You have a very short amount of time to catch someone's attention. As a brand, this can be difficult to work around. This may seem even more difficult considering many customers are looking past traditional ads.
So what do you do? You have to put yourself in their space. Meaning is where they are. Social media is your channel to do this. Social media makes it easy for you to reach customers, even when you're racing against short attention spans.
But, with all the noise on the web, how do you shine in all the noise? How can you pique the interest of your customers, and how can you use social media as a channel for getting referrals?
How Social Media Marketing Is Important For Getting Referrals 2019
Here's some proof:- '84% of people trust recommendations from people they know. Making them the most influential form of advertising', as mentioned in a study by .
- According to Talk Triggers - Chatter Matters , '83% of Americans say that word of mouth recommendations from friends or family members make them more likely to purchase that product or service'.
- '4% of consumers identify word-of-mouth as a key influencer in their purchasing decision', as mentioned by Ogilvy Cannes .
- As said by , 'Friend referrals are the most successful marketing tool used by US small businesses'.
So how can you use your social channels to get referrals? Let's take a look at a few ways you can try to amp up your word of mouth and get your customers sharing with their friends.
Consider what you're sharing on social media
People want to know about you, but they don't want you to constantly talk about how great you think you are. In fact, many people don't like when brands self-brag about themselves. Instead, you should be sharing things that people can benefit from.
The idea here is that if someone sees you talking about space or topic they are interested in, they may think of you as a leader in the niche. When this happens, they are more likely to consider you to help them with that job, when it comes time to make a purchase.
So what sort of things should you be sharing to help establish yourself as a helpful and insightful brand?
Tricks On What To Share On Social Media
You can really share whatever you like on social media. But, if you are posting on behalf of your business, keep it professional. It doesn't mean you can't be funny, but you do have to realize you're speaking on behalf of the entire company.
Here are some things you can share that drive referral.
1. Your content
This one is obvious. If you have done the work and research, why not share it on your social profiles? By sharing this knowledge, you are increasing your chances of gaining traffic as well as increasing your brand awareness.
Whether you share a blog article or an interesting infographic, you are putting extra channels out there to drive traffic to your site. And interesting content, makes for a great resource to share. And when people share your content, it helps establish your name in their social circles, which, as you can probably guess, can lead to word of mouth referrals.
2. Customer Successes
This one can be huge for you. As previously mentioned, people like public shout outs. And when you do this the right way, it gets people excited which can make them want to talk about you even more.
It doesn't really matter what kind of business you have either. Customer success for a SaaS business may be a customer had their first success with your software, while a customer success for an eCommerce business may be a customer who has posted about their new product on a platform. You may even have a happy customer send you a handwritten note saying thanks.
You can use these as opportunities to give a shout out and show off some user-generated content. All of which can help you not only strengthen your relationship with the customer, but also shine a light to others how you treat them. Your excitement for customer successes can lead you to more customers. As appreciated customers, spread the word.
3. Statistics in your field
For example, if you are an influencer marketing platform, you can talk about interesting findings in the influencer community. By pointing out the numbers in your favor, you may intrigue people to check out your business, since you happen to be in that space.
This also gives you something to share that isn't a direct resource from your site and give you the opportunity to tag the source, so that you can further increase your reach and land potential referrals.
4. Articles you've been mentioned in
Here's another thing people like to see. They like to see that others talk about you. Being mentioned in someone else's blog is a big deal, not to mention a great compliment.
By sharing these instances you are expanding your brand awareness, thanking the business for mentioning you and sharing someone else's content.
All of these things are great for establishing relationships and that can be a great way to earn referrals. Why? Well, when another business mentions you, it's probably because they see the value in what you do, plus you are most likely not a competing business, rather a business who they feel their customers will also benefit from. This can result in referrals whether they intentionally sent someone your way or not.
5. Quotes from your articles
It's super easy to share an article. Most of the time, blogs come equipped with multiple sharing options. Plus, there are tools out there like Buffer and Hootsuite, that make it even easier to share and schedule your articles to go out.
But you may want to do something a little extra. Most of the time, share buttons and social media management tools just pull the title of the article. You should try to amp this up. Add in your favorite tip from the article, or provoke people to share with quoting a very insightful point.
By adding in some little extras, people will see the value in clicking to read. Plus, by going the extra mile, you might make yourself more shareable. Which is a great way to possibly pick up some referrals?
6. Quotes from external people in your articles
If you are ever able to tag a particular person or business, do it. When you do this you have the opportunity to be seen by their followers on social sites. Which can help further spread your name? Plus, it establishes you as a trusted source. Because if a customer from the company you quoted or worked on a piece of content with sees they have worked with you, they may be more inclined to think of you as a reputable business as well.
Plus, the chances for getting a like, retweet, share, or comment are increased. As people love getting shout outs on public spaces and are usually driven to respond.
Why else is social media important for getting referrals?
Between viral videos, hashtags, and memes social media has a way of getting things in front of millions of eyes. No, not everyone will become the next viral sensation, but you do have the opportunity to expand your reach and get out there.
When your brand pays attention to your customers, it pays off. Customers are very quick to update their social media status to include experiences they have recently had with a business. Whether it be very good, or bad. But when they share statuses like this, they are giving you their sign of approval (or disapproval) which plays a direct impact on whether their friends will try you or not.
- It's a great platform to encourage customers to share experiences
Everyone turns to social when they want to share an experience. In fact, you may have been intrigued to try something just by your friend's personal and genuine experience they posted online.
Adversely, you know to stay away from places that your social media friends have mentioned they encountered a bad experience.
All of this is why it's a great platform to get your customers to share their experience with you to their friends. It's these simple reviews and shout outs that come off as most genuine and help you increase your brand awareness in a way that you can't do on your own.
- If you have a referral program set up, social media enables easy joining and sharing
If you are running any sort of rewards program, make sure your on social too. Why? Well, a lot of customers find it easier to find you and share you with their friends.
Facebook has a recommendation tool, that tags you even if the person doesn't follow you. Plus, for those customers who do follow you, you can share information about your programs and get people interested to join.
As for having them share your referral program, social media excels here too. This is because a lot of people communicate via social channels and text. In fact, even if someone sees their friend, in person, multiple times a week, they are still likely to share something with them via message if they deem it to be worth it. So you'll find that many referral programs and other types of reward programs offer social sharing buttons to further make link sharing easy. Social media is a huge part of what makes modern referral marketing work.
- Your customers are already there, so it makes connecting easier
If you reel people in with something interesting, informative, or funny, you may get people to like, share, and even become your customer. When you get your customers to share your posts, you again increase your chances of getting more referrals that can turn into high-quality leads.
This works because people regularly rely on their own personal networks (to include their online friends). This is also the reason why brands are spending more time than ever on boosting acquisition through social media. They are catering to the way people want to communicate and learn.
Even well-known brands have ventured into social media marketing. And because of it have been able to keep customers happy, but to also reach and convert others to be customers.
To give you an idea. Wendy's experienced a 49.7% growth in profit from $129.6 million to $194 million following the popular Twitter roasts. In addition to that, according to Deputy.com, Wendy's Twitter following has increased from 2.1 million to over 2.4 million in just six months.
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Conclusion: How Social Media Marketing Is Important For Getting Referrals 2019
This is because unlike a paid ad you may test out, a referral is a trusted source. And it's this foundation of trust that makes social media and referral marketing work harmoniously.