The Clubhouse hype proves smart marketing isn’t all about spending
FOMO is a pretty solid strategy.
Word of mouth works, just ask Google
We can go all the way back to 2004 for a great example of word-of-mouth marketing in action. Gmail is obviously now a Unicorn with 1.8 billion users around the world, but 17 years ago the name Google was not in any way one that would have been associated with email.
When it was first launched, Google only allowed a few people access to the service, offering each of these ‘beta’ users the ability to invite a few more friends and family. The referral program was so successful that invites to Gmail wereup for auctionon eBay at the time.
FOMO is a potent human emotion, and it can be engineered
Exclusivity might not seem like the best way to build a business. Common sense surely dictates that you want to get as many customers as possible. But this isn’t necessarily true — it’s no good tempting millions of people onto your platform all at once if they don’t stick around.
Clubhouse’s reliance on referrals also means it’s able to attract therightkind of members in therightkinds of circles — a key ingredient to create FOMO.
It really is this simple: if a product or service is worth talking about, people want to tell their friends. By growing its membership through a referral-based model, Clubhouse is tapping into existing networks of friends, families, and colleagues. People who already trust each other and know each other’s tastes, likes, and dislikes.
This means that when your friend recommends a product, you find yourself wanting it evenbeforeyou’ve clicked that link.
Referrals can save you millions
If a company has a good product or service, customers will want to refer their friends. You just have to give them a reason to refer and make it easy for them to do so. If you get this right you could save millions on marketing. ?
To me, Clubhouse’s incredible success showcases the true power of referral marketing and also its simplicity. By contrast, countless businesses have spent millions on ads attempting to build that kind of trust (and noise), when all they needed to do was ask their customers to refer their friends…
It’s now easier than ever to follow the likes of Clubhouse and Google — so go for it!Easy-to-use marketing toolshave made launching a referral program simple and affordable, so there really is no reason not to give it a try!
Story byKirsty Sharman
Kirsty founded Referral Factory, a leading referral marketing platform that makes it incredibly easy for any business to build their own ref(show all)Kirsty founded Referral Factory, a leading referral marketing platform that makes it incredibly easy for any business to build their own referral program. Besides being an entrepreneurial powerhouse, she acts as a growth marketer, product builder and was Listed in M&G as one of 200 Young South Africans to watch.
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