Referral Businesses Need Digital Marketing
This article was published on May 5, 2023
Categorized in: Digital Marketing
When it comes to business, referrals can be valuable. If your business relies heavily on referrals, it’s important to know that digital marketing is still important. Referrals are unpredictable. You don’t know when they will occur. You may go through a period where you’re getting a stream of referrals and the next thing you know; things have gone quiet. To keep your business thriving when referral business isn’t booming, digital marketing should be implemented. Here’s what you should know about referral businesses and digital marketing:
Referrals Can Help Build Your Business
Referrals can be a prestigious way to get new business. Attracting new customers via word-of-mouth means that people have experienced your product or service as well as your customer service and been satisfied enough to not only tell people about your business, but refer them to you. Customers trust the referrals of other customers. People are more likely to make a purchase when they are referred by a family member or a friend. Other benefits of referral business include:
- Positive feedback. Reviews and testimonials are often provided by people who refer others to your business through conversation. This positive feedback can be seen online by anyone, which can help increase business.
- Incentives increase referrals. If you have a referral program, customers will be more likely to refer people they think would be interested. Your referral program should make it easy for customers to share opinions such as social media links and pre-filled messages.
However, you can’t depend on referrals for your business. Even if you have satisfied customers who send you referral business, there will be times when this slows down. You don’t want to reply on referrals alone because this can leave you with gaps where you’re not making as many sales. It’s risky for your business growth to rely on referral business alone. Referrals can be a wonderful source of business, but it is unreliable and your business should not be at the will of them alone.
Build Your Business with Digital Marketing
As mentioned, referrals can come from online avenues such as social media is beneficial for your business. Implementing digital marketing will help to boost the growth of your business along with referrals. Digital marketing should be considered the foundation, not the referrals. Digital marketing has lasting impacts, whereas referrals eventually dry up. Not only that, but marketing should encompass a variety of activities and cast a much wider net. Businesses that fail to see this won’t be as profitable as they could be.
For example, social media allows customers and prospective customers to engage with you, your content, and most importantly, with each other. Customers interacting online is popular and lucrative for businesses with high customer satisfaction. Social media marketing can help with referrals as well as attract followers and customers who find you through organic searches.
SEO is an integral part of success for all businesses. SEO helps your search engine results stay on top and increase the number of visitors to your website and social media, which will in turn increase sales. Your SEO efforts will help attract your target audience and drive more business your way. Having a digital marketing strategy in addition to referrals is a great way to ensure that your business continues to grow.
Referral businesses should understand the importance of digital marketing and how it can not only benefit them through said referrals, but to keep the business thriving and growing. Referrals can’t be relied on alone, even if your business is mainly referral-based.
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About the Author: Brick Marketing President, Nick Stamoulis
Nick Stamoulis is a digital marketing expert and President of Brick Marketing. With 25+ years experience, he specializes in solving complex digital marketing challenges through SEO, content marketing, social media, PPC, email marketing, SEO for AI (GEO) and conversion optimization.
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