Did you know 81% of the marketers and 84% of the publishers leverage the power of affiliate marketing? (Source: Web Market Support) Also, according to Business Insider, 15% of the total digital media advertising revenue is attributed to Affiliate Marketing. Consumers trust referrals from people they know 92% of the time. Consumers who have been suggested by a friend are four times more likely to make a purchase.
People have a 37 percent greater retention rate when they are suggested by other customers. Leads from referrals convert at a 30% higher rate than leads from any other source. 65% of new business is generated through referrals. B2B enterprises that receive referrals have a 70% greater conversion rate.
Talking about the referral programs, a report by Nielsen says that 92% of the consumers trust referrals from people they know and 77% of the consumers are likely to buy a new product if they hear about it from their friends or families.
What is Affiliate Marketing?
When an online retailer pays some commission to its affiliate for promoting their products/brand and bringing traffic or sales through their affiliate link, the marketing is said to be affiliate marketing.
Affiliate programs have proved to be very effective for marketers as well as retailers. It helps e-retailers in customer acquisition and boosting sales. This can do wonders if marketed properly during the holiday season.
How do Affiliate Programs work?
Affiliates promote the link of your store products on their website, blog, or YouTube channel, etc. When the visitors/followers of the affiliate use that link to make a purchase on your store, you pay a small commission of the product amount to the affiliate for generating sales for you.
Why you should use Affiliate Marketing for your online business?
The affiliate and referral programs benefit your business in multiple ways. If you consider this during holiday season sales, there are chances that you end up getting huge conversions and a lot of new leads.
Boost sales
The main motive of any online business is to drive sales and to keep the sales graph always high. Affiliate Marketing ensures increased sales by driving more potential customers towards your website.
Enhance product visibility
Make your products reach a wider audience with Affiliate Marketing. If your affiliate gets a handsome amount of traffic on his website, the visibility of your product enhances. When more and more new visitors use the affiliate link to get some discount on your products, you capture more sales.
Increase Brand Awareness
Affiliates highlight your brand in front of a new audience. This creates brand awareness and brings more traffic to your store.
What is Referral Marketing?
Referral marketing or Referral Programs are considered amongst the most successful marketing tools. With this type of marketing, you encourage people to refer your products or services to their friends, family, associates, etc. in exchange for some rewards. Rewards can be gift vouchers, discounts on products or cash. It is also known as word-of-mouth marketing. You can promote your brand with discount vouchers during holiday season.
How do Referral Programs work?
In this type of marketing program, a visitor or customer shares your products to their people and when the people referred by the customers make a purchase from your store, you provide them some kind of referral reward. A customer can choose to share the product link or voucher code.
Why you should use Referral Marketing for your online business for Holiday Season Sale?
People trust referrals
When a customer recommends a product to his/her friends, a sense of trust develops among the referred persons. It creates more chances for sales than conventional advertising.
Improves customer acquisition and customer retention
The referred persons already get a positive response about your brand/products when they are being recommended by someone. This makes them loyal to your brand, increasing customer retention. When new visitors come to your store through referrals, you improve customer acquisition.
Increases user engagement
Referral Marketing can bring you high user engagement on your website. When your product gets circulated among people through referrals, the visits to your online shop increase significantly. You get more engagement, which could lead to increased sales.
Is there any difference between Affiliate and Referral Marketing?
There’s not much difference. For an e-retailer, both Affiliate Marketing and Referral Marketing are a way to promote their brand and get sales by offering some incentives to the affiliates, it is just the process that varies. The key difference between both is that Affiliate Marketing requires third-party websites to promote your business on their channel whereas Referral Marketing focuses on providing rewards to your existing customers for referring your products to others.
Checkout:
Affiliate and Referral program- Prestashop addon
Magento Affiliate and Referral program extension
Conclusion
Both Affiliate and Referral Programs are effective at inflating sales and growing brand awareness. You can try out the Affiliate and Referral program module by Knowband if you run a store on Prestashop or Magento platform. This module incorporates the Affiliate and Referral program on your store and helps you manage both programs quite comfortably.
How to Increase Holiday Season Sales?
Holiday Season Sale – Amazing Offers on Android and iOS Mobile App Builder
Add Gamification to give Holiday Season Flair to your Ecommerce Website Design
How to Prepare Online Store for Holiday Season- Module Guide
