Three Ways Referral Marketing Is Like a Cupcake

With summer coming just around the corner, many of us have taken to the gym to get that perfect beach body. But every now and then it’s okay to splurge a bit.

Not to knock you off your diet, but did you ever think about how referral-marketing programs are like sweet, decadent cupcakes? No? Well sadly, we did, and here’s why:

1. Customer Engagement Is the Sweet Cake

Moving your brand to social media means more than just opening a new acquisition channel. It opens a channel to directly connect with customers through new modes of communication. Fans love interacting with the brands they love. In fact, more than 82 percent of fans who’ve liked a company on Facebook say they did so because it was the best place to communicate with a brand.

Engagement is the cake of your social media marketing strategy. It’s the foundation where your referral program can build a strong following and begin developing passionate brand ambassadors. But like the cake of a cupcake, it’s not the end goal.

2. Social Media Sharing Is the Frosting

A cupcake is only as good as the frosting on top. Similarly, social media engagement is only as effective as the tools you give to your fans. Offering fans multiple outlets for sharing your content not only provides strong ROI for your brand, but also sweetens the deal for fans looking to share your amazing content and message.

Enabling fans to retweet or share your message easily across multiple social media channels allows you to build a stronger community, increase your brand’s reach, and enhance your ability to identify and leverage strong brand ambassadors—just like how the frosting enhances your delicious cupcake.

3. Referral Rewards Are the Cherry on Top

Your fans might refer your brand to their friends based solely on an excellent product and strong customer engagement. But it doesn’t hurt to give them more value.

Offering your biggest fans an incentive (swag, cash, or whatever works best) to promote your brand to their social networks will give already passionate customers a final push to become full-on brand ambassadors. We’ll eat a cupcake for its sugary goodness, but seeing that cherry on top makes it all the more enticing.

When customers refer your business to friends and family, it sweetens your brand with increased revenue and engagement. And with a referral rewards program, while your customers are getting a sugar high from engaging with your brand, you’ll get lots of sweet referrals streaming in.

What kinds of desserts bring the most ROI to social media marketing?