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In terms of sales, one of the most valuable tools that all marketers have in their arsenal is and will always be good, old-fashioned word of mouth. One customer uses your product or service and walks away satisfied. They tell two people, those two people each tell five more and pretty soon you’ve got a steady stream of new leads beating down your door to see what the fuss is about
In many ways, referral partners and affiliates are the 21st century, digital version of this very basic concept. Obtaining a referral partner is often something that happens organically, but businesses CAN help speed this process along through a number of important strategies.
Referral Partners and Affiliates: The Basics
A referral partner is typically a blogger, a particular website or some other type of publisher that produces content that would be of interest to the specific people you’re trying to reach. A referral partner with a significant email list that appeals to your target audience, for example, is one example of this idea in action. They could send out an email to their list that mentions your product or service and, as you already know their recipients are in your target audience, you will have a much higher click through and even sale rate than you would via more general means.
The Benefits of Using Referral Partner Strategies
To that end, referral partners can be a truly excellent source of traffic for your sales funnel. As your network of referral partners increases, so do the number of mentions your brand gets on the Web. That activity brings more eyes onto your products and services, creating more leads and more opportunities. The cycle then repeats itself as more relevant content makes its way online.
Referral links can also be a great way to help keep track of which efforts are performing to your expectations. You can track leads that come from a particular email address, for example, by setting that source up as a dummy referral partner and paying attention to the level of attention it can generate.
If you’re an existing Infusionsoft user, you’ll no doubt be pleased to know that adding referral partners inside of Infusionsoft is a whole lot easier than you may have initially thought.
To find out more, watch this tutorial that I’ve recorded that will help you shed valuable insight on this important process.