10 Referral Marketing Strategies to Boost Product Launches

Learn 10 referral marketing strategies to boost your product launch. Utilize current customers, incentives, social media, influencers, contests, emails, and more.


Justin Britten

Justin Britten

· 9 min read
10 Referral Marketing Strategies to Boost Product Launches

Here's a quick summary of 10 referral marketing strategies to help your product launch succeed:

  1. Use current customers
  2. Design double-sided incentives
  3. Create step-by-step rewards
  4. Leverage social media sharing
  5. Partner with influencers
  6. Run referral contests
  7. Add in-product referral options
  8. Build an effective program page
  9. Use email marketing
  10. Track and improve your program
Strategy Key Benefit
Current customers Tap into existing trust
Double incentives Motivate both parties
Tiered rewards Encourage more referrals
Social media Increase reach quickly
Influencers Access new audiences
Contests Make referring fun
In-product options Simplify the process
Program page Explain benefits clearly
Email marketing Remind and re-engage
Analytics Optimize performance

These tactics help spread the word about your new product, build trust, and boost sales by leveraging word-of-mouth marketing. Focus on making it easy and rewarding for customers to refer others.

Why Referral Marketing Matters for New Products

Referral marketing is key for new product launches. It helps build trust, create buzz, and boost sales. When customers tell their friends about a new product, it brings in new buyers and keeps current ones happy. People trust recommendations from friends more than ads.

Here's why referral marketing works well for new products:

Benefit Explanation
Builds trust People believe their friends' opinions
Brings in new customers Friends tell friends about good products
Keeps current customers Referring others makes customers feel connected
Costs less Word-of-mouth is cheaper than big ad campaigns
Easy to track You can see how well referrals work

Studies show that referral marketing helps new products grow. Social Media Today says 78% of B2B marketers find that referrals bring in good leads. Also, customers who come from referrals often buy more and stay longer.

Referral marketing is a smart choice for new products because:

  1. It's cheap compared to other marketing
  2. It spreads the word quickly
  3. It's easy to measure and improve

1. Use Your Current Customers

Your current customers are your best helpers for telling others about your new product. They already know and like what you sell, so they're more likely to tell their friends. Here's how to get your customers to spread the word:

  1. Be nice to them
  2. Give them great help when they need it
  3. Offer them something good for telling others

Many customers want to tell others about products they like, but most don't because they don't know how. Tell your customers about your referral program and what they can get for helping.

Here's what some companies do:

Company Referral Reward
Dropbox Extra storage space for both people
Fiverr 10% cash back on first order for new person

These rewards make people want to tell their friends about the product. It helps the company grow fast and get more customers.

To make your referral program work well:

  • Make it easy for customers to understand
  • Give rewards that people really want
  • Tell all your customers about it
  • Thank people who help spread the word

2. Design a Double-Sided Incentive Program

A double-sided incentive program rewards both the person who refers and the new customer. This type of program works well because it makes everyone happy.

Here's how it works:

Who Gets Rewarded What They Get
Person who refers A reward for bringing in a new customer
New customer A reward for joining

Rewards can be things like discounts or free trials. The key is to make sure both sides feel good about taking part.

Some companies that use this well:

Company How Their Program Works
Dropbox Both people get extra storage space
Tesla Both get free Supercharging and other perks

This kind of program can help your product launch by:

  • Getting more people to tell their friends
  • Making new customers want to join

To make your program work well:

  • Give rewards people really want
  • Make it easy for customers to tell others
  • Explain the program clearly
  • Keep track of how well it's working and make changes if needed

3. Use a Step-by-Step Reward System

A step-by-step reward system can help boost your product launch through referral marketing. This system gives different rewards based on what customers do. It matches the reward to how much the customer helps.

This system lets you give rewards for different things customers do, while keeping costs in check. For example, you can give better rewards to customers who:

  • Bring in more new customers
  • Bring in customers who buy more

This makes customers want to tell their friends about your product's good points.

When setting up your steps, think about:

Factor Example
Number of referrals Better rewards for more referrals
How much referred friends buy Higher rewards for bigger purchases
Type of customer Different rewards for free vs paid users
What product they buy Rewards based on which product or plan friends buy

Using a step-by-step reward system can make customers do more of what you want. For example, if they know they can get a bigger reward by getting friends to buy your best plan, they'll try harder to tell friends why it's good.

4. Use Social Media to Share

Social media is a great way to get people talking about your new product. Many people use social media every day, so it's a good place to reach new customers and get current ones to tell their friends.

Using social media for your referral program can:

  • Make it easy for customers to share your product
  • Help more people see your brand
  • Lead to more sales

Here's how to use social media well for your referral program:

Tip How to do it
Make sharing easy Give customers ready-made messages to post
Talk about your program Tell people about your referral program on social media
Ask for good reviews Get customers to share why they like your product
Check how it's going Use social media tools to see if your program is working
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5. Partner with Influencers and Industry Leaders

Working with influencers and industry leaders can help your product launch and referral marketing. These partnerships use the reach of well-known people to spread your message and get more people interested.

Here's how to work well with influencers:

  1. Find the Right People: Choose influencers who like your brand and product. Look for both big and small influencers.
  2. Build Good Relationships: Get to know influencers by talking to them and showing interest in their work. This helps make their promotions more believable.
  3. Give Early Access: Let influencers try your product before everyone else. This can make their followers excited about it.
  4. Make Good Content: Work with influencers to create videos, posts, or reviews that show off your product in a natural way.
  5. Use Customer-Made Content: Ask influencers to get their followers to make and share content with your product. This helps spread the word.
Influencer Type Good Points Best Uses
Small Influencers More engaged followers, specific audience Small campaigns, honest recommendations
Big Influencers Lots of followers, brand awareness Big product launches, reaching many people
Industry Experts Trusted opinions, expert advice Business products, professional services

Using influencers can help more people learn about your product and want to try it. Choose the right influencers for your goals, and work with them to create content that their followers will like and share.

6. Create a Referral Contest

A referral contest can help your product launch by getting customers to tell their friends about your brand. It's a short-term event where customers can win prizes for bringing in new customers.

Here's how to run a good referral contest:

Set Clear Goals

Decide what you want from your contest. Do you want more sales, more customers, or more people to know about your brand? Knowing this helps you plan and check if the contest works.

Know Your Customers

Find out what your customers like and what rewards they want. For example, if you sell fitness products, your customers might like free classes or discounts.

Pick the Right Contest Type

There are different kinds of contests:

Contest Type How It Works
Points-based Customers earn points for referrals
Leaderboard Customers compete to refer the most
Sweepstakes Random winners from all who refer

Choose the one that fits your brand and customers best.

Tell People About Your Contest

Once your contest is ready:

  • Share it on social media
  • Send emails about it
  • Show it to customers after they buy

Keep track of how the contest is doing and make changes if needed.

7. Add Referral Options to Your Product

Adding referral options to your product can help your launch. By making referrals fun, you can get more customers to join in. This means turning referrals into a game that people want to play.

Here are some ways to do this:

Method How it Works
Leaderboard Show who's referred the most people
Points Give points for each referral
Badges Award badges for reaching referral goals

These methods make people want to refer others and feel part of a group.

To make this work well:

  • Make it easy to refer
  • Tell people how to refer and what they'll get
  • Use fun elements like points and badges
  • Check how well it's working and fix any problems

By adding these referral options, you can:

  1. Get more people to tell others about your product
  2. Make referring fun for your customers
  3. Grow your business faster

8. Make a Good Referral Program Page

A referral program page is key to making your referral marketing work well. It's where customers can learn about your program, see what they can get, and join easily. A good page can help more people join and tell others about your product.

When making your referral program page, add these important things:

Element What to Do
Clear title Write a short title that tells people what they can get
Easy rules Make the rules simple and easy to understand
Big "Join Now" button Put a big button that's easy to see and click
What others say Show what happy customers say about your product
Nice look Use good pictures and colors to make the page look nice

To make your page work well:

  • Keep it simple
  • Use words that are easy to understand
  • Make it look good
  • Make it easy for people to join

A good referral program page can:

  1. Get more people to join your program
  2. Help people understand how it works
  3. Make more people want to tell their friends

9. Use Email to Boost Your Referral Program

Email is a great way to tell people about your referral program and get them to join. Here's how to use email well:

Make Good-Looking Emails

Create emails that look nice and are easy to read. Use simple words to explain what people can get from your program. Add a big button that people can click to join.

Send Different Emails to Different People

Split your email list into groups. You can send one type of email to new customers and another to long-time customers. This helps you send the right message to each person.

Set Up Automatic Emails

Make emails that send themselves at the right time. For example:

Email Type When to Send
Welcome When someone becomes a customer
Reminder When someone leaves items in their cart
Thank You When someone refers a friend

Check How Well Your Emails Work

Look at how many people open your emails and click on links. Try different things to see what works best. Here's what to look at:

What to Check Why It Matters
Open Rate Shows if people are interested
Click Rate Shows if people want to learn more
Join Rate Shows if people are signing up

10. Track and Improve Your Referral Program

Keeping an eye on how well your referral program works is key to making it better. By looking at important numbers, you can see what's working and what's not, and make changes to help your product launch.

Important Numbers to Watch

Focus on these key numbers:

Number What It Means
Referral Rate How many customers tell others about your product
Conversion Rate How many referred people become paying customers
Customer Value How much money a referred customer spends over time
Cost to Get a Customer How much you spend to get a new customer through referrals

Looking at Your Referral Data

Check your referral data often to see what's happening. This helps you:

  • Make your referral program work better
  • Find out which ways of referring work best
  • Use facts to change your plan

Making Your Program Better

Use what you learn to improve your program:

What to Do How It Helps
Change rewards Give better rewards for things that work well
Fix problems Make it easier for people to refer others
Try new ideas Test different ways to get more referrals

Wrap-up

Referral marketing can help your product launch succeed. Here's a quick look at the main ways to use referral marketing:

Strategy How It Helps
Use current customers Get people who already like your product to tell others
Give rewards to both sides Make both the referrer and new customer happy
Use step-by-step rewards Give better rewards for more help
Share on social media Reach more people quickly
Work with influencers Use well-known people to spread the word
Run a referral contest Make referring fun with prizes
Add referral options to your product Make it easy for customers to tell others
Make a good referral program page Help people understand and join your program
Use email Tell people about your program and remind them to join
Check and improve your program Look at what's working and make it better

To make sure your referral program works well:

  • Watch important numbers like how many people refer others and how many new customers you get
  • Look at your data often to see what's happening
  • Change your program based on what you learn

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