Shopify stores are always looking for new channels to get new customers. Facebook, TikTok, Google Ads, SEO…
New channels are new ways to get new customers, and it makes complete sense. However, most of the time people miss a HUGE channel they already have: their existing customers.
I’ll explain why your existing customers are great way to get new customers, how can you utilize your customers as a new customer channel and benefits of using referrals as a growth channel.
Your Hidden Customer Acquisition Channel
Our brand preferences are generally very similar to those of our friends. It’s a basic human behavior. Why?
Because generally our preferences and tastes are similar to those of our friends.
Friends and family recommendations are more trustworthy than even those from celebrities.
There is a lot of scientific research showing these results. Lastly, Katar shared a study in 2020 about trust in brand and service information sources. Friends and family were the number one information source with a 93% trust score!
Can you believe it?
Let’s say you’re selling fashion products for women. You have more than 5,000 customers and you’re looking for ways to get new customers. You try new creatives and ad setups to reach new customers.
However, at the same time, you have more than 5,000 customers… If you manage to get each one of them to share you with their friends, you can just double your customer base with $0 marketing spend.
It’s crazy, right?
Your customers can be a new customer acquisition channel, and they should be too. This is the main idea of the first part.
Super Happy Customers & High NPS
Making recommendations is not easy. Let’s say you buy a product. However, the product wasn’t similar to the photos, or the shipping process was chaotic and took too much time. Would you recommend that brand or product to a friend? Nope, right?
It’s the same for your brand and products, too.
To get new customers with your existing customers you need to focus on perfect customer satisfaction. This means;
- You have to be completely transparent about your product quality, shipping cost, and shipping timing.
- You have to provide excellent customer support. Answer all of your customers’ questions as soon as possible.
- You have to make sure your customers are happy with their purchase.
If your operation or products have issues with providing pure happiness, then your focus should be on fixing the issues on your operation first. This is not just for the referral channel; it’s also true for other channels too.
How to decide if you’re doing a good job for customer satisfaction? Very simple. Just measure NPS (net promoter score) of your customers. If your NPS score is higher than 10, then you can start focusing on referrals.
How to Utilize Your Existing Customers as a New Customer Acquisition Channel
The simplest way to get new customers from your existing customers is to create a reward program inside your Shopify store.
When there are incentives, it becomes easier to get people moving, right?
Growth Suite offers a pretty simple solution for this step.
Growth Suite helps you to give incentives to both your customers and their friends. Each of your customers will get a unique link to share.
When a new visitor comes to your store with this link, Growth Suite welcomes them with a special discount. If they complete their purchase, then the referrer gets a new discount.
This also incentivizes your existing customers to place new orders.
You can create your own referral program with one-click without any technical details.
Summary
Getting new customers from your existing customers is a great way to grow your Shopify store.
To get new customers with your customers’ referrals, you need to make sure your existing customers are happy. If you have issues with your operation, products, or brand, then you should first focus on improving your operation or products.
Measuring NPS is a great way to find out if you’re ready for referral customer acquisition. Run NPS surveys constantly, and if your score is higher than 10, then you’re ready to go with referrals.
I know there can be a lot of work behind the referral channel. How do you track which customers are referring, how do you make sure they’re getting their rewards, etc.?
Growth Suite does an excellent job in this area. You can create your own referral program with just one click with Growth Suite. It’ll handle all the process.
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