Top 5 Do’s and Don’ts of B2B Referral Program

Most business people consider referrals as an organic byproduct of successfully doing their job. If you manage to surpass your customer expectations, it’s obvious they’ll return the favor by your recommending your products or services to their networks. If you offer them world-class customer service, you can expect social-media goodwill. Marketing to other businesses is distinctive from marketing to other individuals. But they have distinctive ways to consider products in both cases. In B2B, they deal with logic and reason, and B2C with emotions. In this blog, you’ll get to know what B2B marketing is? And do’s and don’ts of B2B referral program.

 

What is B2B Referral Marketing?

Encouraging advocates to refer a brand, product or service is called referral marketing. Referral marketing can occur via word of mouth or through marketing influence or strategy via a referral marketing program.

Organic referrals lack frequency or predictability, so companies launch referral marketing programs to develop and track referral sales within their customer base. Since most B2B products are a complicated and long-term investment, building relationship becomes vital. 

Many B2B marketers utilize traditional strategies to nurture these relationships, like hiring sales reps. However, combining these conventional methods with digital tools like inbound marketing and paid ads can give you the best of both worlds.

What is the Impact of B2B Referral Sales?

According to HBR, 84% of B2B sales start with a referral, and they’re more valuable. Referral marketing statistics show that people are 4x more likely to buy a product when referred and have an average of 16% higher lifetime values. In referral marketing, mutual trust from the onset of a referred account aids in making deals move faster and close easier. 

Now, it’s time to learn about do’s and don’ts of B2B referral program.

5 Do’s and Don’ts of B2B Referral Program.

First, we will look at the dos and then move forward to don’ts.

Dos

1) Choose The Right Platform

First, keep in mind that knowing where your target audience is present and spending their time is not enough. You have to find out the reason why they are hanging out. For instance, people like to use Instagram for entertainment and Linkedin for building professional connections. Thus B2B companies can utilize Linkedin for lead generation and Instagram for brand-building strategies.

So, when it comes to choosing the right platform for a customer referral program, all you have to do is do simple research to understand what content works on each platform. Then, analyze your competitor’s content and understand what media they leverage to expand their business. 

2) Know More About Your Audience

Like B2C, businesses also have to tailor their content as per the customer’s needs. But unfortunately, several B2B marketers argue that customers don’t care what product they own; they want to learn how you can help them in solving a problem. 

You should understand customers’ pain points, where and how they spend their time and tailor your content to satisfy their needs. Doing this will help you customize your referral program message, ultimately bringing more referrals.

3) Make Use Of Personalization

The content becomes a complex area to operate into. There are thousands of people attempting to draw your prospect’s attention. However, bringing the minute details right can impress your B2B prospects. 

For instance, wishing your customers on their birthday might help you create a good relationship since customers don’t expect a B2B company to track such things. In addition, you can offer free trials or extended periods as a gesture. Determining these little details shows that your B2B campaign has a human touch that most B2B referral strategies lack.

4) Build Long-term Relationship

When it comes to launching a referral program, it becomes important to build relationships with your customers. Most B2B products are expensive and complex, and the possibilities of customers making a quick decision are low. 

Therefore, you should enlighten your customers about the benefit and demonstrate that you help them. This way, you’ll be perceived as a business that cares about its clients and not just the sales. 

 

5) Know What’s Trending

Knowing what’s trending in the digital marketing world is necessary. This indicates to your consumer that you are here to serve them and not just sell and publicize their products. B2B companies are recommended to follow specific tricks and tips as it is challenging to keep up with trends.

 Don’ts

1) Don’t Overshare

Remember, sharing too much referral campaign content may ruin your chances of success. First, it looks spammy and may annoy your customers and stop your prospect from keeping up with your activities. 

Moreover, engagement should be your first objective while posting on the internet. Don’t bore your prospect. It is important for both B2C and B2B businesses. Also, you can consider using different tools that can help you schedule content and be there only when your customers need it.

2) Don’t Annoy Your Prospects

We understand that follow-up messages are key when it comes to close sales but don’t panic if they fail to answer you at that time. Maybe they are busy and haven’t replied—also, the number of follow-ups matters.

Therefore, sending too many messages may not look appealing to the prospects. Even you may have come across as a company pushing too hard to connect and make sales.   

3) Don’t Send the Same Message 

No one can deny the importance of personalization in B2B marketing. B2B products are expensive and complicated, and the prospects might be in the diverse industries facing specific problems. 

So it’s a bad idea to share the same message with everyone. Remember, your competitors are also trying to market the product to a similar audience; hence personalization becomes crucial to standing out.

4) Don’t Expect Quick Results

The product you are marketing will transform how they operate their business for most businesses. Hence, you have to be patient and consistent. You have to build a sales funnel and keep moving the prospects ahead with lead nurturing.

5) Don’t Forget To Add A Call-to-Action

CTA’s are crucial since it shows your prospects the next step they should take. So, go beyond traditional CTA’s like call us or read more. Instead, design personalized CTA’s that encourage prospects to take immediate action.

Conclusion

Having good knowledge is the first step to creating a good B2B customer referral marketing strategy. Therefore, testing various channels and methods is crucial. The customer behavior is growing fast, so your B2B strategies are. After reading this blog, we hope you may get a clear understanding of do’s and don’ts of B2B referral program.

FAQs