In the second video of this series on referral marketing, Liz Harr will continue talking about referral marketing, something that everybody in professional services is used to when it comes to bringing in new business, generating more leads.
TRANSCRIPTION:
Hi. In this video series, I’ll continue talking about referral marketing, something that everybody in professional services is used to when it comes to bringing in new business, generating more leads. In this particular blog, what I’ll be talking about is how to increase referrals because it doesn’t always happen through the means that you might think it does.
If you take a look at this chart, what I’m showing you here are factors in order that increase the probability you’ll get a referral. Look at sponsorships. That’s oftentimes the way that people think is the top way that they’ll be getting referrals but if you look all the way at the bottom of this chart, you see visible expertise.
Now, if you’ve been following this video blog series, you’ll know that I’ve been talking about just that, the extent to which your firm, your brand is tied to a tangible expertise that is relevant to the marketplace. That’s what’s been driving referrals as of late in the professional services marketplace.
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So, that begs the question how do referral sources learn about your expertise? Well, it happens through three pillars, what I like to refer to as three pillars. And that is speaking, publishing, and networking. Now, if you take a look at this pie chart, almost 85% of the way that referral sources learn about your expertise falls into those three buckets.
So, let’s take a look at speaking. Now, this accounts for 30% alone, and when you think about it, when you’re up on stage speaking you have a captive audience, you’ve been invited to speak because you are a niche expert. So, I think this one makes a lot of sense.
Speaking alone accounts for 30% of the way that referral sources are convinced that you’re an expert. Now, let’s explore publishing. This accounts for about 35%. And this can happen through blogs alone, that’s about 20%, and another 15% happens because you’ve written a book.
So, educational thought leadership, whether it is in the form of a blog, whether it’s something people can download, like a book or an executive guide, this, too, convinces people of your expertise and increases the likelihood that you’ll get a referral. Now, what about networking? Specifically what I’m talking about here is online networking through social media channels, 17% of referral sources use this as a means for determining your expertise.
So, if you are thinking about social media or considering it, make sure that it is actually a non-negotiable in your marketing strategy because it’s fast becoming a way that the outside world makes a judgment call on whether we are the experts they are looking for. So, if you’re interested in learning more about how to increase referrals, I’d like to direct you to our Visible Firm Course in Hinge University.
Hope to see you there.