stellaTwo of the most important aspects of marketing are content and contact. Best way to generate more leads is to provide tons of content and the best way to convert them is by the right kind of contact. Leverage content and contact together and you not only have a powerful business building strategy, but you also have customer loyalty and referral generating machine based on connecting people. Referral marketing
Some marketers are so fixated with content that they forget that without the proper contact their content is not going to create the desired results. It’s just not enough to build a brand, it’s also very important to build a community. More and more e-commerce brands are now discovering the importance of community marketing and investing time and effort in building communities of loyal customers through various platforms like Facebook, Slack servers or Discord channels.
Due to the social nature of referral marketing, because they run on actual human contact like word of mouth, it leads to community marketing. Referral marketing creates communities for e-commerce brands which benefits them in the long run. There are numerous ways through which referral marketing can be used to build strong and loyal communities.
Personalization leads to strong ties and burgeoning communities by Referral Marketing
Some of our clients using our referral tools send personalized messages to their friends and families along with the invites. Potential customers prefer personal messages from people over a generic marketing email any day.
Our one such client is Nykaa, not only does Nykaa let you send ultra-personal referral messages to your friends and family, but it’s also beneficial for both parties. Both the referrer and the beneficiary receive the same discount off their next purchase — nice. Plus, it’s a reason for them to strike up a conversation again in the future.
The best communities are those where people feel values and which provide a personalized touch. Nykaa knows the value of a personal touch. Referral marketing is, at its very essence, about people. And A genuine brand community is formed if you let people talk to people as people.
Gives Emphasis to Individual but as Part of the Community
Don’t just put customers first in your referral program, put people first. Instead of only focussing on numbers, emphasize the social aspect of your referrals. This will not only make your customers feel valued as individuals, but they won’t think of themselves as just sales figures. For example, Nykaa is all about sharing the love. Every step of the beauty product e-commerce brand’s referral program highlights its community focus. Nykaa doesn’t put a cap on the number of invites you can send. Whether you want to invite one or hundreds of friends. This makes the growth potential of the e-commerce brand virtually limitless.
Nykaa uses quirky and funny copies along with their referral invite “Because you’re one of my favorite people, I’m sending you this opportunity to get 20% off online at Nykaa…” and the brand’s customers really feel as though they’re part of something bigger.
Why Community building is Important?
Community building can lead to multiple benefits for e-commerce companies like:
- Provides a bank of loyal, repeat customers. These shoppers have an affinity for your brand, and so will return to you time and again.
- Generates actionable consumer insight. Who better to provide honest feedback on your latest product than a readymade focus group?
- It provides valuable social proof. Your community is locked into your brand, and they are only too happy to sing your praises online and offline.
In the competitive world of e-commerce, where the barrier to entry is close to nil and very affordable, the online business market is a saturated one. In such a scenario, having a strong and loyal community gives you a massive competitive advantage.
Just look at the most valuable online businesses and you would notice that they have actively invested the time and effort to build their own unique community. Active mommy bloggers, vegan health advocates, tech-savvy millennials, eco-warriors — there is a target group for every niche online store, and there are so many different types of community.
Whether it is through social media strategy or through savvy referral programs, having a community leads to higher growth for an e-commerce brand. Referral marketing and community building go hand in hand. InviteReferrals can help you reach your goal.
Shivani
