Why do you need to promote your referral program?
When it comes to bringing in new customers, word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most effective ways. However, even a referral program can underperform if it lacks good promotion.
If no one knows about your customer referral program, it won’t generate any buzz, leads, or conversions. In this blog post, you will discover a simple way to boost engagement by creating a referral program landing page.
What is a landing page?
A landing page aims to achieve one specific goal – to drive the reader to perform an action. That action could be to sign up for an email newsletter or promote a product or service. In this case, the goal would be to get you more referrals.
The golden rule of creating a landing page is having one goal and one reader in mind.
For example, if you create a landing page to promote your gym’s special offer for college athletes, your content, copy, and images need to speak only to them.
You don’t want to include any other target group, no matter how similar they may be.
You may wonder: “How does that rule apply to the referral program landing page?”
This is a great question!
Your target group is existing customers and your goal is to increase engagement with your referral program.
Sometimes, people who are not your existing customers will visit your referral program landing page, but you don’t need to worry about that.
Those people are not the target group of your landing page, but they may decide to become customers after discovering that you have a great referral program.
Why do you need a referral program landing page?
Creating a dedicated landing page will make it easier for your customer base to find and learn more about your referral program. This will result in more referred customers and lower customer acquisition costs.
One more benefit of having a landing page that provides additional information about your referral program is that you can use it for promoting other channels.
For example, if you are promoting a referral program through text marketing, you have a limited number of characters. If you exceed it, you are increasing the promotion cost, which leads to higher customer acquisition costs.
The solution is simple. Send a text message to your customers with a link that leads to your referral program landing page. You ensure that your text marketing messages are short and effective, but simultaneously, you provide all the necessary information that customers may need.
You can do the same with email marketing. Create a compact email that is easy to scan and invite people to learn more about your referral program by clicking the link.
How to create a referral landing page that stands out?
Creating a high-converting landing page may sound daunting, but with the following tips, it will be a breeze, even if you don’t have any marketing skills.
Headline
The headline is the most important part of your landing page. It’s the first thing that online visitors see.
With that in mind, what should you write in your headline?
“Join our referral program”?
Well, no. Your headline should showcase the biggest benefits of your referral program.
For example, if you are offering free massage for each referred friend, you can say something like:
“Relax for free by sharing with friends.”
Or “Refer a friend and get a facial massage for free.”
Here is an example of how Fiverr promoted its referral program with a catchy headline emphasizing its benefits.
Subheadline
This is where you can explain your referral program in more detail.
If you used the first example: “Relax for free by sharing with friends,” you can write:
“Get a unique code to share with friends and family, and you will get a free massage of your choice for each referral that becomes a customer.”
Call To Action (CTA) It is good practice to have multiple CTA buttons on your landing page. For example, you should have one CTA button under the subheadline so people can instantly take action without scrolling through your page.
The next button can be in the middle of the page and the last, at the bottom.
But, remember that they all should lead to the same action.
You don’t want to provide a call to action for people to join your referral program under the subheadline and then add “Learn about us” as the last call to action button. Instead, the landing page should achieve only one goal, to get people to join your referral program.
Your call to action will depend on what type of referral program you use. For example, if you have referral program software, you can invite people to start sharing your business right away.
Add social proof
Some landing pages have excellent conversion rates, while some struggle to convert visitors.
To avoid low conversation rates, you need to add social proof on your landing pages.
Social proof increases conversions because when people see that others are using your product or service, they will want to try it too.
It’s a psychological principle that makes people feel more comfortable about taking action if they know others have done it before them.
Here are some examples of social proof:
- Testimonials from customers.
- Statistics about your referral program (for example, how many people have signed up so far).
Explain your referral program.
A landing page is a great way to explain in detail how your referral program works and what benefits you provide. You can use images and copy to make your landing page easier to read and understand.
Explain to your customers how they can refer people and what they can get. The better you explain the referral process and rewards, the more people will be interested in engaging with your referral program.
Take advantage of your FAQ
The frequently asked questions (FAQ) section is a great place where you can boost your conversion rates in two ways.
First, is by answering any potential questions that your customers may have about your referral program. For example:
- How do you reward customers for their referrals?
- What type of products or services can I refer people to?
- Do I get a reward if the referral doesn’t become a paying customer?
- Can I share my unique link on social media?
The second way is to use the FAQ for more persuasive content. For example, if you offer a 50% discount on your service for every successful referral, you can write: “How much do people usually save with referral program reward?”
In this question, you can provide an answer to persuade people to join your referral program and start sharing your business with friends and family.
Design your landing page in the right way
Sometimes even if your content is persuasive, your landing page design can distract your customers and decrease your conversion rates. To avoid this, follow these basic design rules.
Use a simple and clear design
When creating a landing page, remember that you only have a few seconds to capture your reader’s attention. This means that you need to keep your design simple.
Your main goal is to reduce cognitive load and help people focus on what you want them to do: start referring people.
An excellent way to achieve this is by using a single-column layout and keeping the number of elements on your page to a minimum.
Use images wisely
Images are an essential part of any landing page, but you need to use them wisely. Too many, or irrelevant images, will distract from the main goal of your landing page. Instead, stick to high-quality images relevant to the offer and ensure they support the copywriting on the page.
Use typography carefully
The typeface can be used very effectively on landing pages if used correctly. It can be used to create a hierarchy, add contrast, and guide people through the content on the page. However, too much typeface can be overwhelming and confusing so use it sparingly.
Use different colors carefully
Colors are one of the most powerful tools in a designer’s toolkit, but they must be used carefully. The right color can help you guide people’s attention to the most important elements on your page and create a feeling of cohesion. The wrong color, on the other hand, can create a feeling of dissonance and make your landing page feel chaotic.
When choosing colors for your landing page, consider using a limited palette of two or three colors complimenting each other. And avoid using more than one color for the call-to-action button, as it will make it harder for people to notice it.
Use whitespace effectively
Whitespace is the empty space on your landing page that surrounds the elements. It’s often overlooked, but it’s one of the most important aspects of landing page design.
Whitespace can help you create a feeling of openness, guide people’s attention to the most important elements, and make your content easier to consume. So don’t be afraid of using it generously on your landing page.
Maximize your referrals
Customer referrals are one of the easiest ways to attract new people and generate loyal customers. And not only that, they’re great for exposure on social media.
To discover how to maximize your referrals, check out the Referral Program Ultimate Guide for Small Businesses.
There you will find everything from how to create a referral marketing program and what referral campaigns look like to what data you need to track and how to optimize for better results.
