It is largely believed that referral marketing brings sales only for DTC businesses. But the truth is that B2B referral programs can deliver the same results.
Here, a proof of the claim: 84% of decision-makers in B2B profile trust referrals before a purchase.
Starting your own B2B referral program can be simple if you know what’s needed. This complete guide will equip you with all the information you need to know to help build B2B loyalty with referrals and grow your revenue.
Build brand authenticity for B2B business with partner program using Relay
How B2B Referral Programs are Useful?
Referral marketing for B2B is one of the most cost-effective ways to reach more potential customers and generate revenue. The true power of trusted relationships and word-of-mouth marketing is at play here.
Your valued customers will refer you to their friends and family. As acknowledgment, you can reward them. Referral incentives for B2B businesses for loyal customers might include cash rewards, store credits, loyalty points, etc.
B2B referral marketing programs are valuable because they bring about more advantages than just sales growth.
The benefits of B2B referral programs are:
- You can achieve customer retention by building on existing relationships
- Build authenticity through the recommendations of other professionals in their industry. Partner Programs can act as social proof.
- Impact on B2B networking by expanding reach without investing heavily.
- Referral programs often lead to higher customer acquisition and better lead-generation strategies.
Foundation for B2B Referral Marketing
Before you learn how to set up a Partner referral program for B2B, let’s understand the prerequisites to lay a strong foundation for referral marketing.
Effective strategies for automating B2B referral marketing include:
Establishing Clear Goals and KPIs
Setting clear goals is important for success. Decide if you are looking to increase sales, acquire new customers, or build stronger relationships with existing ones. Your B2B referral program strategies must be built around these objectives.
In addition, establishing KPIs (key performance indicators) can help you track the success of the program. Measuring the success and ROI will depend on these metrics.
Understanding Your Target Audience
The success of the referral program in B2B requires an understanding of your audience. This might involve your existing clients, industry partners, or even suppliers.
Identifying the type of audience and their stake in bringing potential referrals will help shape how to structure your referral program. Knowing your audience will also help you which affiliate products to sell.
Ensure that referral incentives for companies are attractive to these business contacts. Motivations of these channel partnerships might differ from consumer-focused referral programs. Hence, the set referral commission accordingly.
How to Build a B2B Referral Program That Works
Building a B2B referral program to be effective and scalable needs planning and execution. In addition, you will also require effective referral software for marketing automation.
Below are the key steps to launch a referral program that works well for your B2B business
Step 1: Designing the program structure
The structure of your B2B customer referral program is an easy and mandatory step to follow. This will define the direction your program will take from the start.
B2B Incentive Programs must the following questions to attain a structure.
- Who are eligible referral partners?
- How to recruit B2B customer referrals?
- Which referral program tool to use?
- What is the reward structure?
- Any specific terms and conditions
- What supporting marketing materials are to be provided?
Referral marketing for B2B businesses will start taking shape when you start answering these questions.
Step 2: Choosing discounts and rewards
Business-to-business customer referrals will need a substantial incentive to enter the partner program. To achieve this, understanding the different types of commission models is essential.
Effective B2B rewards often include:
- Revenue sharing arrangements
- Service credits or upgrades
- Exclusive access to new features
- Professional development opportunities
- Cash rewards for high-value referrals
Tips: Your rewards must be valuable enough to motivate participation without compromising the program’s profitability.
Step 3: Automating referral partner recruitment
Successful referral programs for B2B companies must know the right referral partners to associate with. Business-to-business customer referrals will be successful only if the referral comes from a trusted source.
There are several ways to find suitable referral partners. You can search online on social media, websites, forums, etc. On the other hand, you can also find B2B client referral partners in offline events like industry events, workshops, fairs, etc.
To onboard these partners, you can either collect their information and add it manually or use the WooCommerce affiliate registration form for easy recruitment.
If you wish to have more control over who you associate with for your business development and wish to employ a screening procedure for your partners. You can also use the WooCommerce contact plugin to create a contact form in your online store. Once interested people apply to partner with you, accept them after thorough consideration.
Efficient business referral plugins in WooCommerce can handle most of the automation. This allows you to focus on relationship building and B2B referral program optimization.
Step 4: Track, Refine, Scale
Tracking the success of your referral marketing will allow you to understand what works and what doesn’t. This will help you identify areas of improvement.
Measuring the ROI of B2B referral programs requires careful tracking and analysis.
The Key metrics to monitor include:
- Referral submission rates
- Conversion rates
- Customer lifetime value of referred clients
- Program costs (budget)
- Partner engagement levels
- Number of referrals
- Revenue generated
- Commission paid
Once you have tracked the performance, refine your program to maximize its potential. To optimize your B2B referral campaign, you can consider the following:
- Adjust the rewards
- Improving communication
- Optimize onboarding referral partners
- Adopt the best referral program strategies
Client acquisition via B2B referral marketing is quick and easy with Relay and its automation features.
Referral Software for B2B Businesses
Referral software will help a B2B business automate all that is involved with WooCommerce referral marketing.
Automating B2B referral programs with software tools is easy and requires careful selection based on business needs.
Here are some tips for selecting the best WooCommerce Referral plugin
Popular referral software solutions can handle everything from managing your referral network to tracking referrals and issuing rewards.
Some of the popular plugins in WooCommerce for B2B referral marketing are:
- Relay: It is an all-in-one affiliate and referral marketing plugin in WooCommerce. Client acquisition via B2B referral programs is easy with Relay. You can create and manage your programs, customize commissions based on requirements, and automate referral recruitment. Additionally, they have storing tracking and payment features.
- AffiliateWP: It helps affiliate management for any business with its reliable tracking and advanced fraud detection features. You can easily launch your programs with multi-tier commission.
- Referral Candy: It is a simple and easy solution for your peer recommendation marketing strategy. You can effortlessly offer personalized commissions and discounts to your referral partners as well as customers.
How to Promote Your Customer Referral Program in B2B
Promoting your customer referral program in B2B effectively can accelerate growth and drive customer loyalty.
To promote your B2B programs,
- Use email marketing to reach your existing customers. Inform them about the referral program and its rewards.
- Promote in social media channels like LinkedIn where the presence of a professional audience is high.
- Add a dedicated referral landing page to your store. Optimize it for SEO with the WooCommerce plugin.
- Use any referral program software to automate promotion and performance tracking.
- Display success stories and testimonials. This will build trust and encourage more referrals.
Examples of Successful B2B Referral Programs
To understand the usefulness of a referral program, it is important to learn about some of the success stories of B2B referral marketing.
1. Google Workspace Referral Program
Even Google trusts the power of word-of-mouth marketing to spread the reach of their business.
The Google Workspace Referral Program is for individuals and businesses who want to promote Google tools like Gmail, Google Meet, and Drive.
The referrals can be business owners, educators, freelancers, and tech enthusiasts. You can earn rewards by recommending a popular and trusted tool.
How it Works:
- Referrers earn rewards based on the subscription plan of the referred customers.
- Each referrer can invite up to 100 users per year.
Rewards Breakdown:
- Business Starter Plan: $2 per user
- Business Standard Plan: $9 per user
- Business Plus Plan: $17 per user
For example, if a referrer brings in 50 users subscribing to the Business Standard plan, they could earn $450 in rewards. This program not only generates new leads for Google but also builds loyalty among existing users.
Impact:
- The program’s easy-to-understand structure has resulted in wide participation. Thus it is one of the top referral strategies in the SaaS space.
- Google has expanded its reach by incentivizing its customers to act as brand ambassadors.
Dropbox offers a very unique reward to their referral partners and referrals they bring. Instead of any cash rewards, they offer extra storage space.
This is a very thoughtful incentive that makes customers use the product more. This will ensure customer retention by giving more reason to stay and also drive marketing without money spent.
How it Works:
Referrers earn extra storage space for every successful referral.
The referred customer also benefits by receiving additional storage upon signing up.
Rewards Breakdown:
- Basic Plan Users: Earn 500MB per referral (up to 16GB).
- Paid Plan Users: Earn 1GB per referral (up to 32GB).
Impact:
- When Dropbox launched its referral program, it led to an increase in signups.
- By offering product-based incentives, Dropbox effectively increases its user retention.
Tips to Optimize Your B2B Referral Program
Continue optimizing your B2B referral program for maximum effectiveness.
Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your program:
- Ensure the referral process is easy for both your customers and partners. The simpler the process, the more likely they are to participate.
- Promote your referral program through various channels like email, social media, and even on your website. The more visibility the program has, the more likely it is to generate results.
- Personalized referrals are more effective for B2B companies. Offering custom referral incentives for B2B and addressing the specific needs of your referral partners can increase the chances of success.
- Offering rewards to both the referrer and the referred business can increase participation. For example, offer a customer discount or a free trial when a referral partner brings a new customer.
- Provide your referral partners have the tools and information they need to succeed. Give them referral links, marketing materials, and a clear understanding of what your product is about and how the program works.
Grow your average B2B sales 2X by using word of mouth referrals.
Conclusion
B2B referral programs are an effective way to drive lead generation, boost sales, and improve customer retention.
A strategic referral program along with automation tools and regular optimization can bring growth and scalability.
By learning from steps, tips, and successful examples from the blog, you can launch a B2B referral marketing campaign that brings conversion and customer retention.
Further Reading
- How to set up a referral program in WooCommerce?
- Beginner’s Guide to WooCommerce Affiliate Marketing
- Top 10 WooCommerce Affiliate Plugins
- How to Create an Affiliate Link for WooCommerce Store?
A B2B referral program is a means to refer other companies to your business in exchange for rewards. This will boost customer acquisition and sales through trusted relationships.
You can automate B2B Referral Marketing by using tools like Relay. You can manage referrals, automate tracking, offer rewards, and optimize performance, from a single dashboard. This will ensure higher ROI with minimal effort.
B2B referral programs have several benefits including lead generation, customer retention, professional networking, and building credibility. This will lead to brand creation and high revenue.
