Referral marketing
Why it matters
A referred buyer arrives pre-vouched for by someone they trust, so they tend to need less convincing and the cost of winning them is low. The catch is that it only works once delivery is good. No reward persuades someone to recommend a mediocre service. Timing matters too: an ask made right after a client sees a strong result lands much better than one made at a random moment or at contract renewal, when the memory has faded.
What it is
Referral marketing is growth that comes through people who already know and trust you. A client introduces a peer, a partner passes on a lead, or a customer recommends the product. It can be informal, such as a polite ask after a good result, or a structured programme with tracking and rewards. Word of mouth is what happens on its own. Referral marketing is the deliberate effort to make it happen more often.
Common mistakes
- Asking before the client has seen any result.
- Rewarding in a way that makes the introduction feel like a sales transaction between friends.
- Running several referral tools at once, which muddles attribution.
- Never reporting back to the referrer on what happened.
How to run it
- Find the moment value becomes obvious to a client, such as a first clear result, and ask for an introduction then.
- Try a plain ask with no reward first. Many B2B buyers refer because it helps a peer, not because of an incentive.
- Add a reward only if the plain ask underperforms, and keep the mechanism simple.
- Make it easy. Give the client a short, pre-written introduction they can forward.
- Record where every lead came from and thank the person who sent it, whether or not the deal closes.
