What is Referral Marketing and How to Get More Referrals?

Jay Dave
3 min readApr 7, 2021

The word “referral” is a verb, which means it’s all about action. It’s about getting someone to take action on your behalf. What action? Anything from “please subscribe to my blog” to “please purchase my new course” to “please vote for my friend Todd for class president.” So, how do you “refer” someone to take action? There are two basic ways: Ask for a favour, then reward the person for doing it. Ask for something in exchange

What is Referral Marketing?

Relevant. It’s critical that the person you’re asking can benefit from doing what you’re asking of them. Whether you’re asking for a contribution to a charity, a subscription to a newsletter, or an event, make sure the person is a person who can use what you’re selling or promoting. That helps you from pissing anyone off. Get some friends This goes back to the previous point. If someone is good at helping other people, they will be good at helping you. It might take some explaining, but if they believe they are helping you, it will go a long way toward convincing them to work with you. Ask Don’t be afraid to ask for a favour. Don’t be a pushover.

How do I get more referrals?

Asking a person for a favour has three ingredients: “I want a favour.” “I need a favour.” “I will pay for your favour.” How do I ask for a favour? Do it in person. Ask for something. Reward the person. How do I reward people? I think it’s important to understand the different reward styles and then how to build a fun, creative and rewarding experience around these. Reward Strategies Let’s start by understanding each type of reward, and then I’ll explain how to create your own. Branding and perks. For a brand, you can create custom shirts, hats, mugs, etc. that are branded in some way. If the person in question doesn’t have your company’s logo, you can create it, just as you would design a logo. For a brand, you can create custom shirts, hats, mugs, etc. that are branded in some way.

What makes a successful referral?

A successful referral has a clear and compelling value proposition. The person you’re asking to be a referral should be asking you for something because of how valuable that something is for them. This is where both numbers and personal logic come into play. Have you considered the idea that your new clients will be raving fans of your best current clients? It’s a common “process hack” to have a monthly webinar for a client. Maybe, you want to build that webinar into a full program with webinars, a user’s guide, a video course, a database, training, etc. Or maybe you want to have an annual event for your best clients. Whatever you need to do to demonstrate what a client will get out of a client relationship, it can be a great starting point.

What are some ways to get referrals?

Send out a welcome email to your new partner. In the welcome email, send something of value. Make them feel special and important. For example, if you’re a graphic designer, send your partner the design work that you’ve done for you. Or, if you’re an entrepreneur, offer them a coupon for a free coffee. Don’t ask for something for nothing. You can create great value for your new partner by creating an amazing experience. Have the best website in the market. When you provide your new partner with an experience that they can’t get anywhere else, they’ll tell their friends, family, and colleagues. Is the blog you write worth their time? Take the time to read through the posts, comments, and subscriptions. Make sure that you don’t plagiarise.

Conclusion.

We use Referral Marketing in so many ways in business. We literally use it all day every day to get the word out about our products and services. We use it when we teach others the skills we learned. We use it when we ask others to share with their friends. And sometimes, we get referrals by having people refer us. Here are a few things I know to be true: People love to help people. When we ask someone to do us a favour, they respond in the same way they would when they love someone else. Just as I know you and I love each other, you know you and I love your friends. So, your instincts are triggered when you see someone being helped and you feel an urge to help. You’ll love your opportunity to give, even if you don’t know the person.

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Jay Dave

Building a profitable SaaS Business: boostreferral.com , Indie Hacker by Choice.