In the competitive world of digital marketing and web-based sales, customer reviews are a powerful tool. They’re easy to solicit, low or no cost to acquire, and they do the selling for you! What’s more is that reviews offer a genuine perspective that no direct to consumer marketing can provide. 

Seeing a friend review a product online is a powerful form of personal recommendation. These reviews help consumers find new products and help businesses find qualified leads. 

A few benefits to consider: 

• They can serve multiple purposes -- positive reviews get visitors to your website, help you attract potential new leads, and can be used to market to your existing customers. 

• Reviews can be embedded on your website or used on print materials to up the exposure of your brand.

• They’re especially helpful for new businesses who are looking to establish credibility in the marketplace.  

Many customers are willing to provide a review, but you have to make the process easy and be sure to ask your customers at the right time. You’ll want to watch out for signs that your customer is happy with their experience so far. A few tip offs that might write a good review? They’ve referred someone else to you, they’ve repurchased a product, they’ve tagged you on social media, or they’ve spent a lot of time browsing on your website.

To make sure you get it right, here’s four ideas to help you gather more online reviews: 

1.     Leverage social media. Social capital is a powerful tool – if your friends or acquaintances are using a product you’re more likely to give it a try. In addition to the built in referral network social media provides, most platforms provide a great channel for soliciting and sharing reviews. Don’t just ask for new reviews, be sure to share the positive ones you’ve already received! In addition to providing free promotion, they’ll also help give your customers ideas on what to post in their own reviews.

People who have purchased or repurchased products are the perfect target for reviews. Tailor an email or social media campaign directly to these customers so you can don’t miss out on the chance to collect high-quality reviews.  

 2.     Ask more than once. Asking for a review once isn’t always enough – you don’t want to bug people, but you do want to give them ample opportunity to share their thoughts. Different people will want to share their reviews on different platforms and at different times, so be equipped to ask for reviews in a number of ways. Train your team to solicit reviews, add a link into your email campaigns, and incorporate review options into your website pop-ups and landing pages.

3.     Make a direct appeal. If you work as an account manager, are a B2B sales rep, or have a one-on-one relationship, ask your customers directly for a review. Keep it conversational, but inquire how they’re enjoying their experience with your product or service so far. If the response is positive, see if they wouldn’t mind sharing their feedback online. If they have a negative response, see what you can do to fix the problem before inquiring about them giving public feedback. 

 4.     Create Incentives. Offer a future discount, add a bonus product to their order or enter them in a drawing in exchange for their feedback. Be careful you don’t compromise the integrity of the review – you shouldn’t force people to leave a positive review, rather an honest review. 

A few additional tips:

• Accept reviews on multiple platforms like Yelp, Facebook, Google Business, Zillow and more. Everyone has a favorite method of reviewing, so don’t loose out on a good review by limiting people’s platform options. But keep in mind that people tend to trust Facebook reviews more because they’re connected to individual profiles that people can verify the legitimacy of. 

Further Reading: Want to learn more about how to handle a bad review? We’ve got a separate post that goes in-depth on the topic. Check it out here.

• Be sure to respond to all reviews – especially the negative ones! Respond thoughtfully (without getting defensive). In addition to improving the relationship with that individual customer, you’ll also be demonstrating good customer service that shows potential buyers you care and are willing to listen. 

• Make it easy! Cut out additional steps wherever possible and it will up the chances that your customers will take the time to leave a review. Include a direct link so they can head straight to the product page, make login seamless, and provide them with sample writing prompts. 

Have a tip that we should have included? Drop us a comment below – we’d love to learn more about what’s worked for you in the past (and what hasn’t). 

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Hue & Tone Creative: Social Media + Graphic Design

Need someone to take the headaches out of your automated emailing and social media planning? We’re here to help. Whether you’re looking to increase your views or simply need a break from handling your account, Hue & Tone Creative has you covered for all things social. 

If you have a great product, your customers will help do the marketing for you – but often you have to provide them with an incentive program to help compensate for their time. A referral program is a deliberate, systematic way of getting people to make referrals to your business. Having a clearly outlined program will help consistency and tact take center stage – and ensure no current customers are turned off by your ask for their help. 

Referrals can come from just about anywhere – existing customers, friends and family, or even a social media testimonial. Having an established system to help you harness the power of these referrals is key to building word of mouth and customer loyalty. 

Decide how much a customer is worth 

Not sure what kind of metric you should be looking for from a referral program? Start by aiming for a 10% conversion rate.

Before you start developing the specifics of your referral program, it’s important to identify what you hope to get out of it. First, figure out what a typical customer is worth. Your referral program should help you build a continual pipeline of new customers – each of which you’ll be obtaining at a lower cost than a traditional customer acquisition.  

Having a concrete figure for customer acquisition costs allows you to determine how much money to sink into building a referral program – as well as how much to spend marketing it. 

Establish your incentive structure

Now that you’ve identified the cost of acquiring a typical customer, it’s time to do a little math on incentives. Don’t limit yourself to just cash incentives – studies actually show that non-cash incentives are 24% more effective at boosting effectiveness (source).

In addition to a typical cash incentive system, consider offering coupons, service upgrades, free swag, gift cards, donations to charities, or access to exclusive products. 

Pinpoint what you’ll be offering to both the referrer and referral – this should be a mutually beneficial ask to ensure everyone walks away with an even more positive view of your brand.  

Develop quality collateral 

Putting time into developing quality referral materials and messaging around your new program is a must. Your messaging should: 

• Feel Personal 

• Cleary explain the benefit to the customer and their friend

• Have easy to understand directions

• Offer a clear explanation of the steps

The easier you make it to refer people the better. Give your customer multiple options for how to share – Facebook, Twitter, email, or a direct link. Offer a pre-filled message to them so they don’t have to do anything but click a button.  

It’s also important to ensure that your referral program is being consistently marketed among your different platforms. Use consistent language across your CTAs, blogs, emails, newsletters, and product updates. 

Track what’s working

Once you’ve got your messaging and incentive structure in place, it’s time to integrate analytics and tracking to monitor its effectiveness. If you’re shopping around for referral program software, this is definitely something you’ll want to dive into before purchasing. At a minimum, you’ll want to track: 

• Who referred who

• When they were referred 

• Whether they were converted or not

• How many links get shared 

• How many links get clicked 

• A/B testing effectiveness

• Where customers tend to drop off in the referral program 

Make sure your whole team is up to date 

Now that you’ve put time into developing a quality referral program, it’s time to make sure everyone is on the same page. Sit down with sales, marketing, and support staff and make sure the whole team is aligned around the goals and vision for your referral program. 

Can they clearly explain incentives? Have they been well trained on any new software? Do they have leeway to offer additional benefits to top referrers? Get everyone up to speed so they can answer questions in real time. 

Don’t forget to say “thank you!” 

Once your program has launched, be sure to take the time to thank your referrers for helping you out! Even though you’re providing them with an incentive already, it never hurts to personally thank them for their support. 

Avoid stagnation 

Once your regular customer incentive program is up and running, consider future ways to keep things fresh or to expand your program. Here’s a few special promotions to consider or incorporate in the months and years to come: 

• Customer Tiers: Now that you have a strong plan in place for one-time referrals, it’s time to start thinking about how to harness the power of regular or high-value customers. Creating tiers is a way to offer continual incentives as customers continue to offer you valuable leads. Each tier can have its own unique benefits so that customers stay motivated. 

• Seasonal Campaigns: Holiday discounts and annual sales can provide a special way to draw in new consumers. 

• Contests: Host a giveaway where customers are entered only after providing a certain number of referrals. To ensure you maintain a high quality of leads, we suggest leads have to signup instead of just provide an email. This means your success will based on conversions rather than just random referrals. 

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Hue & Tone Creative: Digital Marketing for the Triad and beyond

Want to take the guesswork out of developing your referral program? We’ll help you develop a program with a clear structure, sound business goals, and beautiful graphics. Ready to get started? Let’s set up a free 20 minute consultation to get to know each other. Make an appointment here.

Marketing is a necessity no matter what your business. But, it’s important to remember that a solid marketing plan can come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and budgets.

Bootstrap marketing is all about making the most out of your resources, finding new ways to work with others, and becoming your own PR agent. It’s the best mindset for new business owners because it’s wallet-friendly and forces you to use your creativity.

Fortunately, there’s a vast array of tools that you can take advantage of...without depleting your bank account!
 

Gather quality research

Estimated cost: Free

Use a short questionnaire to gather the opinions of people on the street, outside of shopping centers, or events that fit your target demographic. Load your iPad with a set of quick questions to ask people, visual aids, and product comparisons -- then hit the street!   
 

Create a Contest

Estimated cost: Whatever you decide to give away

Contests are a great way to use social media to engage your followers. Create a small scale contest by having your followers respond to a question or share a picture accompanied with a fun hashtag. Have your followers share your business page or submit their email address for a chance to win a product from your business. For long term contests, be sure to drive excitement daily and encourage your followers to enter for their chance to win!
 

Give the inside scoop on social

Estimated cost: Free

When posting on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, keep the one in seven rule in mind. For every seven posts you create, make sure that one in focused exclusively on promoting your brand. The content of the other six should focus on providing information, testimonials, or entertaining images or videos.

Start a loyalty program

Estimated cost: A few discounts or free gifts

Keeping an existing customer is far less expensive than searching for new customers. Create a loyalty program to show your clients that they are valued with discounts, tier programs, exclusive shopping days, or points programs. Check out Belly, Perkville, PunchTab, or Brownie Points if you’re looking for an app to help get you started.  

“Remember to always keep your email list growing! Give your visitors several opportunities to register every time they visit your website.”

Launch an email campaign

Estimated cost: Free (until you reach a high volume sending list)

Use your creativity to keep your emails engaging and beneficial to your customers. Feature flash sales, rewards program perks, and anything new to your businesses.  Stream Send, MailChimp, and Benchmark Email are some easy to use email marketing services.  

Embrace guerrilla marketing

Estimated cost: $10-$500

Hand out custom t-shirts, stickers, or swag (like water bottles or dog toys). People love free stuff so give them something to remember you by!

Or, consider using sidewalk chalk or posters to get your message out around town.

Gather testimonials

Estimated cost: Free

Stand out from your competitors by providing success stories from previous customers. Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback from your satisfied customers. Most are happy to write a review when they’re happy with a purchase. You can also offer a free trial or complementary item to select customers in return for an honest review. These are great to use in marketing materials of all kinds!

Maintain a blog

Estimated cost: Free (assuming you already have a website)

Most people would rather purchase a product or service from a brand with a personality rather than a stiff corporate tone. Use your blog to relate to customers as a person or small business! If you are new to blogging you could start with a customer success story, market trends, a behind the scenes look at your business, or maybe a feature of some of your staff members.

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Things we don't recommend you skimp on?
An eye catching logo and an amazing website.

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Partner with other businesses

Estimated cost: $50+

Look for local businesses that share similar values, target customers, and experience as your brand. Most businesses welcome connections, especially when they benefit both parties. For instance, if you own a bakery, partner with a nearby coffee shop on a special rewards card, let local vendors sell their wares in your storefront, or let a local artist offer painting classes at night. 

Host an event

Estimated cost: $500+

Think about the interests of your target customer and invite them to exclusive events. Anthropologie often holds special events for Anthro card holders. Guests are able to attend DIY workshops, fashion shows, and even pet adoption days. You can make an even larger event by networking with other businesses in your area. Many local businesses hold special shopping nights where customers can travel from store to store and enjoy sales and refreshments. There are endless event ideas, the key is to get your customer excited and eager to come.

Now that you’ve learned some budget friendly tips, remember that working with a small budget doesn’t necessarily mean a small marketing presence. Spend your money wisely and business will be booming in no time!