Singapore, July 31, 2024—In a bold move to address the growing consumer distrust in traditional advertising, impact.com has launched impact.com/advocate, a state-of-the-art customer referral marketing solution. This innovative platform empowers brands to transform their loyal customers into motivated advocates, facilitating genuine connections with new audiences and managing all partnerships seamlessly in one place.
Addressing Consumer Trust Issues with Peer Recommendations
Consumer trust in advertising is at an all-time low, with only 2% of consumers finding ads impactful in their purchasing decisions. Conversely, peer recommendations are on the rise. According to a recent survey, 49% of Southeast Asian consumers use social media platforms like Facebook and TikTok for product discovery, 43% rely on customer reviews on retailer websites, and 32% seek advice from friends, family, and colleagues before making a purchase.
In Singapore, this trend is even more pronounced. A study by impact.com reveals that 83% of Singaporean consumers consider recommendations from people they know as vital in their purchase decisions. Among young adults aged 18-35, nearly half (49%) find such recommendations highly influential. Despite the appreciation for genuine endorsements, 18% of shoppers feel uneasy about recommending products solely for rewards. This underscores the importance of authentic referrals, with 68% of referrers preferring a system that rewards both themselves and the recipients.
Launch of impact.com/advocate: Features and Benefits
With impact.com/advocate, brands can now build fully automated and customizable referral marketing programs that align with their strategic goals and customer preferences. The platform simplifies customer referral marketing, enhancing customer advocacy and attracting new customers during their discovery phase.
Antoine Gross, General Manager for Southeast Asia and India at impact.com, elaborated, “Today’s modern buyer no longer trusts conventional advertising techniques; they’re seeking out reviews and recommendations from people they can trust and searching social media where they can see the product being used. And we’re seeing that referrers aren’t just making recommendations for their own benefit, but they’re altruistically helping their network access great products and benefits. It’s a type of partnership that feels less transactional and driven more by genuine care and connection, which adds a unique depth to our offering.”
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Integration with SaaSquatch for Enhanced Capabilities
Building on impact.com’s 2023 acquisition of SaaSquatch, a leading customer referral software provider, the new solution integrates seamlessly with impact.com’s existing suite of tools and technologies. This integration offers brands a robust partnership marketing ecosystem, allowing them to create on-brand, user-friendly referral experiences embedded at top conversion points in the customer journey.
Real-World Success Stories
Giacomo Bertollo, head of product marketing at Hack the Box, shared their experience, stating, “Leveraging impact.com’s customer referral solution to enhance our monthly user acquisition has helped our business achieve a significant boost in revenue and ARR. Combining our customer referral and affiliate programs to one platform with impact.com has also helped us ease security reviews, reduce costs, and streamline our workflow. We’re excited about the future of this platform which can evolve and grow with us, and look forward to leveraging its full potential to drive even greater results.”
Key Features of impact.com/advocate:
- Flexible Program Builder: Brands can create referral programs that align with their unique strategy and business goals.
- Exciting Rewards: Brands can incentivize participation by offering engaging rewards and gamifying the program with leaderboards and reward exchanges.
- Seamless User Experience: The platform allows for on-brand, easy-to-use referral experiences embedded at key points in the customer journey.
- Robust Analytics: Brands can track and optimize their program’s performance using impact.com’s comprehensive analytics capabilities.
To learn more about impact.com/advocate and how it can transform your customer referral strategy, visit impact.com/advocate.
About impact.com
impact.com is the world’s leading partnership management platform, revolutionizing how businesses manage partnerships, including influencers, creators, commerce content publishers, customers, other businesses, traditional loyalty and rewards affiliates, and more. For more information on how impact.com’s platform drives revenue growth for brands such as Sephora, ZALORA, Razer, Charles & Keith, Decathlon, Castlery, Puma, and Allianz, visit www.impact.com.
