How to increase business referrals

To get ahead of the competition, every business must grow, and that includes fitness or wellness businesses. Your business needs to retain the customers it has while still attracting new clients to be profitable. Even if you already have a loyal customer base, the market can change at any time, and you may lose a few customers.

If your clients are satisfied with the results you provide them, they should be motivated to refer their friends to your business. But having a profitable referral program on hand may help a great deal in your marketing strategy to help increase business referrals.

What Are Business Referrals?

According to Hubspot, a business referral is when an existing customer refers your business to a new customer, which may happen in a passing conversation. It could come from your referral marketing efforts. Often, referrals are made on a whim, but companies can increase business referrals by putting customer service first and then using referral marketing platforms to help keep track of referrals.

Customer Experience

If you want your fitness and wellness business to grow, give your customers something to talk about before you start asking for customer referrals. As you and your employees go about your daily classes and sessions, you must always think about people’s needs. To be able to keep their attention, you need not only to thrill them, but also to delight them.

Give people results

Your customers are already walking billboards for your business. If your current customers are pleased with the results of taking your fitness classes or getting spa treatments, they will tell friends and family about you.

When they see how much healthier and fitter your clients are, they will reach out to you and start to come into your business. This is one inexpensive way to gain referrals because you know that these are quality referrals who are coming in to fulfill a need, rather than using traditional marketing such as paid advertising.

Present the benefits that can help them achieve their goals

It might be worthwhile for you to find out what a customer’s goals are when they visit your gym or wellness shop in order to attract customers who respect your knowledge. Once you know their goals, you go above and beyond to provide them with the right solutions that can help them in their daily lives.

For instance, in your fitness boutique, you can teach them more than just what exercises to do, how to do them, and when to do them. Help them understand why doing a particular exercise will help them achieve their goals.

Your goal when seeing a frequent customer is to make the most of your time with them. Even when you are not with them, you want them to be efficient at their other workouts and daily life activities.

Take care of your customers

When delivering one-time spa sessions or classes, always offer high points throughout the customer experience and even afterward. This means you should continue to invest in your customer relationships and provide strategies so your customers will remember your business.

For instance, offering a challenging workout is one thing, but making them sore or injured in the process is another. You don’t want your customers saying things like, “That class I took a few days ago left me with sore muscles.”

Whenever possible, make sure you ask your customers if they have any pain or previous injuries before a class. Always give adjustments if you notice a new member joining your class.

In a spa, customers must feel comfortable enough to tell massage therapists about previous injuries or pain so that they are able to massage any problem areas on the body accordingly.

Establish customer loyalty by providing excellent customer service, and maintaining tight after sales service standards.

In today’s world of faceless customer service messaging and texts, customer service is highly valued. You will have a strong base from which to build a referral marketing program if all of these are handled correctly.

Customer Experience

No matter how hard you try, even your most loyal customers may not know about your referral program. Don’t assume that customers stopping by your business are aware of your referral program. Customers have already praised your excellent customer service to their friends and families, so use their loyalty and trust in your business by informing them of your referral program.

Ask for referrals by word-of-mouth and online

Word-of-mouth marketing requires promotion. Have your instructors talk about the referral programs before or after class to help spread the word with customers. You can provide your current customers with free gym or spa pass cards, which they can hand out to friends and family.

Your website can include a referral form for members. Set up a social media campaign centered on referrals, encouraging followers to refer friends. Adding social media integration to popular websites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram can assist with sharing content, linking to unique content, and promoting special offers.

Offer a double-incentive referral program

For a customer to refer their friends and family, provide both existing clients and potential new customers with a double-incentive referral program. Referral programs that reward both the customers and the potential customers receive that same incentive or a different one from each other.

For example, if a customer refers to a friend who buys a class package, they both receive a free small group training session. The customer can also receive points or credit for the referral.

It’s worth noting that the incentives may need to change depending on your customer base and marketing efforts. Depending on your situation, you may want to create referral programs for potential customers as well as for local social media influencers.

A tier system may also be an option, where your customers get more benefits with each referral including branded merchandise or membership in a community of brand ambassadors.

Make your referral program easier for sharing

Most businesses make the mistake of thinking their customers know how to share a referral link when they join a referral program. In fact, your customers will ask the question, “How do I share my referral link?”

With the right referral marketing platform, customers can share their referral link easily via text or email. For example, they can share their referral link via a text message with a friend for a free workout and then they can earn $50. The friend comes in to redeem a free workout, and the existing customer receives the credit along with a thank you note.

Increase Your Business Referrals With These Steps

To be successful with a referral campaign, get to know your customers. Ask them about where their friends train and seek their input on what they would like to see more of that’s going to motivate them to bring friends and family.

In the day and age of social media, consumer referrals go beyond the face-to-face, conversational methods of the past. You can make it easier for your customers to refer their friends and family with a referral marketing platform, so you can keep track of business referrals and give them their due incentives.

If done correctly, a referral campaign can significantly increase the number of increased business referrals your company receives. Once you have established it, be sure to monitor its success and track where the greatest impact is being felt.

3+ ways to build an opt-in customer database by using Referrizer

Discover how to build your opt-in customer database using tools you have in Referrizer.

3 easy ways to build a database

1. Scan QR Code or Text YES to your Texting number

One of the easiest ways to collect client’s opt-in permission is to have your clients text YES to your Texting Number (Smartline)

How does it work?

Tell your clients that you updated your communication policy and they will not be able to receive Text updates and deals unless they opt-in their number.

Simply, they need to scan the QR Code and press SEND.

PRINT an OPT-IN QR Code template. Purchase from Office Depot or Staple acrylic 8.5 x 11” stand to place print inside.

Download your OPT-IN TEMPLATE HERE.

2. Email Opt-in Campaign

Want to send Email Opt-in Campaign to your customers right away?

3. Smart Line

Referrizer’s Smart Line is a tool that allows you to encourage every client that calls your business to opt-in for marketing messages.

How does it work?

When the phone call ends, your clients/leads will receive a text message that thanks them for calling and asks if they want to get notified about special offers, promotions, and news.

One of our spa clients managed to get 1456 new opt-ins just by using the Smart Line feature to engage clients after the call has ended.

Smart Line advantage.

The Smart Line is connected to your CRM in Referrizer, so if a client/lead who already opted in is calling you, he/she will not receive the message that invites them to opt-in again.

What do you need to start collecting opt-ins with Smart Line?

If you have a Referrizer premium account, the Smart line tracking number is already available to you. To start using it, you will need to promote the Smart Line number whenever your clients may find it. For example: Social media platforms and the Google business page. If you want to activate the Smart Line tracking number, check out this article to see how.

BONUS

4. Smart WiFi

If you want to target existing clients to opt-in for marketing messages, Smart WiFi is a tool that is ideal for targeting people who are inside of your business.

How does it work?

When a client tries to connect to your free business WiFi, if you have Referrizer Smart WiFi active, it will ask them to provide their name and phone number to continue. By doing so, clients are opting themselves in to be able to use your free WiFi.

Smart WiFi advantage.

Once your client opt-in and connects to your WiFi, the next time he/she visits your business, Smart WiFi will recognize them and automatically check-in your client. This comes in handy for your loyalty program since clients will be able to check-in and earn rewards easier without involving your staff.

How to get Smart WiFi in your business?

In Referrizer, we provide you with a device that turns your regular WiFi into a smart one. This device is free, but it comes with a $149 deposit that will be returned to you if you decide you don’t want to use Smart WiFi anymore.

Click here to order your Smart WiFi device.

Best way to boost your opt-ins with Smart WiFi.

Providing a phone number for access to WiFi certainly isn’t the best deal for clients. Usually, they expect some kind of reward when they share a piece of private information.

However, Smart WiFi can work well even if you don’t offer any kind of discount if framed in the right way. Two ways you can frame it:

Tell clients they will be among the first people to hear about upcoming special offers.
Let your staff explain the benefits of checking in easier and earning points.

5. Check-in Kiosk

Same as for Smart WiFi, Check-in Kiosk is an effective way to get clients in your business to opt-in.

How does it work?

When you use Referrizer Loyalty program, one of the ways clients can earn points is through check-ins. Check-In Kiosk is a tablet that allows your clients to confirm their visit by entering their phone number.

How to start collecting phone numbers from your clients?

Simply order your free Referrizer Check-in kiosk here. We will send it to you in no time so you can start collecting opt-ins as soon as possible.

6. Opt-in Paper Form

Sometimes, you don’t need any kind of advanced technology to get people to opt-in.

Politely asking clients when they are in your business if they want to receive a special offer works just fine.

Get them to fill in and sign a short document with their name and phone number that explains that they will occasionally receive promotional messages. After that, the client has opted-in legally and you have the green light to send them marketing messages without any hesitation.

What to do with the contacts you collected using paper opt-in?

Apart from automatically updating your contacts in Referrizer, you can also manually import contacts into your CRM. During the import process, you will have a choice to select if the client has opted-in for SMS or email marketing. Make sure that you choose the right channel that the client has selected.

Download FREE paper opt-in for you to use in your business to collect clients’ phone numbers.

7. Landing page

If you are using Referrizer landing pages, you have a super-easy way to collect customers’ emails. The same as with the methods mentioned above, the number of subscribers will depend on the way you ask for the opt-in.

What to write?

Here are a few ideas that you can put on your landing page:

Get informed about exclusive rewards.

Receive special offers from [BUSINESS NAME] in your email.
Get notified about awesome offers from [BUSINESS NAME]

How to start collecting opt-ins from your landing page?

If you have an active landing page in Referrizer, follow these steps to activate a subscription section:

Click on the Landing Page module in the Referrizer backend (left side menu).
Select a landing page where you want to add a subscription section.
Find the “subscribe element” on the left side and activate it. It will appear on your landing page.
Edit text, background, and button color to make it perfect.

Referral Tracking for Small Businesses: How to Get Started

There are few things more persuasive than the referrals of people you trust. It is also free, so you can get a much higher ROI with referral marketing. In the U.S., friends’ social media posts influence 81% of customers’ buying decisions, compared with 78% who are influenced by posts by the brands they follow.

Customer referral programs work best though when you are clear on your sales and marketing goals, make changes to encourage sharing and referrals, and implement a tracking platform that helps you achieve marketing and sales objectives.

What is referral tracking?

Since many people rely on the opinions of friends and family, they often ask them for recommendations regarding films, restaurants or books. People like to share products related to their favorite companies, such as gyms or workouts.

Think about the scenario where your gym or fitness boutique gets referred by not one referrer, but a lot of people. Now, you’ll have to track which referrals came from each person. Referral tracking is a method of monitoring and collecting data on all activities related to your referral program.

Your existing customer base can receive their personalized referral code or referral link, and when their referred friends and family use one to check out your business, you will be able to track all your customer referrals.

What are the benefits of tracking referrals?

Referrals need to be tracked for several reasons, including identifying who to reward and when. While tracking referrals can provide you with deep insight into how to increase referrals, it can also help you make smarter decisions about your marketing strategy. Several other reasons exist that can help you with your referral program.

Measure the level of customer satisfaction

You can gauge the satisfaction of your customers by tracking a few key metrics in your referral program. Referrals are more likely to come when your customers are happy with your service. NPS (Net Promoter Score) is one metric you can use for measuring customer satisfaction. The likelihood of a satisfied customer referring your product and services is greater than that of a dissatisfied customer, regardless of if there is a reward.

See how many people have signed up for your referral program

Review your referral marketing program’s participation rate to help you evaluate its success. Looking at participation rates or numbers of sign-ups can help you determine if the program is working. Your referral marketing strategy may need to be altered if your participation rate is low.

Check how often your referrers share their referral codes

Take a look at how many advocates are sending referrals, and which channels they prefer, such as email, text messages, social media, a referral code, and so on. Your advocates can then produce more content and improve the experience of using the program.

You will be more likely to get recommendations from happy customers. When you offer an incentive, you can measure satisfaction right there. Clients who receive a relevant reward will refer others.

Track the number of referrals from your customers

You can see how much an advocate gets referrals by tracking their referral rate. From that, you can create a level-based reward system and the number of referrals generated by your best advocates can go a long way.

You may have an advocate who shares their referral code and referral links with their 10,000 followers on social media. However, not everyone will click on the referral link. This equates to only .1% of followers clicking on the link. Ensure that what you offer will satisfy a new customer.

See how many referrals actually follow through

Your referrer might share many times, but only get a handful of referrals. Now you need to see if that referred friend will show up to your business.

You’ll be able to track how many referrals visit your gym after being referred. By using this number, you can determine whether changes are needed for your referral program. The number is often used by marketers to gauge a program’s success.

To measure the effectiveness of your redirect page, landing page, and confirmation page, you can also look at how long it takes a consumer to buy a product after clicking on their referral code. A low number of referrals may indicate you need to restructure your referral marketing program or reconsider your referral rewards.

Ensure referrals are valid

If you do not track references accurately and effectively, you might be charged for referrals that aren’t genuine. It could also decrease the overall return on your program if you pay for referrals that aren’t authentic.

The right tracking can enable you to determine which references are rewarded, which is important to ensure only legitimate referrals get paid and that self-referrals and fake referrals do not get anything.

Analyze how the referral marketing program affects revenue

Incentives provided to members will likely have a significant impact on your profit based on how high your conversion rate is. You can offer your existing customers an incentive to convert friends and family into members through a 10% discount. But a free trial for conversion could result in a loss of profit.

How can you track your referrals?

For the business owner trying to keep up with referral marketing, keeping track of your referral information is one of the more challenging and perplexing aspects of referral marketing. There are several methods for tracking, including flyers, cards, and referral program software.

You may need a simple solution rather than something more complex depending on your business needs.

1. Real-life Referral Process

For a spa or wellness boutique that offers printed materials like gift cards to customers, you can provide referring customers with copies of business cards and flyers to hand out to their friends. You can also add a referral code to printed referral cards, which will link the referrer to anyone who uses it.

2. Online Customer Referral Process

When you work with a good referral platform, the simplest referral program would be:

A referrer participating in the referral program invites their friends and family via their referral tracker, which could be a referral link or code.
The referred friend is then tracked using the unique identifier that can be found in a referral link or code.
A referrer receives a reward when a friend purchases referrers, products, or services through the link provided.

3. Referral Platform Process

It becomes easier when using referral program software and the software does all of the work.

On a confirmation page, JavaScript web pixels are used to track user characteristics (via cookies).
A postback URL is a link back to the referral program software with the conversion data and URL parameters you provide.
An API call returns the URL parameters provided by the referral program with the referrer’s referral.

Looking for a referral program platform?

Referrizer is an automated referral marketing tool that helps you to increase referrals and easily keep track of rewards, advocates and new customers that you generated through word of mouth marketing.

Always Review Your Referral Tracking Process

When running a referral program, keeping track of referrals is a critical part of your overall marketing strategy. The more visible a referral program is, the more likely it is to succeed. Your referrers should be able to utilize their referral codes or referral links on social media, fliers, and even traditional cards.

Don’t forget that a successful referral program is all about providing an excellent customer experience so your customers are more than willing to refer you to others. You can still use referral tracking, in either case, to keep track of your customer referral program, increasing the chances of your business growing.

Top 25 Referral Marketing Program Mistakes

If you have happy existing customers who are pleased with your products and services, it is a good idea to ask them for a referral. The relationships you have with your customers can help you grow your customer base, since they can refer friends in their networks.

But just chatting to your customers about referring isn’t always enough. The setup and management of referral marketing campaigns usually entails a lot of moving parts, so there is a risk of referral programs failing. You must also work hard to ensure that you maintain the satisfaction of your current customers to continue and grow your business.

We’ve identified 25 common mistakes business owners and marketers commit in referral marketing, so you can plan your referral marketing strategy and avoid these failures.

Beginner Mistakes

1. Neglecting customer satisfaction

If you have a lackluster product or service at first, then there’s no way customers will refer you to their friends. Be sure you’re delivering services and products that exceed your customer’s expectations before asking for a customer referral.

2. Asking customers for referrals when they may not be ready to refer right away

There may be a hesitation from people to tell others about your company right away. You need to recognize when your customers will trust you enough to start recommending you to friends and family. Luckly, as a business owner you should know your customers well enough to decide on the right timing.

3. Assuming no customers means no referral marketing

There is no need to wait for a critical mass of customers before you begin focusing on referral marketing. You can scale your word-of-mouth marketing alongside your other channels such as paid ads and influencer marketing as your company grows.

4. Targeting the wrong customers

Boosting referrals will be difficult for brands that have not connected with their customers. To find the right audience for your company, look through your sales data and social media channels.

5. Referrals don’t know where to take the next steps

You shouldn’t leave too much to chance when attempting to reach new customers. Going from a word-of-mouth referral to a confusing or overly detailed referral page can discourage a friend from going through a referral.

Launch Mistakes

6. Set and forget

When you launch a referral program, you can’t simply forget about it. Especially in the early stages, it’s important to keep track and if needed redesign, evaluate, and reassess it on a regular basis.

7. Zero personalization

A personalized referral is just as important as an invitation to join. If a customer feels that they are not treated as a person but as simply a number, they will not join your program.

8. Not choosing the right type of promotions

If your business is one in which customer privacy is key, customers revealing their referral links on social media will cause problems. Referral cards and emails may be more appropriate alternatives.

9. You still have not figured out the best strategy

There is no shortcut to success when it comes to referrals. If it remains stagnant, consider changing your goals or incentives after giving your program some time to become adjusted.

10. You're not patient enough

As soon as your referral campaign fails to generate the millions you had hoped for, you give up. To be successful, you must reevaluate your campaign regularly and refuse to give up on your referral marketing.

Referral Marketing Mistakes

11. It’s hard to find

The importance of maintaining a visible referral program on your website, social media pages, email newsletters, and even in your brick-and-mortar location cannot be overstated. Getting the program out in front of the customer will likely get them to notice it and investigate it.

12. The registration process is complex

Signing up for your referral program may be too confusing for customers. Make sure that signup is frictionless and access to referral incentives is straightforward.

13. Your customers have a difficult time navigating through your referral webpage

You don’t have to go for a fancy design for your referral program’s webpage, but you do have to make it meaningful for your customers and easy for them to navigate. A customer may otherwise reconsider joining the program as a result of this.

14. Your website hides the CTA (call-to-action)

If you hide your call-to-action on your website, customers are less likely to interact with it. Make sure your website includes a basic call-to-action that directs the audience to the right place where they can join your referral program.

15. Your content is hard to understand

Customers should not be forced to read long blocks of text if you want them to recommend your products. The average person looks at a website’s written content for 5.59 seconds, so you only have a few seconds to tell your customers what your referral program is all about.

Promotional Mistakes

16. There is no invitation to customers

If customers don’t know your program exists, how will they learn about it? Do not forget to personally ask your customers for referrals, and to encourage them to endorse your business by using word-of-mouth marketing.

17. The way you ask customers to start referring

Getting clients to join your referral program won’t work if you come across as desperate. This will seem insincere and will make your customers feel uncomfortable.

18. Referrers haven't heard from you enough

Don’t forget to continue to engage your referrers, or you otherwise let them flail in the wind. However, don’t go too far either or you’ll annoy them, which could result in no reads, deletions, and unsubscribes.

19. You have failed to get feedback from customers

Seeing low levels of engagement may lead you to reach out to customers in order to learn why. Using this valuable information is one method of transforming a referral program.

20. You don't say "thank you" to your referrals

Send a personal thank you message or call the customer if they take the time to make a referral. It is increasingly important to show people you care by offering them simple courtesies.

Incentive Mistakes

21. There is no reward for the referral

Referral programs that reward the referrer while offering no incentive to the referral usually fail before they get off the ground. By offering rewards to successful referrals as well, you will add an extra incentive to encourage them to try out your business.

22. You only offer irrelevant rewards

Imagine you have referred your friends to a company and are excited about getting a unique incentive only to be offered a low-quality branded pen or mug as a thank-you for your referrals. To generate excitement about referral marketing, you should offer a range of rewards to your customers, from cash rewards to gift cards to discounts.

23. The incentive structure is confusing

If you can’t explain your referral incentives to a five-year-old, then it is too complex. Referral programs must be simple for customers: This makes it easier for them to figure out what rewards they will earn so that they are more inclined to refer their friends.

24. You don’t know how many incentives you gave out

If everything is going well and your customers are happy with your incentives, then you need to know how to track the overall performance. Getting the best results from your referral program requires that you track referrals and review key metrics.

25. You use a spreadsheet for tracking

Thanks to software that makes setting up referral programs easy, you don’t have to manually enter referrals into a spreadsheet. You can track referral incentives, measure performance, and track referral incentives all in one dashboard.

Bottom line?

Referral programs are excellent strategies for rewarding current customers and gaining new ones. When launching a referral program, companies expect hundreds of new customers right away.

However, it’s best to focus on creating a well-run, referral program that gets customers excited with relevant incentives and meaningful appreciation from the company. With some testing and patience, your referral program can get off to a good start.

A Guide to the Best Small Business Referral Program

There are many things to consider when selecting the most efficient incentives for your referral program. Besides raising brand awareness, referral programs can also generate leads and increase brand recognition.

These pointers will help you determine the best referral program incentive to maximize your return on investment, whether you want to acquire more clients with cash rewards or free trial offers.

What is Referral Program Marketing?

The process of a business getting new customers by word-of-mouth is known as referral marketing. A customer who knows the business can recommend their products and services to someone who needs them. Referral programs are common in many companies. They generally offer incentives to the referrer, to the referee, or both of them. It’s easy to evaluate referral marketing programs when you keep track of your referees and their incentives by using referral marketing software.

Referral Marketing Benefits for Business Owners and Businesses

Referral program marketing is not only for major corporations. Small businesses can also gain more exposure and customers in their local communities.

Increase Revenue by Word-of-Mouth Referrals

As a business owner, you can earn money and generate leads passively by using referral marketing. This method of customer acquisition is a low-cost strategy and eliminates the need to actively sell yourself.

Additionally, personal referrals are most powerful compared to any form of self-promotion. 92% of consumers trust referrals from friends and family, according to a Nielsen report. It is also easier to close deals with leads from referrals than with leads acquired through other channels. They are more likely to be qualified and require less time to “warm up” before closing.

Local Brand Awareness

For small businesses trying to reach out to local communities, referral programs are even more beneficial. Small businesses benefit more from referral programs since a positive testimonial from a trusted friend in the local community is much more likely to create trust than a cold call and advertising. Additionally, an existing customer who is converted in this way is more likely to make repeat purchases and refer a friend, resulting in a 16% higher customer lifetime value.

Cost-Effective Strategy to Win More Customers

For newer businesses, referral marketing programs are cost-effective strategies for establishing a client base at an early stage. For example, you can set up your referral program on referral software. Referral programs, especially those powered by referral software, make it so easy to share, they work like mini-advertisements for your business.

Customers will see a short message from you along with your business logo. Having 30 people share your referral program automatically places you in front of new customers and saves you money on advertising.

What Makes a Successful Referral Program

Referral programs that work depend on personal referrals, customer loyalty, and reliable two-way incentives to increase revenue and promote your business.

Consistent Personal Referrals

A referred lead has a better chance of converting than a cold call because this individual already trusts you after hearing about your work from a trusted friend. After all, you’ve been offering high-quality products and services for someone they know and trust.

When people find out about your brand from word-of-mouth referrals, you have an opportunity to grow your client base without incurring expenses for advertising. Whether you are brand new to your industry or a smaller business, you will appreciate the opportunity to expand your customer base.

Loyal Customers

Customer loyalty means your customers will spread the word about you. You will continue to gain and keep loyal customers by providing them with the best possible service. Positive customer experiences will lead to repeat business. Your company also provides a service that people require and represents a set of ideals that are aligned with what your customers value. Do not forget to thank a customer who referred you to a new lead by offering an incentive.

Two-Sided Referral Program

Customers usually enjoy incentives for referrals, and the same goes for their referees, so having a two-sided referral program can help you get more customers. This incentive is typically what keeps them referring over time. An example of a two-sided incentive would be a $75 gift card for the referrer and a discount of 20% for the customer.

How to Create a Referral Program: Start with Referral Program Offers

Before you focus on your referral marketing strategy, you need to ensure your customers enjoy your products and services and address any problems with your customer service. A superior product or service and exceptional customer service are essential. You can influence your customers’ experiences both positively and negatively, so consider the products and services you offer and the type of customer service.

To gain more traction with your customers, you may want to consider implementing one of these referral program ideas as you retool your products and services if needed.

Cash or Credit Rewards

If your customers do not make regular purchases, cash rewards are a good referral incentive. On the other hand, the excitement of cash incentives may motivate customers to refer your company to their friends. Make sure that your products are memorable enough that people will gladly refer your company to others even without incentives.

Cash incentives can be used for anything your referrer wants, so these incentives can be useful for short-term growth, particularly if you’re in a new or up-and-coming market.

Gift Cards

Referral program gift cards are very popular incentives. By offering customers the option to choose their preferred rewards for referrals, gift cards give them a great deal of freedom. Don’t limit gift cards to products you sell.

You can also offer gift cards from third-party companies such as Starbucks, Visa, and so forth. Gift cards are an excellent alternative to cash rewards, particularly if you are not expecting customers to make another purchase.

Discounts

You may also want to consider offering a discount through your referral program. Discounts offer value to returning customers, especially if your company sells a wide range of products.

Depending on the level of referrals, customers who return can receive a specific amount of discount, such as $20 off on their next purchase, or a percentage of discount, such as 25% off. You build client loyalty and increase sales with this incentive.

Subscriber Credits or Points as Incentives for Regulars

Keep the company’s value by only allowing your customers to buy with the credit you give them. Subscription credits and points can be useful for products and services that are “pay-per-use” or usually paid for on a regular basis. With this method, you will incur little to no cost, although the customer will think they’re saving a lot of money.

Company Merch for Every Referral Program Tier

Your consumers will truly feel like brand ambassadors when you give them company merchandise. You could structure the incentive progressively, offering more exclusive merchandise for more referrals.

Use websites that offer print-on-demand services for all-in-one graphic design and fulfillment services. If your budget permits, you can hire a graphic designer to come up with unique t-shirts, hats, and sweatshirts that will set your company apart from the competition.

Having a tangible reward system means your customers will be able to see it every day, giving them a sense of attachment to the brand and helping you attain new customers.

What You Need To Do To Promote Your Referral Program

After you decide on a referral incentive, you must find a way to promote it. You could ask your staff for help in promoting it in person, but you also have other ways to do so.

Social Media

When you have a referral program, word of mouth can spread as quickly as a click of a button. A customer posts your referral program on their social media feeds to share with their followers. Imagine a few of those followers clicking on the link and becoming customers. You can see how the cycle can last for a while once you have these new customers letting their friends know about your referral program.

In-Store Shopping

When you sell a lot of products online, you can provide free in-store services for your referrers such as free in-store pickup and personalization of your products to encourage more online customers to come into your brick-and-mortar store if you have one.

You can make a positive first impression by creating a welcoming atmosphere that will build customer loyalty. In turn, these customers will remember your business, take part in your referral program, and refer others to your store, generating more customers.

Company Website

Make sure you have a section or menu item on your website with information about your referral program. This will help pique visitors’ interest, and greatly increase your chances of turning them into brand ambassadors.

The top of the site can include information about your program, and you can test and update the copy every two weeks to see what works best.

Use a Small Business Referral Program to Grow Your Business

When you invest in referral programs, your small business is more likely to be marketable. Referral programs are relatively affordable and a worthwhile alternative.

It is not always necessary to ask someone to refer you. Providing quality products and services along with excellent customer service will boost your business. If you have not yet made the most of customer service and your products, use referral programs to grow.

How to Start a Gym Referral Program

You may have spent a lot of money on Facebook and Instagram ads, PPC (pay-per-click) ads, or printed flyers to get new members to your gym. However, you’re missing out on a tremendous chance to attract new members if your fitness studio doesn’t have a referral program. Using a referral program can save a lot of money, because it requires very little advertising, or none at all.

Starting a gym membership referral program means you are effectively asking your members to do all of your marketing for you. Your gym members are your best advocates, and referral marketing continues to be one of the best ways to increase membership.

What is a Gym Referral Program?

Gym referral marketing is a marketing technique that uses word of mouth and recommendations to increase the number of customers through the network of existing customers of your gym.

Referring new gym members is cost-effective. The member would serve as a channel to promote and talk about your gym without having to use extra marketing dollars. Members would only suggest your gym to other friends and family in the local area, giving you more potential members.

Research has shown again and again that people still trust the recommendations of people they know. Although many brands compete in the same marketing arenas such as social media and Google ads, people are still inclined to trust recommendations from their friends and family. In fact, potential gym members are four times more likely to sign up for a gym membership if their friends or family recommend it to them.

Why a Referral Program Works for Gyms

A gym member may influence their immediate family and friends to come to the gym just by sharing their physical results. A potential member may experience an internal response when they come to see these results firsthand. They may feel motivated to achieve the same results and feel good about themselves.

Not all gym members like to work out by themselves. Over 44% of gymgoers prefer to exercise accompanied by at least one friend. Friends and family can also be great motivators for gym members to maintain their fitness goals, so they are more likely to stay motivated and to keep exercising as long as they can.

Maintaining a friendly and welcoming atmosphere in your gym is critical to keeping members happy and encouraging them to refer to their family and friends. Your gym members can show your classes and programs to friends and family when they bring them over, taking all the work off your shoulders and seeing your gym membership numbers grow.

What are the Best Referral Programs for Gyms

Before you create a referral program, your current gym members need to have some incentive to spread the word and refer your gym to friends and family. Incentives that appeal to your gym members are critical to the success of your program.

The incentives don’t have to just be cash incentives. According to University of Chicago researchers, non-cash incentives helped boost performance significantly more than cash ones. You need to identify what incentives would appeal to your gym members and what incentives fit your budget so that your gym can offer the best referral rewards.

There are a number of ways you could reward them:

Buddy Passes

When they are referred by a friend, new members usually feel excited and possibly embarrassed at first when they join a new gym or program. Their embarrassment might be a result of seeing different machines, learning new exercise techniques, and passing by physically fit gym members. If new gym members are offered a buddy pass for a referral, they may be more motivated and excited to start their fitness journey with a trusted friend or family member.

Gift Cards

Each referral your gym members provide will help them to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Give your gym members gift certificates for supplements, nutrition bars, and athletic apparel. You can network with local restaurants and stores to offer gift cards for gym members.

Discounted Membership

You can never go wrong with offering a discounted gym membership when they refer friends and family. For every referring gym member who refers to someone, take out a small dollar amount or percentage from their monthly membership dues.

Free Gym Merchandise

If you’d like to add a competitive element to the referral program, you can give members free gym merchandise in the form of exclusively branded gym t-shirts. Your referral program may attract other members who want to win the t-shirts, so you have more members joining in the fun of referring to their friends and family.

Referral Challenge

Challenges might be a fantastic way to engage gym members and motivate them to work hard for a prize such as a free week of personal training with their favorite instructor or a spa treatment package in partnership with a local spa. For every successful referral, they earn a number of points. The member with the most points at the end of the referral challenge will win the prize.

How to Create My Own Referral Program

Although selecting an incentive may seem easy, you should consider which steps your gym members have to take to refer others as well as how you plan to track referrals at your gym. You can consider these referral program ideas.

Referral Forms

Providing a referral form that can be found at the front desk of the gym will allow members to fill out their own name and the contact information of the person they are referring to. It would require training for your gym staff members to have members fill out the hardcopy referral form. You can also put a referral page on your gym’s website for members to fill out, but this would take commitment on the part of your members.

Referral Cards

Members can receive referral cards to present to friends and family so that they can tell them about the gym. As a result, if the referral comes back to redeem it, you’ll know whom to thank. However, this can be expensive since printing cards is an additional expense.

Referral Program Software

Rather than using paper forms or cards, a referral program is your best bet to a well-run referral program. Creating a referral program isn’t complicated at all when you use referral program software that allows you to track your gym members’ referrals and analyze your numbers. You can organize all your referrals and gym members’ information so you know whom to reward and who became loyal gym members.

Working with the Best Referral Software

Referrizer Referral marketing tool allows you to track rewards and points to find out who to refer to, since you also do not want to give away more freebies than you planned. You can reach out to the referring member to give them the rewards they deserve after referring to their friends and family.

Schedule a demo now to see why more than 350 gyms love our referral marketing tool.

Lots of software programs can overwhelm anyone, especially those who want software made for local gym owners. The referral program software can take the key learnings from each gym’s membership retention rates and the local market and create regular and successful referral marketing campaigns which align with your business goals.

Create a Great First Experience for Your Referral Marketing

The frequency with which you run a referral marketing program is determined by the size of your gym, your membership, and your needs for new members. Experiment with a few different referral marketing campaigns to see what works best for your gym. If you have chosen an incentive that will greatly appeal to your gym members, it’s time to put your gym referral program to work to motivate more new members to join your gym.

How to Increase Online Yoga Class Attendance

As a yoga teacher or studio owner in the pandemic era, you surely understand the importance of numbers and technology to your business. You must have enough members to earn a living, and without members, your studio will fail.

Yoga studios that offer members the choice of attending live classes or watching recorded videos are more likely to be successful. Even as the pandemic winds down, online yoga classes will likely stay. Increase the attendance rate to your online yoga classes with the help of several tools and technologies.

7 Ideas for Increasing Online Yoga Class Attendance in 2021

To increase class size and attract members, these basic strategies can be useful as you grow your yoga studio.

1. Set Up Your Studio’s Social Media Accounts

You can promote your business on social media for free or through paid advertising, depending on how you leverage it. Your social media accounts should contain basic information on your classes, a short bio, and a call-to-action to encourage members to register for your classes.

Develop a social media plan for posting photos and information on online classes, retreats, studio news, as well as inspirational quotes and videos. Whenever possible, reply to comments and messages. Promote your class on social media by asking your friends and followers to share your posts. Your responsiveness quickly shows them that your site is well-managed.

2. Sort Your Email and Text Lists Into Groups

In addition to social media accounts and your studio website, you can set up email and text marketing programs to let people know about upcoming classes and events. Segment your contacts into groups, such as those who have previously registered vs. those who haven’t, and then create email and text campaigns that target these smaller groups.

Remember to ask if they agree to receive email or text notifications from you. Do not ignore any emails and texts with “unsubscribe” requests.

3. Be Strategic with Online Advertising

Using advertising solutions like Google Ads, you can target the right audience. Some programs use algorithms and A/B testing to make sure you’re only reaching those who are interested in your class.

The closer the registration deadline gets, the more you will need to retarget your ads. When you use this approach, you can remind prospective members to sign up before a class sells out if they didn’t the first time around.

4. Organize a Free Online Class

Hold a free online event to get more members to sign up for your studio. For example, before starting a series of beginner vinyasa yoga classes, host a free online yoga class. Use social media and your email and text marketing campaigns to advertise the class. A free online class can provide more information and get people excited about taking more of your online yoga classes.

You finish the class by explaining the advantages of your studio, answering questions, and giving potential members a sense of who you are. Then, you can offer a discount for registration. Make sure you are prepared, enthusiastic, and ready to shine for your free online class.

5. Bring in Well-Known Instructors

Increasing the online yoga class attendance rate might be as straightforward as providing more online yoga classes with a specific instructor. Create more online yoga classes where members can practice with their favorite instructor if that instructor’s classes have consistently been well attended.

You can also team up with well-known local yoga instructors and studios for online lessons and events. Their members may sign up for your online classes as they become familiar with your name, studio, and teaching style.

6. Use Coupons and Deals to Boost Attendance During Slow Periods

In many yoga studios, participation is lower in off-peak hours. Take advantage of slow hours to increase online yoga class attendance by offering deals and coupons.

When you send a text or email to potential members about your four classes for a $40 offer if they sign up within the next 48 hours on Thursday afternoon, they may sign up for a class they would not have otherwise taken. Any discount is not going to hurt the overall online yoga class attendance.

7. Create Incentives for Members

As a business, it is important to maintain consistent levels of member attendance. A referral program, for example, can motivate members to invite friends and family.

If your members are new to yoga, inviting their friends and family to your lessons can ease them into practice. You can invite members to bring a friend for one online yoga class a week, and you can set up special online partner yoga classes for members to bring their friends.

Using referral software will help you encourage your members to spread the word about your classes. Additionally, you can create a loyalty program that includes birthday gifts and early bird registration for yoga retreats. All these programs can be used to increase the online yoga class attendance rate without having to spend more time on it.

Increasing Online Yoga Attendance Will Take Time

If your online yoga class attendance rate fluctuates, don’t be disappointed. There are several factors that affect class attendance, from the holidays to tax season to school vacations. As you plan your marketing strategy, keep in mind the same principles you teach your yoga classes – patience, compassion, and steadiness – and you will reap the rewards.

4th of July marketing ideas for your local business

Summer is here and while everyone is planning their bbq menus, deciding how much to spend on fireworks, and debating whether or not to call their neighbor over, you should use this holiday to bring additional revenue to your business. The question is: How?

While most people are planning their 4th of July celebrations this is the perfect time for you to promote your business in new, creative ways as well.

To help you create the perfect Independence Day campaign, here are a few effective 4th of July marketing ideas you can use for your business.

1. Reach out to former customers

As the holiday approaches, reaching out to your old clients must be on your to-do list. Not only does it help rebuild lost connections, but at the same time, you can create extra revenue.

Use the upcoming holiday to send your customers an early “Happy 4th of July” message, and while you’re at it inform them about a special offer you have for a limited period. On average, 26% of customers return with win-back campaigns.

Even if you are not providing a special offer, you should wish a happy Independence Day to your clients. It’s important to always stay in touch with your clients and to keep your business in front of them and this is the perfect opportunity to do so – it’s also simply a nice thing to do and your clients will appreciate that as well.

There are two ways to reach out to your former clients: SMS text and email campaigns.

If you don’t have an opt-in database, no problem, you can read here how to collect customer phone numbers using Referrizer. Below you will also see ideas that don’t require an opt-in database.

SMS campaign

This type of approach is ideal for the upcoming holiday, and it is a lot more efficient than trying to reach out to customers via email. Statistics show that SMS has a 45% response rate while emails received a 6% response rate.

Now, because text messages are usually short, some craftsmanship is required. You have to deliver an easy-to-read and straightforward message, within the maximum character count.

Here is of what a straightforward text message should look like:

Email campaign

In case you don’t have your customers’ phone numbers, you can use their email addresses instead. The principle is basically the same as with SMS campaigns, but the advantage here is that you can exceed 160 characters.

And while an email campaign is less effective than an SMS campaign, it is a much less expensive method.

In order to stand out in your customer’s inbox, you must choose a subject line that is as equally interesting as it is patriotic.

Here are a few examples of a good subject line for Independence Day:

Independence Day – exclusive offers
John, Happy Independence Day!
Celebrate freedom with special 4th of July prices
Enjoy Independence Day with special offers inside
This is a loud BANG! 💣💥 Limited 4th of July offers
Don’t miss out – Independence Day exclusive offers
Don’t miss these Independence Day discounts 🧨🧨🧨
Day of savings – Special 4th of July offer ✨🔥✨
Limited time only! (Business Name) 4th of July sales
Check out your special Independence Day savings! 🗽

2. Attract new customers

Special offers and discounts don’t have to be reserved only for past customers. You should equally focus your time and resources on acquiring new customers. And since the 4th of July wakes up the holiday spirit in every American, this is the ideal time to create a special offer for them.

Here is a simple walkthrough:

Create a special for Independence Day – Keep in mind to aim for people who already have some interest in your business – so you don’t need to offer anything expensive. A simple discount from 20% – 50% works great in these scenarios.

Promote the offer – As mentioned in the first step, you want to target people who are almost ready to buy. And the best way to find them is on your website. Use our high converting Website Widget to make your 4th of July offer live on your website quickly and easily.

Make your offer limited – Nothing gets people to pull out their wallets more than a limited time offer. Highlight that your offer is for a limited time only, for example, you can limit your offer from 3 – 7 days. The shorter the time period the bigger urgency you create (but also remember that the shorter time period you use, the fewer people get to see your offer).

Keep your word – If you say it’s for a limited time only, don’t forget to turn off your special offer after it ends. No matter how good it’s doing. If not, people will assume that you’re creating false urgency, and you can say goodbye to using this method for the next holiday.

3. Social media campaign

We cannot stress enough how important social media is nowadays. Its cost-effectiveness is proven in a Quicksprout statistic that states that 63% of companies using social media saw an increase in marketing effectiveness.

Try to post more often as the holiday approaches, with an emphasis on 4th of July related posts. Show your audience you are celebrating as well, and to demonstrate the patriotic spirit you want to offer a special discount in honor of Independence Day.

Here’s are a few examples of a eye-catching posts for Instagram.

4. Team up with other businesses

Independence Day is a day for big celebrations and people want to get ready for their bbq’s and parties by buying food, drinks, fireworks, etc. This means that for a certain period before July 4th, firework stores, supermarkets and liquor stores will have more traffic than usual. That makes those stores an ideal place to promote your business.

How can you successfully achieve this?

Team up with local stores by asking them to promote your business with flyers and billboards in exchange for a group discount for their employees. Or perhaps you can offer a mutual promotion: They promote your business in their place, and you promote their business in your place.

This 4th of July is going to be an amazing celebration and by implementing just some of the tips above you can increase your revenue this summer and have another reason to celebrate!

Best short code texting alternative?

Shared short codes are going away. If you try to get a shared short code, you will find that most wireless carriers will turn down your request.

On the other hand, if your business already uses a shared short code you are not in an enviable situation. Thanks to strict rules, your shared short code can be blocked – even if you are following every regulation. And if that happens, it is final. No more turning it on after 24 hours. It’s permanent.

With this massive change in the texting industry, it’s no wonder that small business owners are looking for affordable short code texting alternatives. After all, the main benefit of a shared short code was affordability, in contrast to a dedicated one which could go up to $1000.

Referrizer as the best short code texting alternative for local businesses.

Keywords

Same as a short code, in Referrizer, you also have available keywords that your customers can send via SMS to claim discounts or rewards.

What is the difference?

The problem with shared short codes is that most of the keywords are already taken. In most cases, you need to improvise and hope that your customers don’t make a typo and opt into a totally different business.

In Referrizer, you get a dedicated 10-digit phone number your customers will always use to reach out to only you. And best of all, you can set an unlimited number of keywords for FREE, which means better segmentation and a larger target group.

Text marketing

Once you have people opting in by sending a keyword, you are now able to send promotional messages.

What is the difference?

As the best short code texting alternative, Referrizer allows you to create text marketing campaigns and reach out to your customers – without breaking a sweat.

To boost the efficiency of your text marketing, you can find free, exclusive text message templates that follow the best marketing and text communication principles.

2-way text messaging

When you use a short code, if customers decide to respond to your promotion message…nothing will happen. You will never receive the message, and the customer will never get the answer to the question.

What is the difference?

In Referrizer, you have an easy-to-use messaging app that turns a one-sided communication into a warm and relationship-building chat with your customers.

You will be able to exchange messages with customers from your phone, computer or tablet – without any cost.

CRM for your contacts

With an unlimited number of keywords available to you, you can expect that customers will come from different sources.

What is the difference?

Our CRM tool allows you to implement advanced segmentation of your leads and customers, so you can craft highly targeted text marketing campaigns that see enormous engagement.

Get the best short code texting alternative for only $99/m.

Or, try it out by yourself with a 14-day free trial.

How F45 fitness studios use Referrizer to attract new members, re-engage old ones, and increase revenue

F45 is a fitness studio that focuses on helping people stay in shape even if they are super busy. With their intense training, people burn 700 calories on average in only 45 minutes. It is a great place for both beginners and those with more experience because of the great community they’ve built and the support each member gets.

Just like every other fitness studio, F45 had to deal with losing clients. Some people achieve their goals, others lose motivation, while others choose different places to train – there are many reasons. Still, F45 knew that they needed something to cut through the noise and Referrizer marketing automation helps them with that.

Solution

Attracting new members

Businesses can’t rely on only one method for attracting new members. With Referrizer, F45 has various methods to turn leads into paying members.

One of the studios efficiently uses the Referrizer website widget for getting new members. With this cost-effective method, they managed to get 160 new members by highlighting their deals. The best thing is, those 160 new members came from their website, which means they didn’t have to use deal sites and share profit with them.

Another F45 fitness studio took advantage of their incoming phone calls. With the Smartline number, after each call, an automated text message is sent asking the person if they want to learn more about special offers. By doing this, 108 people joined their list and 37 of those people became paying members.

Re-engaging existing members

Using the Referrizer Loyalty program, F45 businesses now have a super effective system to engage and motivate existing members. With points and rewards, they are motivating clients to come more often, spread the word about them, and give reviews. The outcome? 1374 loyal members from one studio that visited for 13 months on average per member.

Solution

Overall, F45 studios that used Referrizer improved communication with members, boosted online reviews and increased member retention.

Here are the results that some of the F45 studios managed to get with Referrizer marketing automation:

Boost online reviews from 4 to 252 on Google and also get 113 testimonials from members.
Get 1374 loyal members.
Attract 160 new clients from their website only.
Get 108 new leads from phone calls only, and managed to turn 37 into members using automated text campaigns.
Get 2063 purchases through email and text campaigns that brought $176,179 additional revenue.