42 Referral Marketing Statistics to Convince You to Start a RAF Program

If you’re not yet leveraging the power customer acquisition of word of mouth marketing, here are some referral marketing statistics that will change your mind and make you want to implement a refer a friend program tomorrow.

“One customer, well taken care of, could be more valuable than $10,000 worth of advertising.”  – Jim Rohn

Referral programs are a bigger deal than some companies may realize. Every day, billions of recommendations happen just because someone likes a product or a service and tells someone, who then tells someone else, who in turn tells someone else–it’s human nature to talk about things we like. Chances are your satisfied customers are talking about your brand right now, but are you giving their advocacy the attention it deserves? These referral marketing statistics will help you evaluate where you stand.

To discover how to implement a truly optimized refer a friend program, don’t miss out on our white paper, The Step-by-Step Guide for a Powerful Referral Program.

Referral Marketing Statistics: The Power of Word-of-Mouth

• The Word of Mouth Marketing Association reports that every day in the United States, there are approximately 2.4 billion brand-related conversations. People frequently talk about the products and services they enjoy, and the companies who offer them.
• 92% of consumers trust referrals from people they know – Nielsen
• People are 4 times more likely to buy when referred by a friend – Nielsen
• 77% of consumers are more likely to buy a new product when learning about it from friends or family. – Nielsen
• 81% of U.S. online consumers’ purchase decisions are influenced by their friends’ social media posts versus 78% who are influenced by the posts of the brands they follow on social media. – Market Force
• 43% of consumers are more likely to buy a new product when learning about it from friends on social media. – Nielsen
• 85% of fans of brands on Facebook recommend brands to others. – Syncapse
• 84% of consumers say they either completely or somewhat trust recommendations from family, colleagues, and friends about products – making these recommendations the information source ranked highest for trustworthiness. – Nielsen

• 74% of consumers identify word-of-mouth as a key influencer in their purchasing decision. – Ogilvy/Google/TNS
• 1 offline word of mouth impression drives sales at least 5x more than 1 paid, and much more (as much as 100 times more) for higher-consideration categories. – WOMMA
• Word of mouth is the primary factor behind 20% to 50% of all purchasing decisions. – McKinsey
• 49% of U.S. consumers say friends and family are their top sources of brand awareness.
• 71% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase based on social media referrals.
• On social media, 58% of consumers share their positive experiences with a company and ask family, colleagues, and friends for their opinions about brands. [SDL]
• Consumers rely on word-of-mouth 2x to 10x more than paid media. – Boston Consulting Group
• 55% of consumers share their purchases socially on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and other social sites.
• 59% of Pinterest users have purchased an item they saw on the site, 33% of Facebook users have purchased an item they saw on their news feed or a friend’s wall.
• Word-of-mouth has been shown to improve marketing effectiveness by up to 54%. –  MarketShare

Referral Marketing Statistics: The Role of Incentives

• More than 50% of people are likely to give a referral if offered a direct incentive, social recognition or access to an exclusive loyalty program. –  Software Advice
• 39% of respondents say monetary or material incentives such as discounts, free swag, or gift cards greatly increase their chances of referring to a brand. –  Software Advice
• 70% of email readers open emails from a brand or company in search of a deal, discount, or coupon. –  Campaign Monitor
• 65% of consumers say that receiving rewards impacts their frequency of purchase.
• 79% of people say their primary reason for “liking” a company’s Facebook page is to get discounts. –  Market Force
• 64% of consumers say that rewards impact how much they spend.
• 69% of consumers say that they’re more likely to try a brand if it gives rewards.

Referral Marketing Statistics: The Results

• Referral Marketing generates 3-5x higher conversion rates than any other channel.
• Customer Referral programs can bring an average of 20,000 new email addresses per month – Annex Cloud
• The lifetime value of a new referral customer is 16% higher than your average customer. –  Wharton School of Business
• The Lifetime Value of a referred customer is 25% higher than that of other customers – Wharton School of Business
• When specific case studies about referral software were analyzed, researchers found a 10% increase in WOM (off and online) translated into a sales lifts between 0.2 – 1.5%. –  MarketShare/ Keller Fay Group
• Referred customers bring you a 25% higher profit margin.
• A referred customer is 18% more loyal than a customer acquired by other means.
• Referred customers are 4 times more likely to refer more customers to your brand.
• Customers referred by other customers have a 37% higher customer retention rate.
• Customer acquisitions through referrals spend 200% more than the average customer.
• Robust advocacy-marketing programs are achieving significant revenue gains—10 to 20 percent for established products and up to 100 percent for new products.
• One of Annex Cloud’s referral marketing clients saw a 9.7% increase in conversion. – Annex Cloud
• Another one of Annex Cloud’s clients saw an average of $100,000 in monthly revenue just from referral orders – Annex Cloud

Social Media Referral Marketing:

• Customers are fast turning to their trusted social media platform for guidance. According to Shareaholic, social media drove almost 31% of overall to their business.
• Hubspot states that almost 78% of consumers admit being influenced by the posts of their favorite brand they follow on social media to buy a product.
• 39% of customers will prefer giving feedback about your business on social media. (According to a report published on JobsinMarketing)
• Almost 58% of customers agreed that they will choose to share their positive experiences on social media. (Clutch)

Want to make sure you’re on top of your customer acquisition game? Our blog on referral sales is a must-read!

Looking to start your own referral marketing program? Get in touch with one of our marketing specialists today or request a demo of our referral program software!