When looking to complete a purchase, consumers look for advice from the people they know and trust before seeking an outside source. In fact, 92% of consumers worldwide say they trust recommendations from friends and family above any other forms of advertising, shared Chris Duskin, VP of Marketing at Extole, in a recent webinar.
During the presentation, titled: Advance Auto Parts Sees A 25% Conversion Rate With Referral Marketing, Duskin and Heath Bradbury, eBusiness Marketing Manager at Advance Auto Parts, shared insights regarding how the retailer turned customers into marketing advocates via a Referral Marketing Program.
“As a large multichannel retailer, we’re leveraging just about every marketing channel available, both online and offline,” Bradbury said. “Our competition tends to spend a lot more than we do when it comes to marketing — especially online. We’re just looking for ways to maximize every single dollar we put into our marketing efforts.”
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To succeed in a competitive marketplace, Advance Auto Parts needed to identify in-market customers looking for car parts, then convert them when they were sales-ready, according to Bradbury. The team implemented Extole’s Referral Marketing Program specifically to connect with both groups: prospects and current customers.
To date, the strategy has delivered substantial results for Advance Auto Parts. Between July and September 2013, the referral program delivered a 25% conversion rate. Overall, 3,500 customers referred the retailer to an average of four people. Of all referred consumers, 73% clicked back to the Advance Auto Parts web site.
Customers who refer friends and family to Advance Auto Parts receive a $10 credit if the person they refer completes a purchase online worth more than $50. In addition, the purchaser receives a $30 discount on their first order. There is no limit on the number of people customers can refer.
“[The program] helps us provide incentives on both sides to help drive even more conversations and referrals,” Bradbury said. “We reward our advocates for bringing us new customers and we provide great offers and experience for those who were referred to us.”
Click here to access an on-demand version the webinar, titled: Advance Auto Parts Sees a 25% Conversion Rate with Referral Marketing.
