or survey
• They have left a positive online review on a third-party review site
• You are sending out follow-up emails after a transaction

You should be consistent in asking customers for testimonials. Make it part of your customer service process, and use every opportunity to capture feedback from customers – turning success stories and positive feedback into testimonials.

Who to ask for a testimonial

As mentioned, you should target customers who have had outstandingly positive experiences with your products or services. Examples of such customers can be those who have been your loyal clients for a long time, those whose businesses enjoy a strong reputation in the industry, and those who have achieved remarkable success with the help of your products or services.

To expand your appeal and showcase the usefulness of your products/services to a larger group, gather feedback from customers who come from different backgrounds. This means reaching out to people across various industries, age groups, countries and other demographic groups. You’ll also want to highlight customers with different use cases, if applicable to your product or service. This will help you reach a broader audience by featuring a diverse mix of customers in your testimonials. Gathering feedback from both new and long-time customers will also give you a more complete understanding of the customer experience.

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Crafting the perfect request

Besides an outstandingly positive customer experience, the success of your testimonial request largely depends on how you write it. It should be polite, concise, and appealing enough to invite the recipient to write the testimonial. Personalization is essential: sending out generic, overly formal requests will likely result in fewer responses and lower-quality testimonials. Here are a few tips for crafting the perfect request:

1. Personalize the message: Taking some time to personalize your request can go a long way in getting favorable responses from customers. For instance, you can mention the customer by name, mention something specific about their business or their use of your product/service, or thank them for their loyalty.
2. Make it easy: Don’t make the customer think too much about what they need to write in their testimonial. Provide them with a few prompts (open-ended questions) or even a testimonial template that they can use as a starting point for their feedback. You can also include a sample testimonial from another customer to give them an idea of what you’re looking for.
3. Keep the tone professional yet friendly: Make sure your request is written in an amicable and professional manner. You don’t want to sound too robotic. Avoid using overly informal language that might make the customer feel uncomfortable while maintaining a professional demeanor.
4. Ask the right questions: Asking specific, strategic testimonial questions (like the ones directly below) will help you collect the most powerful testimonials.

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Convincing the client to give a testimonial

Showing how testimonials are beneficial for both parties can increase the likelihood of a customer giving one. Consider offering incentives, such as backlinks, promotional material to their business, gift cards, or even money off their next purchase in exchange for the testimonial. 

Demonstrating high levels of sincerity also goes a long way in creating a positive impression, So does offering the customer choice in how their testimonial is collected (e.g., text, audio or video testimonial). Even providing the option of a Twitter-length testimonial for those who may not have time to give a longer one can help get the customer on board.

How to ask for a testimonial via different channels

Similar to advertising, asking for testimonials should be done across a variety of communication channels. Each channel offers unique advantages and different approaches should be taken to ensure success in each respective medium.

Testimonial request email templates

Email is one of the most commonly used methods for asking for testimonials due to its affordability, accessibility, and convenience. As previously mentioned, your email should be concise and to the point while also being professional and friendly.

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Aside from introducing yourself and providing background information, your email should also include a brief explanation as to why you are asking for the testimonial, what it would mean for your business, any possible benefits the customer may receive for providing the testimonial, and a touch of personalization to make the customer feel appreciated. If you do not receive a response after the first contact, consider sending a follow-up email within the next few weeks to inquire again.

Here are some examples of testimonial request letters that you could email:

Asking for testimonials via SMS

Another popular channel for requesting testimonials is SMS (text messages). While it can be a fast and convenient way to reach customers, there are some challenges associated with this method. For one, SMS messages have to be brief and concise since customers only have so much time to read them. As such, you should make sure your message is clear and to the point. Additionally, customers may have privacy concerns when it comes to providing testimonials via SMS, so you should make sure to get their consent first before sending any messages. And since it’s tough to type out a detailed testimonial via text message, be sure to link to a testimonial form or leave your email.

Although it may be acceptable to send a follow-up message if you haven’t received a response after the initial request, be mindful of the frequency you are sending messages and ensure that your customers are not being spammed with requests.

Asking for testimonials via social media

Social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook offer unique opportunities for businesses to request testimonials from customers. When asking for a testimonial through social media, it is important to keep in mind the character limits and etiquette that come with each platform.

Twitter, for instance, could be better for a brief and straightforward direct message asking for a testimonial, while Instagram or Facebook may be better suited to commenting on a customer’s post about your product or service. You can also ask customers for permission to repurpose any positive comments or posts they make about your business on your website or other marketing materials and turn them into testimonials.

While social media can be a powerful platform for acquiring customer testimonials, it is also a space that allows you to directly address negative feedback. By quickly responding to negative comments with a sincere apology and an offer of help, you can show your customers that their feedback is valued and demonstrate your commitment to customer satisfaction.

Asking for testimonials in person

An in-person request(or video call request) is the most traditional way to ask for a testimonial. In some ways, this can be the most effective because it allows you to bring up the topic naturally during a conversation and the customer can provide real-time feedback with immediate clarification of any issues or concerns.

When asking for a testimonial in person, it is important to be mindful of the customer’s time and focus on the points that are most relevant to them and their experience. Also, it is helpful to note key points or even record the conversation (with permission) to ensure accuracy when writing up the testimonial.

Following up on testimonial requests

A large number of customers will forget to provide a testimonial once they’re asked for it, so follow-up is essential. Follow-up should be done respectfully and in a timely manner, taking care to avoid being too pushy. The most common methods of follow-up are email, phone calls, or in-person meetings.

When a customer agrees to provide a testimonial, be sure to express gratitude and provide any relevant information they may need (such as a link to your website or product page). Supplying them with some guidance and structure will help ensure that their testimonial is in line with your expectations. Many customers will ignore or decline the request, and in these cases, it is important to maintain a positive relationship with the customer. Do not take it personally and thank them for their time regardless.

Showcasing the testimonials

Figuring out the best way to display customer testimonials will help maximize their impact and ensure that potential customers are more likely to read them. Testimonials should be placed in high-traffic areas of the website, such as the homepage, landing pages, or product pages. Additionally, they can be used in marketing materials like brochures or flyers and on social media platforms to further amplify reach.

When it comes to format, testimonials can be presented in a variety of ways – from text and images to short video or audio clips. Text-based testimonials are often formatted as quotes, short stories, or reviews and these can be accompanied by customer photos for added credibility. Videos and audio clips are great ways to provide a more personal touch and give customers the freedom to share their experiences in their own words.

The process of collecting customer testimonials should be ongoing, allowing you to continually update and refresh your testimonials page. This will ensure that visitors are not met with the same set of testimonials every time they visit and will provide potential customers with a more diverse set of opinions and experiences.

Asking for referrals and asking for testimonials: How they’re related

You can, and should, ask for referrals and testimonials in similar situations. People who refer your brand to friends regularly are also great testimonial candidates, because they’re willing to share how great your brand is with others. And if someone gave a testimonial, it’s probably a given that they would recommend you to others directly, via a referral program. Both referrals and testimonials are powerful forms of word of mouth!

You should ask for testimonials and referrals from happy customers, who you’ve built strong customer relationships with This may include those customers who have left positive customer reviews or comments, those who have expressed how satisfied they are, those who have recently purchased, those who you’ve just accomplished a goal for, and those who have been your loyal customers the longest. 

Conclusion

In recent times, authentic customer testimonials have become one of the most powerful marketing tools for businesses. Asking for customer testimonials may seem like a daunting task, but with some careful planning and thoughtfulness, it can be done in a way that is both respectful and effective.

By providing customers with professional and personalized requests, reaching out in a variety of ways, and following up on requests in a timely manner, you’ll be well on your way to building a strong collection of customer testimonials for your business.

If you’re considering adding an employee advocacy platform to your business tool stack, you’re in good company. But how do you get started with choosing employee advocacy software? This guide can help. 

We cover:

• What employee advocacy is (a quick overview)
• What is employee advocacy software?
• What to look for in employee advocacy software?
• Types of employee advocacy programs
• Our top 12 picks of the best employee advocacy software programs, reviewed

What is employee advocacy?

An advocate is someone willing to publicly recommend or endorse a brand or product. Employee advocates function in exactly the same way, except that they’re devoted to the cause of promoting their own company. The company benefits from a marketing perspective because employee messaging is more likely to be trusted and seen as genuine over random brand advertising. 

• Employee advocacy occurs every time an employee recommends your brand or talks positively about it to the people on their network – friends, family, followers, and potential job candidates. 
• Typically, in employee advocacy, your employees share content around your product, your company, and the latest company news and updates via their social media platforms. 
• Your employees help you sell your products and services by providing trustworthy recommendations. 

What is employee advocacy software?

Employee advocacy tools, like employee advocacy software, help you build and scale an intentional employee advocacy program with minimal effort. Aside from you providing some initial input, setting up your workflows, and actively monitoring performance, the software does it all. 

The software will help you stay on top of all advocacy-related activities, track metrics, and even award bonuses to your star performers. 

• You can use the software’s built-in marketing tools to encourage employees to share your brand online using their referral links or social media channels. 
• You can set up single-tier incentives (one fixed reward) or multi-tier incentives (the higher the returns, the bigger the rewards) for your employees through the software.
  • These incentives will be awarded when the employee completes a pre-determined action, whether that’s generating qualified leads, sales, or conversions.  
• You can use the software to track your employees’ sharing and measure the ROI of their efforts.
  • Generate a bird’s eye view of performance through analytics and reporting functions to understand what’s working well and what needs to be fixed in your advocacy program. 

The best employee advocacy software 

With that said, let’s get to the meat of this article by breaking down the top 12 employee advocacy software to consider.

Referral Rock

Referral Rock does it all, whether you’re looking for employee referral software for employee-to-employee advocacy programs, employee-to-customer referral programs, or programs where employees serve as brand ambassadors – or even all three!  You’ll be able to create a gamified advocacy program, a tiered program, or a multi-step one if you wish. And no matter what structure you choose, you’ll be able to track every time employees share your brand, and the customers or employees each employee-advocate brings in, through unique links. 

Give employees the freedom to share their links directly, or on social media with the messages of their choice. Instantly reward employees for their advocacy when it results in sales, and send out reminders to keep employees engaged. Then, track your employees’ impact with robust data reporting, and give your employees visibility into that impact at any time.

You can expand your scope even further by running other advocacy programs, such as customer-to-customer referral programs, affiliate programs, and channel partner programs inside the same platform. Referral Rock is a great tool for businesses serious about leveraging all types of advocacy programs to extend their reach and build their customer or employee base.

Top 3 key features:

• Referral Rock integrates with some of the most commonly used tools in businesses today, such as the HubSpot and Salesforce CRMs, plus Mailchimp, Stripe, WordPress, ActiveCampaign, Klaviyo, Shopify, and so many more.
• Referral Rock is consistently rated as the best “value for money” advocacy software, given the sheer scope of features you get within the pricing offered to its customers and the overall maturity of the platform.
• Referral Rock reliably delivers on the promise of stellar customer service. You’ll get set up in days rather than weeks, and the team is always on hand to provide expert onboarding guidance and support – for your launch and beyond. 

Our take: Referral Rock is the best value-for-money software – it’s the total package at an attractive price. It’s the ideal solution for businesses keen on maximizing every opportunity to leverage referral marketing, including employee advocacy, to build your brand. 

Also hugely appealing is how the team will help you set up quickly and guide you every step of the way. Users also love the template customization features and email engagement features, which are constantly being refined and improved.

Overall, Referral Rock is definitely worth looking into, regardless of the size and niche of your business, for the potential ROI you could be earning from a single platform that does it all. 

Employee Advocacy by Sprout Social (formerly Bambu)

Employee Advocacy by Sprout Social is purpose-built for social engagement. Expect this tool to deliver everything you expect in a social media management platform with the additional benefit of being able to drive employee advocacy through it. Think social listening, analytics, engagement, automation, and last but not least, social collaboration as a quick overview. 

Top 3 key features:

• Employee Advocacy by Sprout Social is easy to use, set up and maintain, whether it’s for content curation, selection, scheduling, or sharing for back-end users, content creators, and social sharers. Employees can even recommend content for sharing. 
• Integrates with all the major social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, YouTube, and even WhatsApp Messenger.
• Gamification features such as leaderboards, and the ability to provide incentives for sharing, allows for increased employee engagement and more social shares. 

 Our take: Employee Advocacy by Sprout Social is a user-friendly and engaging software that hits all the right notes for employee advocacy as powered by social media. Users will enjoy how easy it is to use the features to share, schedule, and collaborate on content and gain insights into performance. 

Some businesses may find the prices leaning too close to the higher end. Costs start at $249 per month for the Standard plan, the lowest-tiered plan. And unfortunately, the employee advocacy tool isn’t included in the main Sprout Social plans and must be purchased as an addon.

Sprout Social recommends the software as an ideal solution for the travel and hospitality, computer and hardware, retail, and education industries. If you’re outside those buckets, it might not be for you.

Oktopost

Oktopost is a social media management and employee advocacy solution created by B2B experts for the B2B community. It does everything you might expect from a social media management solution, whether it’s social listening, monitoring, engagement, or performance tracking, together with employee advocacy. Oktopost offers powerful social media monitoring and analytics tools that support content amplification and data-driven scaling. The engaging user interface and data insights are routinely rated as some of its most popular facets. 

Top 3 key features:

• Oktopost integrates with some of the most commonly used marketing tools available currently, such as Salesforce, Marketo, HubSpot, Microsoft Teams and Power BI, Facebook, Linkedin, Google Analytics, Canva, and Zapier, to name a few. 
• Gamification through leaderboards, so employee advocates have visibility into performance and are actively engaged in going the extra mile.
• Extra social media-based employee advocacy tools, like advanced post-scheduling, support for rich media content, availability of a mobile app, segmented board creation, and the ability to implement banned keywords. 

Our take: Oktopost is a popular and user-friendly employee advocacy tool for B2B businesses. Oktopost specifically targets businesses in the technology, financial services, higher education, manufacturing sectors, and law firms.  

Based on our research, a small percentage of users experience a learning curve in terms of getting to grips with how certain features work. 

But the brand delivers consistently on customer service, and a dedicated customer success manager is available for support. 

Information on the pricing and availability of a free trial is unavailable on the brand’s website, which can be a bummer for people who like transparency. 

Hootsuite Amplify

Not to be confused with the Hootsuite social media management platform, Hootsuite Amplify is an addon for employee advocacy. Hootsuite Amplify makes it easy for your employees to share content on social media networks, amplifying your brand visibility and increasing opportunities for social selling.

Top 3 key features:

• The user interface has been generally reported as intuitive and easy to get around by most users making content sharing easy.
• Hootsuite Amplify is primarily a mobile-centric solution, so employees can easily build their brand on social media and stay on top of updates across departments and regions. 
• Seamlessly works with the core Hootsuite platform. 

Our take: Hootsuite Amplify has generally been rated highly by most users for its ease of use, effortless onboarding, and highly responsive customer care team. The Amplify tool can be added seamlessly to your existing Hootsuite dashboard. 

While gamification features like leaderboards exist to drive employee engagement, these are available to the admins only, and not to all the users yet. Disadvantages of this software revolve largely around employees not having visibility on the leaderboards. This essentially defeats the purpose of leaderboards because employees can’t be motivated by a friendly competition they can’t see. Hootsuite is also on the expensive side, especially given that you must pay extra for the employee advocacy tool.

Ambassify

Ambassify pegs itself as the complete social sharing and engagement tool available online. You can use many different features within this software to increase employee engagement and social reach for your brand. 

There’s the ability to customize descriptions and pre-define visual and copy alternatives. You can use the campaign wizard to guide you to the exact campaign required specifically for the result you’re looking for. The solution is white-label ready, so you can customize the branding to make it your own and more.

Top 3 key features:

• Ambassify takes pride in the fact that it’s a low-effort, intuitive, and easy-to-use but feature-rich platform. 
• Aside from automated emails and push notifications, you can use SMS and WhatsApp texts to engage your employees. And if you want to verify a share, you don’t have to do it manually. The platform will automatically verify shares for you. 
• Ambassify can help you share your video content natively to your LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook feeds, so you don’t have to redirect the viewer to another platform simply to view the video. 

Our take: Ambassify has a lot of pros going for it, like the easy user interface and the sheer amount of useful features available. You have great reporting tools, GDPR compliance, and the ability to integrate with all your favorite tech/marketing software. 

The Ambassify team quickly implements customizations – but not as an out-of-the-box solution, so users end up paying for the customized features. 

Also, while the analytics suite is useful, it’s not as comprehensive as some users would like. Generally, though, Ambassify has been positively reviewed, especially for the highly-responsive customer support team. 

EveryoneSocial

EveryoneSocial believes passionately in making every employee socially savvy. The software platform reflects this ethos in how it’s been set up to make the process as easy and efficient as possible. 

You’ll find this software the ideal solution to engage every single employee regardless of their department, whether it’s recruitment, sales, marketing, branding, communications, or employee engagement.  

Top 3 key features:

• With EveryoneSocial, you can build custom content streams for different departments or verticals. You can even provide access internally for your employees to wider content platforms such as TED Talks. They can then organically share what they resonate with and connect it back to your brand. 
• Gamification features include competitions and leaderboards to motivate employees to share. 
• Ability to add admins or moderators for your content sharing.

Our take: EveryoneSocial is best suited for mid-market to enterprise brands. It’s a great tool overall for ease of sharing and the ability to customize how you use, categorize, and share your content. While EveryoneSocial works for most social media networks, it’s not currently available for LinkedIn. 

Also, you may find the pay-per-seat model cumbersome if you prefer software that can be made available to everyone in your organization at a more affordable price. Some users have pointed out that the software can sometimes lag or be buggy/glitchy, especially on the mobile interface.It also can’t handle employee referrals of potential customers.

PostBeyond

PostBeyond combines the best of employee advocacy and social sharing to help you become a powerhouse employee brand. PostBeyond makes it effortless for you to discover relevant content and share it across multiple social media networks simply with the click of a button. 

Top 3 key features:

• Users across the board enjoy the ability to schedule and auto-queue content on PostBeyond.You can schedule posts at the beginning of the week so you’re free to manage other, more critical tasks for the remainder of the week. The Auto-queue option helps you schedule content on behalf of your busiest executives. 
• Employees can sign up for the platform through an invitation link, email, or an Excel file. There are guided onboarding support options as well as support for multiple languages. Employees also have their own personalized dashboards where they can view how they’re doing performance-wise. 
• You have real-time compliance, mandatory hashtags, and compliance archive features to ensure your content is always on-brand and for training purposes. 

Our take: PostBeyond is a user-friendly tool with many features that make it an ideal solution for social-media-focused employee advocacy programs. The scheduling option is popular among users. Plus, PostBeyond integrates with major marketing software such as HubSpot, Marketo, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Salesforce, Google Analytics, Slack, and more.

Disadvantages of PostBeyond include the lack of more options, such as being able to tag content prior to posting and creating a better user interface on the mobile version. It’s also extremely expensive per month compared to other options.

Haiilo

Haiilo is, first and foremost, an AI-integrated employee communications platform. It will help you create a digital home for all your employees, make content creation easy, help you implement successful social recruiting, and measure engagement through automatic pulse surveys –  just to name a few of its core features. 

You’ll be able to generate more leads and sales through the social selling pipeline you’ll activate on your Haiilo platform. 

Top 3 key features:

• The top-rated feature on Haiilo by users is how easy it is to share content to social media networks via phones or laptops because of its mobile-first design. 
• Gamification features motivate more shares and engagement, and surveys help you understand employee sentiment better.
• Haiilo doesn’t require much of a learning curve. Users have generally reported that it’s intuitive and fairly straightforward to understand. 

Our take: Haiilo is easy-to-use, which right off the bat makes it appealing both for employees as well as management teams. It also functions as a digital tool to unify employee communications on one platform, which means fewer silos and more team cohesiveness. 

There were concerns by at least one user over deploying the on-premises installation as there was a lag in getting on board with cloud updates. It also appears difficult to share a large number of photos and videos at a time.

Haiilo is ideal for use cases across Healthcare, Energy, Financial Services, Manufacturing, Automotive, Media & Tech, and Retail. 

GaggleAMP

GaggleAMP is a powerful internal communications software that doubles as an effective advocacy tool. GaggleAMP’s solution will help your brand build brand awareness, enable the sales team and empower internal communications across the company. 

It will also help your HR teams drive workplace engagement while providing a means to attract and retain top talent and increase personal branding opportunities.

Top 3 key features:

• GaggleAMP offers a choice of over 50 different actions that employees can take across social media networks to boost brand visibility, such as post comments, follows, retweets, shares, and subscribes.
• One-click advocacy that makes it easy for your employees to share content without slacking on the job across platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams, so there are no clunks in the wheels ever.
• GaggleAMP integrates with many of the most widely used social media and tech platforms, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, Hootsuite, Pinterest, Marketo, Oracle, and Google Analytics.

Our take: While GaggleAMP can be used across industries, it’s found the most adoption among Computer Software and IT services providers. On the plus side, the platform connects to all the major social media networks, although user feedback suggests that it may need to keep up with the features updates on the platforms themselves. For example, GaggleAMP doesn’t work for LinkedIn Carousels. 

The GaggleAMP team appears to be highly responsive to feedback, and much of the feedback has been included in development updates.

Social Seeder

Social Seeder is an ambassador marketing software that helps you run employee ambassador, influencer, and advocacy programs. You can identify, recruit, segment, and engage with your ambassadors to build highly-targeted campaigns.

You can also monitor the performance of your ambassadors or employee advocates, in this case, every step of the way. 

Top 3 key features:

• Social Seeder set out to make their software easy to use, and the software scores highly on this aspect on review sites. Users generally find the software’s interface easy to navigate.
• The software makes it possible to cover the entire life cycle of advocate management, from recruitment to monitoring performance and conversion tracking. The software also has engagement features in the form of surveys and polls. 
• Responsive and knowledgeable customer support,including support for customizations to fit your organization’s needs.

Our take: Social Seeder is worth considering if you’re looking for full cycle advocacy/ambassador management inside one tool. In addition to tracking, you can run targeted campaigns and analyze how well your campaign is doing. 

Social Seeder also has great customer support and is responsive to tweaks you may need to bring the software up to your required specifications. Pricing isn’t transparent, though, so it’s hard to know how much you’ll need to pay per month or per year upfront.

ClearView Social

ClearView Social’s core USP is its simplicity of design and use. Easy prompts and email reminders make it seem effortless for your employees to share content with the click of a button across Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. This solution is best suited for mid-market and enterprise-level businesses. 

Top 3 key features:

• ClearView Social’s smart scheduling algorithm called PeakTime leverages AI to identify the best times to post content on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to achieve maximum reach. The platform will schedule posts based on the unique best times for individual platforms.
• The Virtual Assistant feature posts content on the employee’s behalf without them needing to sign off on each one. Employees can toggle back and forth between keeping the feature ON or OFF as needed. 
• ClearView Social also supports auto-liking employee shares through company accounts. Top posts can be reshared automatically as well to amplify their reach. 

Our take: ClearView Social is a great tool for mid-market and enterprise-level businesses to leverage employee ambassadorship for social reach. Overall, the solution is rated highly for its social media-centric ambassador features. 

Still, a small percentage of users would like ClearView Social to develop more customization and features for posting and scheduling, such as being able to change the language based on location or having photos pulled into posts consistently. 

Sociabble

Unlike many of the other employee advocacy tools mentioned on this list, Sociabble didn’t start off as a social media management software. It was the creative brainchild of a team of bootstrappers who wanted to create the ideal solution for businesses to inform and engage employees. At the same time, engaged employees often make the best ambassadors. 

Top 3 key features:

• Sociabble’s content is personalized to each employee and organized into channels thematically. Plus, it’s easily shareable to the employee’s social media platforms with just one click. Employees can even share third-party curated content related to your vertical.
• Gamification is another aspect that Sociabble scores highly on. You can use several different tools to keep your employees engaged and motivated to share, such as leaderboards, quizzes, polls, badges, and so on.
• Sociabble also allows you to extend your software’s use to preferred partners, external influencers, and even your brand’s biggest fans, who have a large social following. 

Our take: Sociabble delivers on the promise of being a highly engaging platform to attract and retain your employees’ attention. While the platform has all the expected features, you can customize it further to drill down or drill up. It’s a solution worth considering if you operate with bigger teams so you have enough resources to manage all of its moving parts.

Sociabble’s customer service is consistently rated high, whether it’s considering and implementing user feedback or their in-house consulting and support. A mobile-first solution, Sociabble works just as effectively across desktops, display screens, intranets, and social media 

networks. It’s another solution without transparent pricing, though, so it’s likely on the expensive side.

What to look for in employee advocacy software?

Use these factors to help you identify the best employee advocacy software for your needs:

Integrations

On a very basic level, the employee advocacy software should allow for easy integrations with your existing marketing and sales stacks. You probably don’t want to switch back and forth between multiple systems to compare and contrast data. Does your advocacy software integrate with internal communications like Slack, marketing tools like Salesforce, your HR system, social media management platform, finance and payroll, your mobile app, and so on?

Automation

The best employee advocacy software should have all the core functions of an employee advocacy program automated. Think beyond analytics dashboards to the automation of rewards payouts and employee engagement. How easy would it be to promote your brand’s latest updates, notifications, or updated incentives using the software? At the same time, there should be enough flexibility to customize how you want the program to run.

Analytics and tracking

Speaking of analytics, your advocacy software should help you record and analyze performance to help you optimize and streamline your marketing activities for the best results. 

The best employee advocacy software will allow you to generate trackable referral links that employees can share directly via email or social media accounts (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.). Trackability allows you to understand who’s generating sales for you, by how much, and reward them per how well they’re doing, all in real-time. 

Gamification

Some employee advocacy solutions provide additional marketing tools in the form of gamification. This means that you can use the software to generate competitions (like creating leaderboards, for example) to encourage social selling by your employees. Higher rewards for higher sales/leads can be extra motivating. 

Authentic sharing

Another distinctly advantageous feature that some employee advocacy platforms have is allowing employees to share content more authentically. So, they can share relevant content without adhering strictly to an authorized script or pre-written template. 

This can, of course, be a lot better for attracting organic reach because naturally shared content looks more authentic and genuine. With some platforms, you can only go so far as having your employees share brand content or company news and updates in a pre-approved format replete with employer branding and rules of engagement. 

Types of employee advocacy programs

Your brand employee advocacy software should be flexible enough to help you run variations of your core employee advocacy program depending on your targets. There are a few different types of programs you can leverage depending on your audience segmentation:

• Employee-to-customer referral programs: an employee referral program where your employees refer new customers to you through various social networks. This program type is typically open to all employees across the organization. The combined social reach of your employees means that this option is an effective way to get your marketing messaging across with minimal spending. 
• Employee-to-employee referral programs: a referral program subtype where your employees function as brand advocates to attract the right employees for your open positions. This employee referral program is generally open to all employees except for the recruiters or direct reporting managers managing the specific vacancy.    
• Employee ambassador programs: The employee brand ambassador program subtype is generally similar to employee referral programs, except the employee advocates undergo formal training before serving as ambassadors. 
• Social media employee advocacy programs: In social media employee advocacy programs, employees actively talk about your brand through social media posts, essentially drumming up brand awareness and interest through word-of-mouth social sharing. They’re extending your social media marketing to their networks. In other words, they help support the amplification of company content.  

Conclusion

Employee advocacy software tools are all the rage right now, and with good reason. Leveraging employee advocacy can boost your business by leaps and bounds, provided you have software to help you manage all the moving parts and scale effortlessly. Use this guide to help you understand your non-negotiable requirements, and then read through our reviews to help you decide the best employee advocacy software for your needs.

Automation is key to success with affiliate marketing campaigns, as distributing unique, trackable links is integral to the process. Plus, affiliates earn commissions on sales made through their links – you’ll need to pay out affiliate commissions in a timely manner to keep affiliates happy. Without automation, you won’t know what sales are attributable to a given affiliate, and it will be a lot more difficult to pay out commissions reliably. 

Today, we’ll cover everything businesses need to know about affiliate marketing automation, including the best tools to automate affiliate marketing.

What is affiliate marketing automation?

Affiliate marketing automation involves using software and tools to automate processes within your affiliate program, to save time and energy. 

Automation can streamline tasks associated with running an affiliate program, especially the repetitive ones. This way, your team will have a lot more time to optimize your affiliate marketing strategy, as well as build relationships with affiliates. 

The best way to automate affiliate marketing is by using the right affiliate software. We’ll go over what you need to know about selecting affiliate software later in the article. 

What can affiliate marketing automation accomplish?

Some of the main tasks affiliate marketing automation can assist you with include:

• Streamlining repetitive tasks, such as emailing affiliates and tracking sales, to save time
• Sending out emails and other promotions, to keep affiliates engaged with your program
• Instantly paying out commission incentives whenever a conversion is registered (or other commission requirements are met)
• Quickly analyzing and aggregating data on how your affiliate program is performing, so you have a clear picture of your ROI and can better inform your strategy
• Flagging signs of affiliate fraud, to help protect your business’ bottom line

Why use affiliate marketing automation?

You might be wondering why you should automate your affiliate program with software. Here are the main reasons why you should use automation.

First off, automating your program with affiliate software gives you full control over your affiliate program, its data, and your affiliate relationships. This is not the case if you decide to outsource your program management to an existing affiliate network. (Networks own the affiliate data and relationships within the programs they manage and can withhold crucial data, meaning your business can’t make the most informed decisions about how to run your affiliate program.)

When you have lots of affiliates to manage, it’s almost impossible to track their sales and analyze their data manually – you need automation to be efficient. Collecting and analyzing data in real time, with the help of your affiliate software tool, equips you to make informed decisions regarding your program in the moment, for the best growth strategy. You’ll be able to see what affiliates and campaign types are performing best at a glance, and what needs improving. Thus, automation improves your program’s performance overall, compared to manual management.

Plus, with automation, you can integrate your affiliate marketing program with tools you already use. This means you’ll be able to seamlessly pass information across different software tools, and further streamline processes, with little to no technical knowledge needed. 

Automation lets you focus on building relationships with your affiliates, and making strategy decisions, instead of wasting time on repetitive tasks. It also frees up time to spend on other marketing and growth strategies – especially helpful if you want to grow word of mouth in other ways.

As an added bonus, some affiliate marketing automation options let you run multiple word-of-mouth programs seamlessly, along with affiliate programs. For instance, Referral Rock software lets you run referral programs and ambassador programs in addition to an affiliate program, for maximum flexibility. 

Ways to use affiliate marketing automation

How to apply affiliate marketing automation? Although the right software program is the backbone of automating affiliate marketing, there are also a few other options that work hand-in-hand with affiliate software to further automate affiliate marketing. Let’s dive into all of these components below. 

Affiliate marketing software

Affiliate software (also called an affiliate marketing platform) is the main affiliate marketing automation tool, which lets you run an affiliate program on autopilot. You’ll need it as the foundation for other affiliate marketing automation tools to work properly.

This software creates and distributes affiliate links to your affiliates, which they can place on their blogs, websites, and social media posts. Then, it tracks the sales that result from those links, and automatically triggers commission payouts when affiliates help create conversions. In addition, it aggregates data about affiliates’ campaign performance, so both you and your affiliates can check your ROI whenever you please. 

Affiliate management software also helps protect your business from unethical affiliates, as it flags suspicious affiliate activity. Thus, it’s much easier to prevent affiliate fraud with software.

The best affiliate marketing software automates affiliate engagement, by sending emails and other messages to promote your program and motivate affiliates. You’ll also want an affiliate marketing software that integrates with your existing tools and processes – integrations open up even more affiliate marketing automation opportunities, such as the ones we’re about to list below.

Link shorteners

Link shortening tools shorten affiliate links so they look more professional when moused over or clicked on. This helps make affiliate links more social media-friendly.

These tools can also hide the affiliate tracking parameters (while still keeping those parameters intact). As a result, they make it more likely that someone will click on an affiliate’s link. People often don’t trust links if they see they contain a long thread of tracking data. A shorter link feels more trustworthy, and helps affiliates drive more sales. This leads to a better bottom line for you – and happier affiliates, since these creators are more likely to earn a commission.

Zapier’s link shortener integrates with Referral Rock for instant shortening of affiliate links. 

Chat tools 

Chat tools, otherwise known as chatbots, help you answer questions from potential and current affiliates when your staff isn’t available They can also help answer questions from leads that affiliates send to your website, priming them further to make a purchase.

Referral Rock integrates with the chat tools Intercom and Drift – check out more on our Intercom integration and Drift integration. 

CRMs

When integrated with an affiliate software, CRMs can help you sync an affiliate program with your sales process and automate your program from start to finish. You’ll be able to collect lead data from affiliate links and seamlessly pass it to your CRM.

You’ll also be able to trigger commission payments based on lead status changes in your CRM, when a lead is registered through an affiliate link. Plus, CRMs are one way to automate engagement emails through integrations with your affiliate software.

You can’t run an affiliate program with just a CRM – you need the affiliate software component to create and track affiliate links, and trigger commission payments. But you do need somewhere to pass new lead and customer information from your affiliate program, so you can properly track their place in the customer lifecycle. And that’s where the CRM comes in.

Referral Rock integrates with the HubSpot and Salesforce CRMs, plus other leading client management and ecommerce platforms.

Email marketing tools

Integrating affiliate marketing software with email tools is a valuable way to automate affiliate engagement. You can set the email tools to send affiliate program promotion emails at set times, to remind affiliates of the program and motivate them to participate. And when you have program updates like commission changes, integrations with email automation tools make it easy to share the updates with all affiliates at once

Referral Rock integrates with email marketing platforms like ActiveCampaign, MailChimp, GetResponse, and many more.

The best affiliate marketing automation software: Referral Rock

Referral Rock affiliate marketing software empowers you to oversee, monitor, and reward affiliates effectively, enabling quick sales generation and business growth.

Our versatile software is designed to manage all kinds of affiliate and partner programs. Plus, Referral Rock has the functionality to run referral marketing programs, ambassador programs, and various other word-of-mouth marketing strategies, all tailored to align with your brand’s requirements.

Referral Rock’s advanced, easy-to-use platform automates every phase of the affiliate or referral process. This allows both online and brick-and-mortar businesses to effectively grow and track the performance of their partnership programs.

Some of Referral Rock’s top features include the following: 

Affiliate journey personalization: Once you’ve identified the affiliates or other partners you want to recruit, our platform allows you to tailor and build the program easily, including through customizable affiliate landing pages.

Relationship cultivation: Our software prioritizes relationship-building, facilitating stronger connections through continuous communication with affiliate partners. We go far beyond a transactional relationship.

Lead and affiliate monitoring: Keep track of and record every purchase made via each affiliate link and promptly reward each affiliate. You and your affiliates can both observe campaign metrics and key performance indicators directly from the platform’s affiliate dashboard.

Abundance of integrations: Referral Rock’s affiliate software can smoothly integrate with HubSpot, Salesforce, and a multitude of other sales and marketing tools that you’re already utilizing. Referral Rock also provides a mobile app and API integration, along with the ability to automate affiliate marketing workflows using Zapier.

Unparalleled support: Our team provides expert services to assist with onboarding and customizing the program to meet your business’s unique requirements.

Don’t just take our word for it – our affiliate software has received stellar ratings on review sites for customer service, product, and fair pricing.

Want to learn more? Request a demo here or start for free today.

Wrap-up

Thanks to affiliate marketing automation, you’ll cut out manual work on repetitive tasks and gain more time for building affiliate relationships. The right affiliate software is vital for quickly collecting and monitoring affiliate data, automating engagement with your affiliates, and compensating affiliates in a timely manner. Once you’ve chosen your software core, integrating it with your CRM, email tools, and link shorteners will streamline your process even further, for the most successful affiliate program.

Partnership relationship management is a comprehensive framework that enables businesses to effectively manage their partnership ecosystem. It includes strategies, processes, and technologies required to optimize partner engagement, streamline communication, track performance, and drive success for all parties. 

Want to learn more about modern-day partnership relationship management and how to make it work? 

In this article, we will cover:

• What partnership relationship management, or PRM, is
• Benefits of partnership relationship management
• What you should expect from PRM software
• The difference between CRM and PRM software
• How to select the best PRM software
• Partnership relationship management best practices
• Conclusion – wrapping things up

What is partnership relationship management (PRM)?

Partnership relationship management is a trifecta of elements – strategies, processes, and software – that work together as a synergistic whole to manage partnership dynamics. 

• Strategies inform your direction toward your goals
• Processes help give form to the steps you need to get there
• Software (or automation) grounds all your ideas into activities that produce measurable results. 

The term partner here refers to any individual or enterprise you enter into a formal relationship with to market or sell your products and services. It’s a broad term that can encompass any number of different business types. You could have retailers, consultants, VARs (Value Added Resellers), and MSPs (Managed Software Providers) as your partners. You could even have affiliates, referrers, and ambassadors as your partners. 

The key is managing these relationships as part of a “co-selling” environment, where all the partners are vested in each other’s success. 

Source

Key elements of a PRM ecosystem

A PRM ecosystem typically involves all or most of the following elements:

• Partner recruitment, whereby you have the tools and the resources to attract, evaluate, and onboard partners effectively. 
• Deal registration, whereby partners have a streamlined process in place to register their deals, track and coordinate them, and gain visibility into their sales activities and ROI.
• Dedicated partner portals, where you can create individualized or personalized experiences for each partner based on your mutual agreement and goals. 
• Partner onboarding and training, for the smooth integration of new partners and ongoing support and management. 
• Lead management and lead distribution features, which give both partners (and marketing and sales teams) insights into lead qualifications and conversions, the sales process (including indirect sales and channel sales), and transparency on the metrics. 
• Marketing automation features, to plan, launch, scale, and measure new product marketing activities.
• Administration and reporting features, to give you a bird’s eye view of all your partners and their performance and to manage or customize partner experiences from a central vantage point. This will help you also plan who gets to see what and when and control access to sensitive information.
• Communication tools, to manage and streamline communications through emails, webinars, notifications, and alerts with partners.
• Integrations with other tools, to go beyond marketing and/or sales management and relationship management, such as integration with CRM or customer relationship management. 

That’s a lot of components, but specialized software will help you manage all workflows and business processes of a partnership relationship management system. This software is known as partner relationship management software (PRM software). 

We’ll cover more about selecting and using a PRM platform later in this article.  

Benefits of partnership relationship management

Partnership relationship management is a no-brainer when considering how automation has evolved over the years. With traditional partner management, you were restricted in many ways in terms of what you could do and how effectively you could manage relationships. The availability of complex software and tools means you can extend your marketing and sales capabilities in new, exciting, and different ways.

Partnership relationship management is no longer a linear concept. To really leverage the full scope of PRM, think of it as a holistic system where partners are mutually aligned to achieve goals.

With the right PRM strategy and software, you can easily manage several types of partners at once – such as affiliates, retailers, distributors, resellers, integration partners, ambassadors, and referral partners. Onboard any type of potential partner who can contribute to your expansion. You’re not limited to how many partners you can onboard and the types of formal relationships you can enter into.

A well-thought-out PRM strategy helps you keep track of all aspects of managing partners under one umbrella, with the ability to integrate with all your other favorite tools and platforms. Manage goal-setting, recruiting, onboarding, training, communication, tracking, and incentivizing, all from one place. 

Strategic PRM creates a robust onboarding and training experience so your partners are fully engaged. Focussed onboarding and training, personalized for each partner, based on the partner program agreement, signals your commitment to your partner, motivating them to do their best. In that sense, a solid PRM strategy encourages partner loyalty and reduces partner churn. PRM is a long game, and your partners should want to stay the course with you.  

A PRM strategy helps you and your partner identify and align on goals, agree on the management process, and cohesively drive collaborative efforts to reach your goals. In conjunction with PRM tools, it becomes much easier to coordinate partner management, your own sales teams, and your marketing campaigns.

What to expect from PRM software?

Let’s look at some of the major features that you can expect from PRM software, next:

Unique tracking links: PRM software creates unique tracking links for each partner, making it easy for you to track sales individually and collectively. You’ll be in a better position to accurately monitor and measure partner sales, giving you valuable insights into the effectiveness of the partnership and drive data-driven decisions and resource allocation.

Real-time data: PRM tools help you organize and centralize data from your partners and their customers in real-time. The real-time visibility into partner performance helps you evaluate how successful your partnership currently is. Based on the business intelligence received, you can identify areas for improvement, address challenges, and pick up on opportunities to drive more revenue. 

Customization of partner portals: PRM software makes it easy to create seamless partner onboarding, training, and communication experiences through customizable partner portals. These portals serve as a hub for partners to access essential marketing resources, notifications and updates, training materials, and creatives, fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing. 

Because PRM software provides a user-friendly and personalized experience, PRM software empowers partners to represent the company effectively and ultimately drive more sales.

Automated and instantaneous partner incentivization: PRM systems can support instantaneous payout support for partners based on the amount of sales they’re generating. Prompt rewarding of partners for their efforts cultivates a highly positive and motivating partner ecosystem. It also strengthens the relationships between companies and their partners and encourages ongoing engagement and loyalty. 

What’s the difference between CRM and PRM software?

To realize the full value of partner channel management, it’s important to effectively manage both customers and partners. CRM, or customer relationship management software, supports the management of lead and customer relationships. Meanwhile, PRM software deals specifically with managing partner relationships and sales. So, a CRM on its own will not be adequate to manage partners. 

CRM software is primarily designed for direct sales strategies, wholly focusing on managing leads and customers throughout the sales lifecycle. The software covers such aspects as gathering customer information, nurturing leads, tracking customer interactions, segmenting leads, and organizing/customizing marketing campaigns.

You can also use CRM software to close deals, onboard your customers, and develop customer retention strategies to hold on to customer loyalty for longer. 

PRM software is tailored for sales strategies involving partners, who carry out the marketing or selling of products on your behalf. PRM solutions enable businesses to track and reward sales generation achieved by individual partners, analyze data to measure KPIs (key performance indicators), and create custom partner portals for onboarding and communication. 

PRM software comes with analytics that link and provide data on customer information specific to the deals initiated and/or closed by partner enablement. Moreover, PRM software can seamlessly integrate with CRM systems, allowing the two-way flow of information on leads and sales between the partner and the business. 

Selecting the best PRM software

Choosing the best PRM software is critical to the success of your partner management strategy. Here are the primary factors to consider during the selection process:

• Ensure that the PRM software is specifically designed to handle the types of partnerships you want to manage. Different industries and different partnership models may have their own unique requirements. 
• Check that the PRM software integrates seamlessly with your existing software, especially your CRM. When the integration takes place in a smooth manner, you will be able to more efficiently manage the partner ecosystem. 
• Assess the value of the dashboard and analytics capabilities of the PRM software. Look for a wide range of metrics with meaningful data aggregation and 360-degree insights into partner sales and performance. 
• Look for features that facilitate and streamline partner engagement with your partner program, whether that’s through messaging, collaboration, data sharing, or communication. 
• Review the level of customer support provided by the PRM software vendor. Check online reviews and talk to customer services directly to address any concerns you have. They should be able to address queries quickly and resolve technical issues without disrupting your partner platform. 
• One of the most desirable features of PRM software is transparent pricing. The vendor should be able to provide a pricing structure, without you having to contact them first. There shouldn’t be any nasty surprises in terms of hidden fees or extra charges, so you know upfront whether the software works within your budget. 

The best PRM software: Referral Rock

Referral Rock provides the ultimate PRM software to take your partnership marketing to new heights. The feature-rich platform empowers businesses to effortlessly manage various types of partners, from channel partners and affiliates to ambassadors and referral partners:

Streamline partner engagement and tracking: Use Referral Rock to automate every step of your partnership process whether it’s partner engagement, tracking performance issuing rewards, or analyzing data. Both you and your partners can monitor campaigns and track KPIs directly from a single intuitive dashboard.

Customizable partner portal and experience: Referral Rock provides a fully customizable partner portal and partner experience. Ensure a consistent and individualized experience that keeps your partners engaged and motivated.

Expertise and premium customer support: Referral Rock’s in-house experts will help you onboard and tailor your partner program to your specific business needs. Our dedicated customer support team has received rave reviews for their knowledge, responsiveness, and commitment to your success. 

Seamless integrations and data flow: Integrating your PRM software with other tools is essential for cohesive partner management. Referral Rock has you covered with over 30 integrations, including popular options like Zapier, HubSpot CRM, and Salesforce. Seamlessly communicate information between platforms, ensuring data consistency and eliminating manual data entry.

Fair and transparent pricing: Referral Rock offers flexible pricing plans, starting at just $200 to $800 per month, enabling businesses of all sizes to leverage the power of our PRM software. No hidden fees or surprises – just straightforward pricing that fits your budget.

Join the ranks of thousands of satisfied businesses that have harnessed the power of Referral Rock’s PRM software. Sign up today. 

Partnership relationship management best practices

If you’re considering creating a partner relationship management system, here are some best practices you’ll find beneficial:

Get to know your partners

Getting the necessary insights and intelligence into your partner will help ensure you align well with each other. Check for the following: 

• What are each partner’s needs and objectives (as a creator or as a business)?
• What are their strengths and weaknesses?
• Who exactly will you be working with? Form relationships on a human level, not just a business level.
• If you’re working with another business, what’s their vision and what are their values?

Set and track mutual goals

Next you want to set and track mutual partnership goals that you wouldn’t be able to achieve on your own. Refer to the following questions to establish concrete goals:

• What will the partner accomplish for you? (Reach a new market? Open up a new distribution channel?)
• What are the partner’s core duties and expectations?
• What will you accomplish for the partner, and how?
• What distribution channels will the partners use?
• How will your and your partner’s offerings (products, services, expertise, relationships with an audience) add value to each other?
• What measurable, time-bound KPIs will you track, to measure how well you’re achieving these goals (sales amounts? New leads? Conversion rates?)

Create a partnership agreement

At this point, you’ll be looking at setting up a partner program agreement. Ensure that your partnership terms are laid out clearly so both sides are clear on expectations and deliverables.  

You and your partner must sign the agreement before the partnership officially starts. Both partners are then clear about how they’re going forward and there’s less chance of challenges due to a lack of communication afterward.

The exact terms depend on the partnership’s type and your partner program goals. But essential sections worth including are expectations, rules for promoting your brand, incentive terms, rules on confidentiality, and grounds for termination of the agreement.

Onboard and train partners strategically

Every onboarding and training should be tailored to the individual partner, based on their strengths and their audience profile:

• What channel(s) will you use for onboarding? Zoom? Async videos? Your partner portal?
• What key information do partners need to market/sell your products – including unique selling points and how to use the products?
• What are the standards for how your brand should be represented?
• How should the partners market and sell your products/services to their audience? 
• What are the rules for how your partner can and can’t promote your brand?
• What tools, assets, and resources will you provide them, and how?
• What do they need to know about your PRM software, partner portal, sales tracking, and sharing their partner links?
• What are your payment terms (the incentives and what must be done to earn them)?

Communicate regularly with partners

A vital component of partner relationship management and channel marketing is ongoing communication. Creating opportunities for communication on a consistent basis signals your genuine interest in the engagement and its success.

Schedule Zoom check-ins, where you can talk about how the partnership is progressing and address any challenges that can come up. 

Notify partners through email or Slack on updates as and when they happen. Alternatively, use the messaging available on the PRM platform and follow up with email. At the same time, partners should also be able to reach you and have communication channels to do so. 

Ensure you provide all the required assets and creatives to partners to help support and drive their marketing and sales activities. Think white papers, product images, marketing copy, and so on. Your partner portal is an ideal place to house these assets and make them easily accessible for your partners. 

Use your partner portal to stay on top of partnership tasks and timelines – and to communicate about them in a seamless fashion. 

Regularly measure your partnership’s success

Last but not least, consistently measure how successful your partnership is.

Set up regular performance reviews where to identify, analyze, and discuss partnership sales data. You can do this during check-ins to allot dedicated times for this.  Then, develop a plan of action together on the basis of this data. What could they do better on? What are they doing well? Remember to talk about the good together with the not-so-food and use the plan as a means to troubleshoot and map concrete actions for improvement. 

Your partners should have complete visibility on the same data. Ensure they have access through the PRM portal that you’ve created and customized for them. In terms of recommended metrics, ensure you track and analyze the sales generated through the partnership, leads generated, customer base growth, and conversion rates within the stipulated time frames. You can also track other metrics that you feel are important based on your partner’s input.  

Wrapping up

Being able to effectively leverage partnerships will be crucial to growth and sustainability over the next few decades. Partnership relationship management is one strategy that can help you streamline and effectively manage partners to achieve great results. 

Maybe a company offered you a personalized experience, or a VIP treatment in addition to some killer discounts and coupons. Did you tell your friends about it? 

A good customer experience (CX) prompts you to want to tell the world about it. Chances are you told your peers about it or posted it on social media. And that’s what inspires brand advocacy. When a customer spreads good vibes about a business, they become a brand advocate. 

Source

And advocates have power. Studies show that an overwhelming 93% of consumers trust recommendations from family and friends over any other form of advertising. 

Companies have recognized the power of referrals and word-of-mouth marketing, and are leveraging them through advocacy programs. In this guide, we’ll discuss what a brand advocacy program is and its benefits. We’ll then guide you through the steps to creating an advocacy program that drives results. Let’s dive in! 

What are brand advocacy programs?

A brand advocate is someone who promotes your brand through word-of-mouth marketing. Brand advocates are real people who know your brand and what it stands for, and who have become your promoters. Besides word-of-mouth advertising, these individuals also spread the word through positive reviews of your business on your website, social media, and other review sites like Yelp. 

Brand advocacy happens every day whenever there are happy and satisfied customers. But it’s not until you nurture and cultivate your advocates that you get to see the true power of advocacy marketing. Businesses can achieve this through a brand advocacy program. A brand advocacy program incentivizes customers and fans for recommending your brand to others.

A brand advocacy program is a marketing strategy that encourages loyal customers, employees, and fans to actively promote and endorse a brand. Simply put, it’s a form of modern business marketing that focuses on creating brand advocates. 

Brand advocacy program benefits

Brand advocacy is beneficial to a business because it’s authentic. And as mentioned, people trust word-of-mouth recommendations more than any other type of marketing. Besides the trust brand advocacy builds with your audience, brand advocacy also offers many other benefits:

1. Brand advocacy creates brand awareness

Brand advocacy can be one of the most powerful ways to create brand awareness. 

When a customer advocates for a brand, they help expand your brand’s reach to new audiences. Advocates provide an organic way to create brand awareness. The more the recommendations, the higher the number of people who get to know your brand.

2. Advocates create buzz

The beauty of brand advocacy is that it creates buzz around your products. And buzz is all you need to penetrate a market deeply. 

Buzz makes people curious about your brand and why it’s stealing the spotlight. 

The more people visit your website or social media pages, the more leads you can generate and grow your business. An increase in social visits can increase your following, while an increase in traffic can create a positive loop for Google, leading to higher rankings on SERPs. 

3. Advocate sharing portrays your brand in a positive light

New customers often rely on referrals and reviews from online review sites to form an opinion about a brand. This means they value the information they obtain from these channels and most likely act on it. 

Brand advocates portray a brand in a positive light in all their promotional efforts. This way, they help create a positive profile about the company in the customer’s mind—whether through word of mouth or testimonials. 

4. Brand advocacy increases customer retention

Advocates help to draw more consumers into the business through their recommendations and positive experiences with the brand. Their enthusiasm motivates others to check out the brand for themselves, so it will drive sales of your products or services.

Moreover, the likelihood of these customers sticking around increases if their experience with your business is satisfactory. Satisfied customers are also likely to become loyal customers and new brand advocates. 

Types of brand advocates 

Brand advocates come in several different types. Knowing what sets each type apart will help you select the right type – or types – for your brand’s needs. Some of the most popular types of advocates are:

Referrers: These customers tell their friends and family about your brand via a referral program. They can promote you as often as they like. When one of their referrals results in a purchase, a referrer earns a reward. 

Affiliates: These content creators talk about your brand in their content, and place a trackable link to your site so their audience can purchase from you. Any purchases made through the affiliate link earn the affiliate a cash commission; this encourages affiliates to keep featuring you in their content. 

Ambassadors:  These official representatives of your brand promote you online and offline. Brand ambassadors agree to promote your brand for a certain length of time and at a certain frequency, and are bound by a contract. 

Employee advocates: Sometimes, employees are the best advocates for your brand, since they know your brand well and are experts on what makes it stand out. Why not incentivize all your employees – not just your sales team – for promoting you and driving sales?

Referral partners: These advocates are more formal than your typical customer-referrer, and sign a formal contract to promote you. But like the more informal referrers, referral partners will only share your brand with people they’ve already built a relationship with. 

Brand advocates vs. brand ambassadors

Is a brand advocate always the same as an ambassador? Advocates and ambassadors are similar because they both promote you enthusiastically and genuinely. In fact, as we mentioned above, ambassadors are a type of advocate.

But often, brand advocacy programs are less formal than brand ambassador programs.

Most brand advocates can promote your brand on their own cadence. They don’t always have requirements to promote your brand at a certain frequency, like ambassadors do, and usually aren’t bound by a contract. But your best informal advocates will still promote you regularly, purely because they love you and want your brand to succeed.

Steps to a successful brand advocacy program

Brand advocacy should be an integral part of your marketing strategy. 

Your advocacy program should apply to both employees and fans so as to drive maximum engagement. This is an opportunity to encourage people to become a part of your brand and create something special. But where should you start? Follow these steps to create a brand advocacy program that drives results. 

1. Identify potential brand advocates

The first step in designing a brand advocacy program is to identify potential brand advocates. 

Not everyone who interacts with your brand is a potential brand advocate. You’ll want to carefully analyze your fans, customers, and even employees to determine who’s worth the title of advocate.

For those who follow your brand on social media, you can start by checking who engages with your posts more. You could use tools like Google Analytics and social listening platforms to gather data on customer engagement and demographics. 

Speaking of engagement, note that not everyone who follows your brand on social media is a potential brand advocate. 

A 2017 Harvard Business Review study revealed that likes, shares, and engagement are not predictors of action at all. To identify the strongest candidate, you’ll need to listen. Social listening can help identify people who always recommend your business/products. 

The people with promoter potential are those who always provide feedback, independently talk about your product offerings, and praise you in their own words. Find them—they have the potential to become your greatest brand advocates. 

2. Promote advocacy through your content strategy

One of the best ways to encourage engagement from your advocates is to create easily accessible and shareable content. 

Creating content that resonates with your audience helps drive engagement, builds trust, and generates credibility. While you could create many different types of content, UGC is the most authentic way to create resonant content. 

According to Searchlogistics, 79% of buyers say user-generated content highly impacts their buying decision. Your advocates can achieve better results by leveraging UGC in their promotional efforts. 

3. Incentivize advocates with rewards

Once you’ve got the right advocates, nurture them. 

Make sure your advocacy program includes various opportunities and rewards for the participants. But why incentivize your advocates when they’re already willing to help you for free?

Don’t think of the incentive as a payment or “bribe” for recommending your brand or products. You’re not buying someone’s advocacy. You want your brand advocates to be authentic when sharing your messaging. After all, loyalty can’t be bought. 

Think of incentives as a way to say “thank you” for being a part of the brand. Your advocates are giving up their time to create content, spread positive vibes about your business, and even defend it online. Naturally, you’d appreciate them for their hard work and effort. 

So, what incentives or reward programs should you use? 

• Provide exclusive discounts and coupons
• Give advocates the VIP treatment they deserve
• Host events for them
• Offer free products
• Recognize them on your marketing channels

You could also use gamification and leaderboards to encourage friendly competition among the advocates. 

4. Empower advocates through training

Your advocates can’t properly promote your products if they don’t know how your products work. Empower them through training!

You could host regular webinars and workshops to teach advocates about your brand, products, and messaging. You could also offer free learning resources, such as e-books, to help them better understand your business and what sets it apart from the competition. 

Additionally, have an open line of communication where advocates can easily reach you should they have any questions or concerns. 

5. Create a community of brand advocates

The most successful businesses know that a community is only as good as the people in it. 

Brand advocates help grow the brand’s visibility online and offline by recommending your products to consumers, which stems from a genuine belief in your brand. Creating a community of advocates helps foster business growth in many ways. 

For instance, creating a community can bring advocates together where they can share tips and ideas and unearth insights you can use. Moreover, communities are a great way to get new product ideas from your advocates, as well as collect and apply feedback to your existing offerings. You can also create a wider fan community, and mobilize advocates to offer support to other customers within that community. 

6. Use brand advocacy software

Brand advocacy software can help you easily mobilize advocates and create effective brand advocacy programs. These systems provide the tools to support and encourage customers to endorse, comment on, and recommend business products and services. 

The software monitors and records the performance of each advocate. It creates links unique to each advocate, so you know which advocates are responsible for the most purchases. Better still, it increases advocate engagement with messages and reminders. 

Not all brand advocacy software is created equal. Some program software can only manage one type of advocacy, so they’re not flexible. But Referral Rock software can mobilize all types of brand advocates, including customers, employees, ambassadors, and other fans.

7. Measure and optimize your brand advocacy program

Measuring the performance of your advocacy program is important to justify the budget you spent on it and identify areas that need improvements. 

Every brand advocacy campaign you create must be tied to the KPIs you want to achieve. Metrics such as referral rates, engagement rates, and social media shares can help you determine the effectiveness of your advocacy program. 

To continuously improve your brand advocacy initiatives, regularly measure performance to determine what works and what has room for improvement. 

Monitor conversion rates and website analytics to gain insights into what campaigns have the best ROI. Use this knowledge to develop your advocacy strategy and develop fruitful long-term relationships that drive sales. 

The power of brand advocacy for long-term success

Brand advocacy plays a critical role in growing your business because it’s authentic and can easily expand your reach organically. This customer-centric marketing strategy offers many benefits, such as brand loyalty, increased brand awareness, and long-term business growth. 

If well executed, a brand advocacy program can be your silver bullet to increased customer loyalty, retention, and sales. It can also create buzz online, leading to increased social mentions, traffic, and sales. Ready to harness the power of advocates? Find out how Referral Rock can help you create and automate a brand advocacy program today. 

Word of mouth from your customers is one of the most effective ways to attract new customers to your spa and build brand awareness. Unfortunately, traditional word of mouth is unpredictable and nearly impossible to track. But referral programs are a way to make word of mouth measurable – and drive this sharing reliably.

Let’s discuss spa referral programs to help you stay ahead of the competition and build a strong brand.

What are spa referral programs?

A spa referral program encourages your clients to organically promote your spa to their network, and rewards them whenever a successful conversion occurs.

The best type of spa referral program is not manual, but an automated program that tracks the referrals your customers make. This setup is easier than a manual setup where referred friends mention the spa member who referred them to your business, and you have to track them manually.

How does a spa referral program work?

Like any other referral program, a spa referral program promises rewards in return for referrals, such as discounted products, cash, gift cards, or credit for future spa visits.

Here is an example of how a spa referral program may work.

You can offer an existing customer, and a new customer they bring in, 10% off future spa services. This way, everyone wins. You get free marketing for your spa business, while your existing customer is rewarded for the successful conversion.

Benefits of spa referral programs

Introducing spa referral programs to your business has several great benefits. Here are some of the most notable ones:

1. New customers will trust your spa

Your existing clients are your best advertisers because they know and trust the quality of your services. When an opportunity to talk about your services presents itself, they will always speak from experience.

Studies show that most customers trust referrals and read reviews before purchasing services or products, and they are four times more likely to purchase services when referred by a friend. In fact, before new customers buy a product or spend money on services, the first thing they do is look for your online presence and read reviews about your business.

This is because they trust the opinions of people who have first-hand experience with the business far more than they trust ads. So, when you invest in a spa referral program, you can be sure to win new clients from your existing clients.

Strive to provide exceptional spa services to your customers if you want them to proudly be your “brand ambassadors.”

2. You will know how referrals are promoting your spa business

Spa referral marketing software will help you track the advocacy of your clients, down to every last referral, so you know exactly how well referrals promote your spa business.

In a referral program run with software, an existing customer gets their own personal referral link from your company’s website, and shares the link with people they know. Interested friends purchase your services through the link, and those purchases are automatically tied back to the referrer. As a result, you’ll know at a glance where referrals are coming from.

3. Referred individuals have a higher customer lifetime value

New referred clients have a higher lifetime value compared to walk-in clients. They are 37% more likely to keep coming to your spa because they trust their peers. They’re also highly likely to continue the cycle, and refer their own friends to your spa.

4. It is a cost-effective way to acquire new customers

Referral programs are cost-effective ways to acquire clients because you only spend on actual conversions. This is unlike other forms of advertising like sponsoring your posts on social media platforms, radio, tv, or newspaper ads, where you pay whether there are conversions or not.

5. Build loyalty

Referral programs also help you build stronger relationships with existing clients by rewarding them for their advocacy. In addition, referred clients will be far more likely to return because they feel more comfortable getting spa services where their friends go.

Will a spa referral program work for you?

Even with all these benefits, not all spas are ready for a referral program.

For a spa referral program to work for your business, you’ll need:

• A digital element (like a website, or an online client management system)
  • Referral programs work well for some spas, but only those that can manage referrals digitally (via their website).
• A reputation for a high-quality spa experience, which sets you apart from other spas
  • Referral programs won’t be successful if your spa services don’t stand out. 
  • Make sure that massage therapists, nail technicians, those at the front desk, and everyone else in your spa offer exceptional services to everyone coming to your spa.
• A solid, engaged base of happy clients, who love their experiences with you
  • Clients of your spa need to be happy with their experience before they’ll recommend you to their friends
  • Reviews are a great way to check client satisfaction

Spa referral program best practices

Here are the best referral program practices you should consider for your spa to obtain new clients.

Choose the right rewards

In your referral program, be sure to reward both the referring and new customers: Rewarding both means the advocate (referring member) is more likely to make more referrals, and the new member is more likely to start using your services and stick with you. For this program to be more effective, you should offer referral rewards that truly motivate customers.

The spa referral program should be generous, but financially sustainable to maintain. 

If you are starting out in the spa referral program, figure out incentives that will be most motivating to current and new clients. Then, consider what you are willing to pay to acquire each new spa client.

The best spa referral program rewards tie right back to your spa, and include the following:

• Discounts on spa services
• A free treatment
• Free skincare treatment extras, such as serums or upgrades
• Gift baskets with “relaxing” items like robes and candles or skin care products
• Free travel sets or samples of some of the products you use at the spa

You could also offer cash back, or gift cards to another business that doesn’t compete with yours.

If your current referral program is not converting clients as it should, then you should revise your rewards so they’re more motivating to clients. And if you need a more sustainable option, offer rewards that directly tie to your own spa.

Mobilize your best advocates first

To mobilize the best advocates for your spa business, you need to find your most loyal supporters. These are customers who know exactly why they are satisfied with your services and know people in their circle who need your spa services. These are more likely to talk about your spa services.

Your most committed advocates are the spa clients who:

• Have been clients at your spa the longest
• Have come in for treatments and services most frequently
• Already talk about your spa (in person, on social media, in positive reviews) – the more frequently, the better
• Recently left a positive comment, review, or gave positive in-person feedback

It would help if you approached them first with a personalized note thanking them for always leaving positive reviews and advocating your services. Then, invite them to help recruit new guests through your company’s spa referral program. This will make your most loyal clients feel valued and will proudly advocate your services.

After reaching out to your most loyal customers first, you can then roll out the program to all your clients. 

Make sharing easy and compelling

It is important to keep the referral program simple for your clients because a complicated process will only make them abandon the process midway. Ensure that clients can find your program and share it in as few clicks or taps as possible.

Your website should have a landing page with a CTA that encourages sharing your spa services. The landing page should clearly explain that you want clients to share, and that they’ll get incentives in return.

Concisely explain how clients can refer in 3-4 easy steps and how they’ll earn their reward. Also, ensure you provide multiple sharing options, e.g., email, social media, SMS, and a referral link they can copy and share anywhere. Lastly, link out to a separate referral FAQ page to answer other questions that your clients may have concerning the program.

Use social media to your advantage

Social media is an essential way to reach your customers and grow your brand – and it’s a way that people naturally share what they love with many peers at once

Leverage social media sharing options in your spa referral program, as this will successfully get your business in front of thousands of social media users at once. .

Focus on the value of helping friends

Why should clients refer your spa services to their circles? Make it easy for them to share your services by reiterating each service you offer on the program page. Remind clients on the referral program page that their recommendation is the best proof of the spa’s value.

Mention the benefits of your med spa and how the member can pass those on to a friend. You can even provide real-life proof of how your spa helped a referred individual – say, how it helped them relax and unwind, or how it improved their skin – and how their friends can enjoy a similar experience thanks to a recommendation. 

Promote your program regularly

There are different channels you should leverage to promote your program at a regular cadence. These are:

• Your website
• Dedicated emails about your referral program
• Newsletters and other “regular” spa update emails
• Your email signature
• Social media posts
• Blog posts, if your spa has a blog
• Your online spa member portal (if you have one)
• Physical signage in your spa
• Flyers (mailed or handed to clients)
• Direct conversations with clients – don’t be afraid to ask for referrals!

Don’t be afraid to ask for referrals

One of the best ways to get referrals is to simply ask your clients directly! Even though referrals bring in high-value clients for businesses, you may be shying away from directly asking clients for referrals. However, there are easy ways to break the ice and ask for help from your customers.

Here’s how you can do it effortlessly:

• Ask after a client finishes a spa treatment and indicates that they’re satisfied.
• Ask when a client comes in for repeat treatments
• Ask when someone leaves a positive review or social media comment

Do you prefer writing an email instead?

Write a personalized email addressing each individual client, remembering that they are unique, and use a friendly tone while addressing them. Capture their interest in the first line to keep them reading. Lastly, ensure you offer the right incentive and CTA with referral cards.

Did your existing client manage to bring clients to your businesses? Offer a thank you note for the referral, in addition to the rewards offered. This personalized gesture shows your client that you truly value their efforts.

Use referral software to automate your program

Don’t track referrals manually with a “punchcard” program. Rather, use referral software that effectively streamlines program creation processes and makes tracking and managing referrals easier.

Referral program software:

• Lets you create a customized referral experience for your spa
• Tracks exactly where every referral came from, thanks to unique referral links for each spa member
• Instantly issues rewards for successful referrals
• Helps salon owners collect program data, so they can easily measure success and refine their program

Set up your spa referral program in days (not months) with Referral Rock software – no coding needed! Plus, Referral Rock lets you promote your program automatically, for scalable, cost-effective growth.

Track and measure your success

Tracking your program metrics helps you ensure your program succeeds and gives you insights if anything isn’t performing how you expect.

Essential metrics to track for spas are:

• The number of referrals you get over certain periods
• The duration referred clients typically stick around vs. how long all clients typically stick around, on average
• The percentage of clients who make referrals
• The percentage of referred friends who ultimately receive services at your spa

Tracking this manually can be time-consuming, tiring, and at times inefficient. But referral software will help you effectively gauge your program’s success, with automatic data collection and reporting.

Wrap-up

A spa referral program is a great way for spa owners to increase their customer base. Use referral management software to enable you to track your referrals efficiently. Ensure you offer incentives in your marketing campaign, such as credits or free products. And be sure to promote your program once it’s live.

In this guide, we’ll look at what social media employee advocacy is, its benefits, and best practices. You will learn how to build an effective strategy to engage your employees and contribute to your business results.

What is social media employee advocacy?

Employee advocacy refers to activities undertaken by employees to promote the organization they work in. Social media employee advocacy mostly involves employees sharing company content on their personal social media accounts.

People tend to trust what others say over official brand statements, so what your workforce says about your brand or company matters. You can harness the power of social media advocacy by having your employees promote the company and its values on their social media accounts, ideally with trackable links that lead to your website.

Social media employee advocacy can be organic or part of a structured program. A structured program makes it easier to mobilize employees, set goals, and measure them. This way, you can correctly attribute ROI to your employees’ marketing efforts.

Your company cannot afford to overlook the increasing importance of employee advocacy in today’s digital landscape. You only need to look at case studies of companies crushing employee advocacy to see how much of a game-changer it is.

Social media employee advocacy examples

Reebok, a popular sports apparel company, has had a successful employee advocacy program. The company encourages employees to post photos of themselves in company products on their personal social media accounts. The employees embraced the challenge, posting running, cycling, and weightlifting photos with their custom hashtag, #FitAssCompany.

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Starbucks is another good example, with its “Starbucks Partners” employee advocacy program. All employees that promote their company, including on social media, earn the title “Partner.” The program has been a great success and an invaluable source of employee learning opportunities.

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Benefits of social media employee advocacy

Harnessing the power of your workforce through social media employee advocacy will help increase your company’s reach without exceeding your marketing budget. A wider social media reach equals better opportunities to engage your audiences meaningfully and generate leads organically.

Here are some of the major benefits of employee advocacy:

Increasing brand visibility and reach

Social media employee advocacy is a powerful tool that can help organically extend your brand reach on social media platforms. Social networks tend to prioritize personal interactions over branded content, and your employees have individual networks you can capitalize on.

With the right content marketing strategy, your employees’ personal networks can be a powerful marketing strategy. According to Neal Schaffer, brand messages are re-shared 24x when distributed by employees than shared by brands. Consumers trust the average employee more than the brand CEO, which increases engagement and helps you amplify your brand’s visibility.

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Boosting customer acquisition

People tend to trust their peers over brand messages, so they’re more likely to trust the information your employees share. You can use employee advocacy on social media channels to improve your brand trust and credibility.

Your employees’ word-of-mouth is trusted more than messages from your brand, and their recommendations are seen to be authentic. This is an important part of social selling, as people will be more likely to purchase from you after recommendations from their peers. 

With social media employee advocacy, you can infuse an element of personality and personal experience into your social media marketing strategy.

Attracting top talent

Employee advocacy, when done right, is a powerful recruitment tool. When your employees share brand content and showcase the company culture, it makes the company more appealing and makes it easier to attract top candidates for any open positions.

With social media employee advocacy, your employees act as brand ambassadors, sharing their positive experiences and opportunities. Employee ambassadors have established networks with like-minded professionals, so as they share content, it opens up a new pool of qualified candidates who view your company as a great place to work at.

Retaining top talent

Employee advocacy is also very instrumental in increasing employee retention and job satisfaction. Employee turnover is one of the major challenges facing companies post-pandemic. When your employees are also brand advocates, it gives them a vested interest in your company’s success. The more they serve as advocates, the more engaged they are in their work.

Best practices for encouraging social media employee advocacy

If you’re looking to build an employee advocacy program from the ground up, it may seem overwhelming. But with the right strategies and tools, it’s easier than you think. Here are the best practices that can help you set up a successful employee advocacy program.

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Create a workplace culture that encourages employee advocacy

If your employees are happy and satisfied at the workplace, they are more likely to become brand ambassadors. The first step to creating an employee advocacy platform is creating a workplace that encourages advocacy. Open communication and collaboration are great examples of a positive workplace culture that encourages and fosters advocacy.

Successful employee advocacy needs leadership buy-in. When the leaders at the top model advocacy behavior, it’s easier for the other employees to follow suit. So, how do you create a supportive work environment that inspires employees to promote the brand? Here are a few tips:

• Give employees autonomy in decision-making, as this makes them feel empowered and invested at work.
• Recognize and celebrate employee achievements, as this helps motivate them to improve their efforts.
• Create open lines of communication to avoid alienation and silos.
• Offer career development opportunities so your employees don’t feel stagnant.

Google is one of the companies with a strong workplace culture that encourages advocacy. All corporate leaders in the company are taken through Bill Campbell’s communication lessons, and this has gone a long way in creating a great workplace that encourages advocacy.

Set goals and KPIs for your social media employee advocacy

Your employees may already be sharing brand content, but without clear strategies, objectives, and goals, it’s difficult to take full advantage and track progress. You need to set and communicate the goals of employee advocacy and come up with measurable social media metrics that will help measure their achievement.

Establish SMART employee advocacy goals, like engagement, brand visibility, talent acquisition, and purchases driven in given timeframes. It’s important to review your employee advocacy program regularly to see how much progress you’ve made and whether you need to adjust your program based on your findings.

Find social media employee advocacy leaders

While all your employees may be involved in your employee advocacy program, some will naturally excel, and it’s important to spot them and nurture them further. What are some characteristics of effective advocacy leaders?

• They are enthusiastic about sharing content and engaging on social media
• They are social media savvy
• They have a significant social media presence
• They are highly engaged in the workplace

It’s also important to support your employees by providing resources for advocacy. Without proper support, the advocacy program will feel like added work, dampening their enthusiasm. You can provide support by positioning your employees as industry experts and providing them with the content needed to make the job easier.

Establish guidelines for employee social promotion

Aside from the actual content to be shared, it’s also paramount to establish clear guidelines to help your employees as they share content. They should not only know what to say but how to say it as well. The guidelines should cover topics like content, tone, and disclosure of affiliation.

Your company should provide educational resources and regular training sessions to ensure the employees understand the guidelines to avoid security risks. You can create a brand style guide to help set the tone of your content. You can also have a content policy, including the do’s and don’ts of social media. 

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The guidelines should serve as a guide and not be used to police employee content. If the guidelines are too strict, it may deter your employees from sharing content to avoid risking their jobs.

Starbucks is a great example of a well-done employee social media policy. It’s a set of clear and concise guidelines that’s publically available and easily accessible.

Incentivize employees to be employee advocates

You can get your employees more involved and active in your employee advocacy platform by using incentives such as prizes, gift cards, or event tickets. It’s even more beneficial to gamify the process, where you have a contest of sorts and reward the best employee advocate.

Some of the incentives should be tied to specific KPIs like purchases or engagement. Recognizing and rewarding employee efforts motivates them to keep participating and keeps them engaged in the workplace.

Empower employees as brand ambassadors

You may have a content marketing strategy and support your employees by providing resources, but ultimately, the content should come from the employees themselves. It needs to be as genuine and authentic as possible, as this will lead to higher engagement. When the content is personalized, it’s more fun for the employees, and their audience can easily recognize their voice.

You can support your brand ambassadors by providing the resources they may need to answer questions from customers, potential candidates, and leads. The leader’s role, in this case, is to create an enabling system that fosters advocacy.

Choose the right employee advocacy platform

Even with all the resources at your disposal, consolidating all this information and executing your employee advocacy program may be a challenge. One way to overcome this problem is to use an employee advocacy platform.

You have many software platforms to choose from, but essential features to look for include creation tools, employee engagement features, and detailed analytics dashboards. Mobile accessibility and ease of use are also determinants of an effective employee advocacy platform.

One of the greatest benefits of using employee advocacy software is it creates trackable links. Normally, it’s difficult to track social media advocacy, but with unique links, it’s possible to tie purchases back to a specific employee’s advocacy efforts.

Some of the most popular employee advocacy software include Referral Rock, Hootsuite Amplify, Post Beyond, Oktopost, Mo, Bambu, and Blueboard. Referral Rock is your best option, because of our dedicated onboarding specialists, engagement features, and the ability to track conversions that result from employees’ advocacy. 

Wrapping up

Social media employee advocacy is a powerful tool that has numerous benefits for the company and the employees. With a proper employee advocacy program in place, you can increase your brand’s visibility and organic reach, attract and recruit top talent, and position your workforce as industry thought leaders.

An employee advocacy platform, coupled with the right software to support your employees’ efforts will go a long way in taking your company to the next level. Harness the power of employee advocacy today by evaluating your current advocacy initiatives to explore opportunities for improvement. 

Most prospective cleaning clients prefer going through recommendations and reviews when selecting a cleaning company. Referral marketing has proven to be among the most effective marketing strategies for house cleaning business owners seeking to remain relevant. With its high conversion rate, you have a higher probability of increasing your customer base. But how do you go about a cleaning service referral program?

In this article, we’ll take you through what you need to know about a cleaning service referral program, best practices for starting one, and how it can be a competitive game-changer.

What is a cleaning service referral program?

A cleaning service referral program is a streamlined way to reward previous clients for referring your cleaning services to new clients, like their friends and colleagues. It offers incentives, like gifts or discounts, for every successful referral.

The best cleaning service referral program automates the tracking of referrals – it’s not a manual setup where clients give you names. With referral software, you’re able to automatically measure how much business comes from referrals, and instantly issue rewards when referrals result in new business. 

Why do you need a cleaning service referral program?

Many businesses rely on recommendations and word of mouth. If someone recommends your services to a peer, the person who received the recommendation is more likely to use your services. A referred new client is more likely to stay loyal to your cleaning business – referred clients have a 16% higher customer lifetime value.

Most cleaning services struggle to lower customer acquisition costs, but referrals have a relatively low client acquisition cost vs. other marketing methods. They are also a low-risk form of marketing, as you only pay for referrals when they result in sales. With an automated cleaning referral program, you can track every customer referral, so you always know how your program is performing.

Are you ready for a cleaning service referral program?

Even though cleaning service referral programs offer lots of benefits, you’ll need the following essentials in place before you launch the program for the program to be a success:

• A healthy base of existing customers who love the quality of your cleaning services  – ideally, some of them should already be recommending your services without prompting
• A website to send referred leads to
• A customer experience worth recommending –cleaning businesses are all about the service 
• A high level of customer satisfaction, including high ratings from customer reviews 

Cleaning service referral program best practices

Ready to maximize a cleaning service referral program and bring in lots of new customers? Here are the cleaning service referral program best practices that can elevate a business to the next level.

Choose double-sided rewards

Current and potential customers enjoy being recognized through referral rewards and other forms of incentives. Double-sided rewards (rewards for both the referrer and friend) both motivate frequent referrals and encourage the referred friends to hire you for cleaning services. It boils down to a win-win situation for all the parties involved.

Rewards for the referring customer (advocate) should ideally tie back to your cleaning service, to encourage continued customer loyalty. You could offer credits towards an upcoming clean, a free next clean, or a free upgrade or add-on to the service. As a result, your customers will continue to use your cleaning services, leading to more referrals and recommendations.

However, advocate rewards could also be unrelated to your cleaning service, as long as the rewards motivate customers and reflect the value of the new customer they brought in. These may include cash, gift cards to other businesses, gift baskets, and event ticket rewards.

Rewards for the referred friend should always be directly tied back to your services, to encourage the friend to seek cleaning services from you. Free cleaning, or a heavily discounted first clean, is the best reward for the referred friend.

Think about using different reward structures

You need to understand your business’s nature and target audience to develop the appropriate reward structure. Varying reward structures are more beneficial since they help tap into a broader market base.

Consider a tiered program, where cleaning customers become eligible for higher levels of rewards as more referrals are made. You might also try a program where a customer could “cash in” on one referral for 25% off a clean, two for 50% off, three for 75% off, and four for a completely free house clean.

Think about giving higher rewards for referrals to more expensive cleaning services. You could also run a referral contest, where the top three, five, or ten referrers in a given period earn higher rewards. This type of program challenges the referring customers (advocates) to aim for bigger rewards by tapping into their competitive side.

Run your program with referral software

Using referral software can boost your referral marketing strategy and result in higher conversions. 

Thanks to the referral links it generates, referral software allows you to track exactly where every referral originated from and instantly issue rewards for successful referrals. It also collects program data that you can utilize to measure success and refine your program for optimum results.

The right referral software will streamline your program creation process and automate all aspects of program management.

Referral Rock software offers best-in-class referral tracking, sharing, and engagement experiences, with concierge onboarding – no developers required.

Optimize your program for easy sharing

The program’s sharing process needs to be simple in order to best encourage existing customers to recommend your cleaning service to prospects. Customers should have easy access, and be able to share the program with friends in as few clicks or taps as possible. The following simple steps can assist you in further optimizing your cleaning referral program and making it easy to share:

• Create an enticing headline stating what cleaning customers should do (share) and what’s in it for them (the reward).
• In a few steps, explain the program (and what customers must do for the rewards to be earned).
• Include an easy-to-find call-to-action button to get customers to share.
• Direct customers to an FAQ page if they have other questions.
• Give several options to share, based on the ways that clients normally share stuff they like with friends (including email, social media, and a referral link that customers can copy and share anywhere).

Give out unique referral links

Referral links tie every referral back to the person who made it, so your cleaning business can easily track and reward referrals. Each referral link has a unique identifier, so it’s always associated with a given customer, ensuring the right customer receives the reward.

You can use referral software to generate referral links for customers easily and automatically. Once the software generates the referral link, you’ll present it when someone signs up for the program so they can copy and paste it anywhere.

Promote your program in lots of places

Once you’ve ironed out all the details of your cleaning service referral program, it’s time to promote it. People need to know about your program for it to generate new sales!

Strategic places to promote your program include:

• On your website (place a hero image or banner where it’s easy to find, and or buttons in the top and bottom menus)
• In conversations with clients, when you know a customer is satisfied
• In personal referral emails sent to your most satisfied customers
• In mass emails focused on your program, sent to all customers in 3-month or 6-month intervals
• In news or update emails, confirmation emails, invoices, and additional emails not linked to your referral program
• In social media posts
• In email signatures and social media bios

Ask for referrals at strategic times

Referrals are all about recommendations and spreading the word around. A simple way to get referrals is to ask, since you’re in the customer’s home (or business) regularly to clean it, and you have to build a strong relationship.

Ask customers for referrals when you know they’re happiest and you are top of mind, like when:

• You’ve completed a clean
• You’ve received a positive review from them
• You’ve received a stellar social media comment from them
• They give you great in-person feedback
• They gave you great feedback on a customer survey
• You know they were satisfied, and you’re sending the invoice for a clean
• You know they have already recommended you outside of your referral program

Send the lead a personal note from the referrer

The message the referred friend receives through your program is often their first impression of your business. Therefore, their positive or negative reaction largely depends on how you convey this referral message.

Ideally, the referrer should write the message and explain why they’re recommending you to their peer. But you can also prompt the referrer with ideas to include in the message, or even include an editable message as a starting point that they could send as is.

The message the friend receives should showcase the rewards their peer has sent them and place an attention-grabbing CTA above the fold to entice the acquaintance to take action.

Thank customers for referrals

Customers love to be valued. Thanking customers for bringing referrals encourages them to make more referrals. It also makes them feel appreciated. Therefore, send a personal thank you note (preferably written) whenever someone’s referral results in a new client. It shows you recognize their efforts, making them want to bring in more referrals. You can also thank them publicly on your social media page by posting a thank you note.

Wrap-up

The cleaning industry is highly competitive, but you can find your way around the competition with the right strategy. It would help if you used less costly marketing strategies to have an edge in the industry. One of the best ways to go about this is through an effective cleaning service referral program, and harness the power of your existing customers’ recommendations.