How to Supercharge Referral Programs With Influencer Marketing Campaigns
Discover how leveraging the rise of the micro-influencer can provide greater engagement rates for your next referral campaign
Organic marketing and word-of-mouth recommendations are the most effective ways to increase app installs and improve growth through referral campaigns. But for apps looking to build and grow an audience of dedicated users, leveraging the messaging power of social media influencers can provide the lift your app needs to reach its breakthrough moment.
Influencer marketing has become a critical component of performance marketing campaigns looking to maximize KPIs like user acquisition and retention while remaining authentic. Read on to learn how finding the right influencer can improve referral engagement rates and discover a few ideas to maximize ROAS for your next campaign.
The Importance of Referral Programs
Few advertising methods are as effective as word-of-mouth advertising. According to Nielsen, 92% of people trust friends and family for purchase recommendations over any other type of advertising. People are far more likely to download something they see friends using or that their family recommends. With thousands of apps released daily, ensuring that yours is the one people are recommending will help you pierce through the noise and acquire more users.
Referral programs are one of the most effective ways to build an opportunity to generate organic advertising directly into your app. Offering small incentives — such as free in-game currency, store credit, or unique discounts — entices current users to share promo codes directly with friends or upload screenshots of in-game progress to social media profiles. These efforts encourage new users to sign up, who can then share their own referral activations, and so on. When successful, referral programs can generate a feedback loop of user generation, leading to decreased user acquisition costs and improved churn and retention rates.
If your game is already large enough or you’re simply looking to sustain player populations, relying on organic in-game promotions may be all you need. If you’re still looking for that breakthrough push to boost player counts to the next level, you’ll likely need something more. That’s where influencers come in.
Why Influencers Matter for Boosting Referral Numbers
Celebrity endorsements are nothing new, even in the mobile app space. But thanks to the proliferation of social media and the creation of niche communities around virtually every possible subject, micro-influencers are becoming the number one way for mobile marketers to reach their target audience and maximize ROAS.
With less than 100,000 followers, these influencers won’t have the reach of a primetime TV spot. What they do have, however, is a dedicated, highly-motivated audience who sees the influencer as a trusted authority.
Studies have shown that consumers are more likely to purchase or consider purchasing a product after seeing their favorite influencers post about it. In fact, influencer accounts with fewer than 15,000 followers have seen far greater engagement rates than those with over 1 million followers, especially on TikTok.
Smaller influencers cultivate a sense of trust and belonging with their communities, which leads to increased activations and a greater likelihood that users will stick with an app long after the referral campaign has ended. Pound for pound, influencer marketing campaigns provide some of the best ROAS money can buy.
Partnering with the right influencer can make or break your campaign. Download the AdAction Influencer Marketing ebook today to discover critical insights about finding influencers that align with your marketing efforts and campaign ideas that will kick your marketing campaign into high gear.
How to Maximize Results of Your Influencer Marketing Campaign
- Use a CPI payment model. Time was, most influencer campaigns were structured with a flat fee, meaning influencers received the same rate whether their campaign hit its targets or not. Now, performance marketing tracking tools allow you to pay out content creators per successful install. This ensures you’re only spending ad dollars on real, quantifiable activations while encouraging creators to deliver messaging that resonates with their audience.
- Find an influencer that understands your subject. With micro-influencers, you want to engage directly with your target audience rather than paint with a broad brush, so ensure the partnership makes sense before starting. For example, working with a cooking influencer for a mobile game referral campaign could work if the game is themed around food or the audience knows the influencer enjoys games. These connections won’t always work, however, so be sure to do your research ahead of time and find an influencer who matches your niche.
- Provide bonuses they can’t get anywhere else. Your audience follows influencers for their distinct perspective and insight, and they should feel uniquely rewarded for engaging with your referral campaign through their content. Customized bundles of digital goodies or in-game rewards, physical merch, or limited-time discounts will make followers feel like they’re getting a deal that isn’t available anywhere else.
Start Your Influencer Marketing Campaign Today
Influencer campaigns require specialized tactics compared to traditional ads or paid search. However, successfully leveraging their reach can help boost install rates for your referral campaign and keep players engaged long after it’s over. And thanks to performance marketing channels like AdAction, you can track and optimize performance mid-campaign, enabling you to get the most bang for your advertising buck.
Discover how a social media influencer marketing campaign can boost your app growth strategy by downloading our free ebook. Inside, you’ll receive tips on the best ways to kickstart your campaign, find an influencer to help you meet your goals, and much more. Download the ebook today, and let AdAction help you find an influencer that will enable you to surpass your KPIs.
