Episode 26: The Brand Growth Strategy For 2022

Thank you to each and every one of you who takes time to listen and read!  If this podcast has helped you, transformed your mindset, and more, please take a moment to leave a review on your favorite podcast player, share an episode with a friend or your social channels, and be sure to let us know.  It will help other entrepreneurs find game-changing episodes.  It takes just a moment, but it makes all the difference.

Growth Strategies Every Brand Needs To Adopt in 2022

Do you feel like your brand growth has slowed down or even plateaued? This year, the digital marketing landscape has evolved.  In fact, it will continue to evolve.  Ads tracking is becoming more opaque, and this makes customer acquisition more difficult.  So how do you combat this?

You need to develop and create a referral marketing program.

Many of my clients are not starting with a huge customer base, but a referral marketing program is powerful no matter the size of your audience.  If you’ve made even one sale, you can have a referral program.  In fact, if you don’t have one, you are leaving money on the table!  Whether or not you like it, your brand growth may depend on it.  Let me tell you why…

Benefits Of A Referral Program

Simply put, a referral program allows you to accelerate consumer behavior.  Even if this program is not automated or systematized, it will empower your customers!  After all, even just one person can reach another potential customer.  The biggest question is, are you allowing them to do this?

Check out these stats on referral programs:

• They can generate between 5 & 20% of additional sales growth.
• Every customer acquired through a referral is one less customer you paid to reach.
• They are incredibly cost-efficient.  
  • Referral customers convert 5x faster than a cold audience.
  • Referrals already trust you because their friend had a good experience
  • Trust hurdles are the most difficult.  Referrals handle that for you!

Referral programs operationalize word of mouth marketing.  If you haven’t already implemented this, 2021 is the year to do it!  The longer you delay adding a referral program, the longer you are delaying the benefits it provides.

Referrals spark growth for your brand, grow sales, and boost brand awareness.  They also build lasting customer loyalty, or as I like to call it, building brand obsession.

How Does A Referral Program Grow My Brand?

Benefits of a well-designed program include:

• Builds brand advocates
• Think of Peloton, Kylie Skincare, Fenty: they have obsession
• Identifying local brand advocates is priceless
• Every customer who makes a purchase becomes an advocate with just a few clicks
• Creates a high LTV
• Converts 5x faster
• 2-3x more likely to buy
• Lowers lead costs which creates a higher ROI
• Generates measurable returns
• Higher quality leads at a lower cost per acquisition
• Happy customers do the pre-selling for you!
• Referral marketing CPA is a fraction of other types of paid advertising
• Scales with your business

Organic Strategy Vs. Paid Strategy For Brand Growth

Paid acquisition strategies are a slingshot to propel you forward.  However, they lose momentum, unless you make recurring major investments.  In contrast, referrals create momentum without additional investments.  A referral strategy is consistent!

While referral momentum may grow slowly, you may have to slow down in order to speed up.  The compound effect of this strategy is magnanimous!  Even if you feel like this may not work for you right now, it will still build momentum to get you where you want to be.

It’s easy to get lost in the one hit wonder of paid advertising!  These results feel like magic.  However, when something like the iOS update from earlier this year happens and you’ve been depending on paid ads, your entire system shuts down.  If you haven’t designed an organic marketing system or simply created organic momentum, you will have to start from scratch!  

If you’ve been following this podcast, you will already have learned how to build your business organically.  However, the bottom line is that these strategies are the only way to sustainably build your business.  Raving fans and organic growth will endure through the changes in digital spaces.

Are You Ready For A Referral Program?

When your product sales reach a minimum of $10k a month, you should absolutely have a referral program.  However, if you aren’t making this money yet, consider these other signs that it is time:

• High Order Volume - if customers are paying you, then you can have results from a referral program
• High Average Order Value 
• High Average Lifetime Value
• Positive Reviews
• High Open and Click-Through on email marketing - indicates an active and engaged following; 20% open, 2% click
• Social Media Engagement - allows you to capitalize on organic engagement

How Do You Bring A Referral Program To Life?

Embed it into your brand’s messaging.

A highly successful referral program needs to be a part of your brand’s messaging.  It’s not enough to see this program one time after making a purchase.  Your customers also need to see it multiple times across multiple platforms.

Your customer’s attention span is low because the digital space is so saturated.  Be sure to mention the referral program in key locations throughout the customer journey.  Think about the touch points where this program should be visible.

Assess whether or not you’re ready for an additional marketing company to catapult your growth.

Not all businesses are prepared for a quantum growth season yet.  If you’re still proving your product and getting proof of concept, or if you’re struggling internally to catch up to last season’s growth, you are not ready.

If you have a proven product and have the systems supporting growth, you’re ready to launch referral marketing.

Your incentive needs to be effective.

Understand your CPA, also known as cost per acquisition.  How much would you normally pay per customer acquisition?  Use this amount to determine the value of your reward.  Your customers are paying attention to every deal you offer, so ensure that these incentives are sweeter than the ongoing promotions you already have.  This makes your referral program special.

Identify where you’ll implement this program.

Will this be the primary CTA on your website, home page, checkout page, product review page, or somewhere else?  Where will it live on your website?  You can also consider if there should be a landing page to promote your referral program.  Or, would you want to have a post-purchase message with the referral information?  Additionally, referral programs can be a part of follow-up email sequences.

Ensure you weave your program into the customer experience.

Integrate this referral program into your messaging.  Also, integrate this message into your paid and organic marketing vehicles.  It should be on every email and included with the order information every time you ship.  Make it easy to refer your business on every channel an every device.

If they have a custom referral link, make it easy for them to copy and paste or share! It can also be a points collection system or birthday rewards.

Ready to accelerate customer acquisition and build loyalty for your brand?  Referral marketing will be the best brand growth strategy for your business.  I can’t wait to hear how it helps you grow!

Find out more!

• Get Maureen's free training, Maximize Your Product Sales.
• Subscribe and rate our podcast on iTunes here.
• Android users can subscribe and rate our podcast on Spotify.
• Join our incredible community - Product Entrepreneurs Who Scale
• Learn how Maureen can help you grow your brand in any stage.
• Connect with Maureen on Instagram.