When we speak of fashion, we can already picture how well referral marketing would work for it. If you come to think of it, fashion is really designed to be shown off, and every time you create a new look it’s always asking to be noticed. Just think about the last eye catching outfit you’ve worn and think about how many persons asked you “Where’d you get that?”, every day there’s an opportunity to talk about fashion.
If you want to gain social status then a quick way to do that is by getting associated with the brands that you admire most. Referral marketing works amazing in other sectors but it could work well with fashion too. In fashion, word of mouth comes very naturally and happens almost every day.
There are a lot of ways to use referral marketing, one company that give us a clear example is Uber. They made it look so easy, people would definitely want to be associated with them so what they did was let customers invite their friends and once they reach a specific value their customers get to earn free rides. They promoted their program through their app and made it as easy as possible to maximize the sharing. In fashion and retail, this too can be easily achieved.
In Omnistartell.com you can create referral programs as easy as 1, 2, 3, and get to see real time statistics. They even offer 15 days trial so you can see if their programs would match yours.
How can you make a referral deliver?
If you want to make sure your referral program delivers then there are some things you have to take note of:
- Make it as easy as possible for your referrers to talk about your brand.
- Your customers should have a reason to talk about you.
- Make sure that you ask them to talk about your brand at the right time.
Let’s go deeper into those three:
Make it as easy as possible for your referrers to talk about your brand- One easy way to do this is by making sure sharing is just one click away. And having personalized sharing codes could also be better to make crediting easier and problem free. Your customers should have a reason to talk about you- Make sure that what you’re offering in return is worth the hassle and time of your referrers.
Also make sure that you have good deals offered that are worth sharing. Make sure that you ask them to talk about your brand at the right time- Make sure that you do it when they just finished the checkout process and while they’re still excited about your products. Don’t do it within the checkout process because that could stand as a distraction and cause shopping cart abandonment.
How can we apply what we discussed above in fashion?
Your customers should have a reason to talk about you:
First of all, it’s a must that your referral campaign makes customers, and to make that happen you have to look good , not appear like a spam, and is noteworthy and really worth sharing. When your fashion brand has quality, trendiness and value, building a social status while encouraging people to share would be a walk in the park. But if your brand still haven’t developed those attributes then use specific products to maximum advantage, or your excellent services, or even the other features your business have that are noteworthy.
If you can’t tell what could make your customers share your refer-a-friend program then you should start testing different strategies and approach to your refer-a-friend program. You can do a simple test on whether you should give your friend a treat type of program or a get a reward for inviting people you know type.
Make it as easy as possible for your referrers to talk about your brand:
It’s important that your customers could share in a way that they would feel that it’s something natural to them and not forced. Most of the time, in the fashion industry sharing brands happen face to face, it happens while complementing each other. The key is facilitating how people naturally behave and not think that it’s just all about social media but growing real social interaction.
How do you facilitate sharing for fashion brands:
People prefer inviting their friends to a brand when there’s something memorable about it. While mobile phones could be found everywhere now, a good memorable way for a referral is by using a person’s name. Also, every experience can turn into a story worth sharing. And a lot of things could turn into a story; beautiful wrapping, or even a fast and hassle free return process could be one.
You’re aiming to go beyond that “What’s that you’re wearing?” phase to a phase that makes people talk more about your brand and share their experiences. Lastly, don’t forget to use the channels that your target audience is using. Make sure that you ask them to talk about your brand at the right time
When will it be right to ask your customers to share your fashion brand? When you come to think of it there are a lot of places to do so like on your homepage, website header or footer, or even on the account set-up. But what I’ll recommend to you is that you keep it simple and start with one placement, at a point where your customer is the most delighted.
And for eCommerce websites that’ll be the moment after your customers have filled out the checkout form.
Some benefits from the post-purchase page are:
- Your customers are not just happy and excited but satisfied too. They have finally purchased something new and just can’t wait to receive it.
- It has a good amount of traffic and is the best for AB testing your referral offers.
- You can check from your conversion rate which is working and which isn’t.
- Once you have successfully found the healthy metrics through AB testing, you can expand it to other parts of your promotion areas.
Conclusion
Referral and fashion go hand in hand, word of mouth is an important part of referral marketing and in fashion that just happens naturally and could happen effortlessly on a daily basis. When you read and allow this article to guide you there is every reason for you to achieve success with referral marketing on your fashion brand.
I haven’t been to a fashion site lately that does not offer referral program. These days it seems mandatory or expected.
Fashion sites often have people that make repeat purchases, so a few referrals can pan out to something really big.