Welcome to ReferralHero, the best place to 2x your business through referrals. This article (or video) is most useful if you have an offline business, sell a physical product, or meet face-to-face with your customers. If you run a primarily online business, check out our other killer resources.
What Is a Referral Card?
A referral card is a physical or digital card that can be handed out as a way to promote your business and referral program! The card usually includes the basic details of your business, as well as a brief description of the referral program and the incentives for sharing.
Benefits of Referral Cards
Referral cards are a low-cost way for you to promote your products or services. They can help increase the odds of more people taking note of your referral program and incentives. Here are some benefits of using referral cards:
- Increase brand awareness: referral cards serve as a reminder of your business. Your customers are more likely to remember and promote your brand to their friends and family when they see it.
- Build customer loyalty: customers show that they trust your brand when they refer. Voluntary participation in your referral program, therefore, makes them more likely to stay with your business and become loyal customers themselves.
- Increase sales: referral cards provide an easy way for customers to refer your business thereby directly helping increase sales for your business.
- Affordable: referral programs and the cards themselves tend to be cheaper than other traditional marketing methods such as paid advertising.
- Reach a wider audience: referral cards make it easier for your customers to hand or send information about your business to a friend.
- Feed other marketing intelligence: customer referrals provide valuable marketing information that you can use to improve marketing strategies and personalize your customer experience.
9 Types of Referral Cards
There are several types of referral cards that you can use to share the word about your business. Selecting the type of card that best suits your needs is important. You need to consider the customers you’re targeting and decide on a format that will stand out among competitors.
Printed Referral Cards
1. Referral business cards. Business cards that double as referral cards are one of the most common referral cards in traditional paper formats. The front of the card usually features bold colors and an eye-catching logo to represent your brand. On the back side, it includes all the information about the referral program such as how to refer and the rewards that customers can earn.
2. Referral coupons. Coupons are a great way to reward customers for doing something. Referral coupons are commonly used in referral programs that offer double-sided rewards that incentivize both the referrer and their referrals. Printed referral coupons that offer discounts or free products and services are passed to the referrals when your customers recommend your business. With a bit of creativity and effort, they are effective in helping to boost response rates and bring in new customers.
3. Employee referral cards. You can leverage the power of your current team to grow your business. A referral bonus is usually given to employees as an incentive to refer their friends and family when they generate new customers or look for new staff. Employees can hand out referral cards to their connections, and those connections just need to present the cards when signing on with your business or applying for a job within your company. Employee referral cards work quickly and are cost-effective because the referrals trust that the employees know the company well enough to make the recommendation.
4. Referral postcards. Referral postcards that offer a personalized experience, i.e. handwritten, serve as an eye-catching advertisement. Creatively designed referral postcards that stand out from traditional cards can be mailed to potential customers, left on in-store displays, or handed out in person. The postcard format gives you enough space to include information about your program and showcase special offers for referrals.
5. Donation-based referral cards. Donation referral cards are a great way to provide your customers with an opportunity to give back to the community of their choice. Your customers trade referrals for a donation to a community cause or charity organization. This humanistic aspect of the referral is a “win-win-win” situation in that, your business gets a referral, the organization receives a donation, and the customers feel good about their altruistic behavior.
6. Partner referral cards. If you partner with other businesses, referral cards are an invaluable tool you can utilize to grow your customer base and increase sales by cross-promoting your business partners, vendors, or suppliers.
Digital Referral Cards
7. Referral newsletter emails. Referrals have played a key role in many publishers’ marketing efforts. Distributing your referral “cards” through newsletters is a perfect way to promote your referral program as they are sent directly to your customers. You can set up a referral email sequence to introduce the referral program and outline what the customers can get from referring your business. Add a referral call to action in all your newsletter emails to remind your customer to continue to refer.
8. Referral redemption codes. Referral redemption codes or coupons are promotional offers that are generally sent via email and used to obtain discounts or free products and services when customers refer your business. These digital referral codes or coupons are commonly used at online checkout.
9. Referral QR codes. There are two types of QR codes that can be used on referral cards that you can use,
i. A unique QR code is generated for each of your customers which they can save on their phones to use whenever they want to refer a friend.
ii. A general QR code on cross-promotional websites will direct people to fill out your online referral form.
How to Make a Referral Card
Creating a great referral card doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Follow our tips below to create an effective card that stands out.
Key Elements
Referral cards send a message about your brand and identity. They are used to add a meaningful and personal touch to your business. A typical referral card has the following three basic elements:
- Business contact info like name, phone number, and email address
- Referral section which customer can fill in their info as well as the referral details
- Brief description of the referral program with special emphasis on how to earn the incentives
Besides the above, there are other high-performing elements that you can include in the cards such as a well-designed logo or creative relevant imagery.
Design
Referral cards are an extension of your brand that fulfill many basic needs, i.e. advertising, contact information, brand recognition, and most importantly a call-to-action. As part of the overall impression you give customers and business partners, it’s essential to come up with a design for these moving billboards that’s appealing, simple, and professional.
1. Size, Shape, and Materials
2. Brand Elements
Brand elements function to influence the reputation and consistency of your brand, which lives in the mind of the customers. Use your brand elements such as logos, taglines, and colors in the design of the referral cards so that they look polished and professional.
3. Be Creative
Your referral cards can stand out with creative design if your industry allows some whimsy. For example, go for bright colors and a more contemporary design if you are a coffee shop, or use a more subdued and basic design if you are a law firm. Design that represents your industry will help people better understand what you do and have more confidence to follow through with the referral call-to-action.
Messaging
Messages on the referral cards should reinforce the basic functions of the cards mentioned above, i.e. advertising, brand recognition, and call-to-action.
1. Advertising
Choose the right phrase that captures the essence of the advertising goal you’re trying to achieve and make sure your message resonates with customers and encourages them to refer your business.
Whatever quote or slogan you choose, make sure it is inspiring, catchy, and memorable. You want your customers to remember the message and be driven to take action and refer more people.
2. Brand Recognition
Referral messaging is the message that is communicated to your customer’s network when your customers share your business. It’s a powerful branding tool that helps build brand recognition and trust in the eyes of potential customers.
To motivate potential referrals, your referral cards should also include an enticing referral proposition -whether through discounts, free products or services, or other rewards. It serves as the benefit of why your customers should actually give the referral card to someone else. A strong referral proposition can help create a motivational loop that encourages customers to take action. This can be beneficial not only in terms of attracting new customers but also in building stronger relationships with existing customers who feel appreciated.
3. Call-to-Action
The call-to-action on your referral cards should be clear and concise. It’s a catchy text that quickly summarizes what you want your customers (and referrals) to do and why they should do it.
Example CTA phrases:
Data Collection
Collecting data from referrals through referral cards can be done in a few ways:
- Printed referral forms: you can include a simple form on the printed referral cards that customers can fill out with their contact information and the name of someone they know who may be interested in your products or services
- URL to the online forms: many businesses have created simple web forms that allow their customers to quickly fill out to submit a referral. Remember to include the site URL on your printed or digital referral cards if you would like to redirect all referrals to the online form.
- Unique codes or QR codes: these are codes on the referral cards that customers share with their connections. Businesses can easily track referrals and reward referrers for their efforts when the referrals scan the QR code and perform the required action.
It is important to remember that referral data collection should be done in a secure, responsible way. It should also be ensured that only the necessary information is collected and steps are taken to protect customer privacy.
5 Referral Card Examples (that work!)
Friends Don't Let Friends Have Bad Nails
Sharing Is Caring, Caring Is Sharing
Got friends?
Refer A Friend
It's A Win Win, When You Refer A Friend
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