Email is a key component in B2B customer-referral programs, according to “The State Of Business Customer Referral Programs,” a report put out today by Amplifinity.
Last year, email was used in 72.7% of the referral programs studied, making it second only to lead forms, in which the customer fills out contact information. That's utilized in 77% of the programs. Lead forms and email were often deployed in combination.
However, the picture was different in terms of actual referrals made.
Social media was first, accounting for 29% of the leads generated last year. Email was next, driving 24%. Lead forms were third, with 23%.
In addition, email ranked third in effectiveness. Verbal referrals were deemed successful 32% of the time in 2016, and lead forms in 19% of the cases. Email received a 17% rating, followed by print card with 12%.
The study shows that 13% of referrals resulted in conversions. But that figure rose to 30% when salespeople were involved.
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Amplifinity also reported these findings:
For this report, Amplifinity analyzed data from customer-referral programs run on the firm’s referral platform. Data analysis was performed by Brian Schmotzer, a third-party contractor.
Amplifinity offers these tips for firms running B2B referral programs: