Peer-to-peer network marketing turns into a strong trend. Consumers are tired of influencer marketing offering them luxury products they cannot afford to buy. People also don’t want to see tons of pushy digital ads. They prefer reliable feedback from someone who has already used the products or services.

Under such circumstances, peer-to-peer network marketing takes center stage. According to recent estimates, 70% of millennials make their buying decisions influenced by other people’s advice. Besides, 30% of consumers are more likely to buy something when a non-celebrity blogger recommends it. Overall, peer-to-peer network marketing contributes to 20-50% of purchase decisions.

That’s why modern businesses can significantly benefit from a P2P marketing strategy. It’s an effective alternative to reach out to potential customers and grow the target audience through brand ambassadors.

Discover more about what P2P marketing is and find P2P marketing strategy ideas in our post. We will also share tips on using Inkit for peer-to-peer network marketing.

What is P2P Marketing?

Peer-to-peer (P2P) marketing is a marketing approach based on word-of-mouth recommendations. Businesses implement a P2P marketing strategy to encourage customers to share positive reviews about their experience and nudge new leads into using services. Recommendations from existing customers inspire people to pick the same brand since they have credibility. The best thing about peer-to-peer network marketing is its cost-effectiveness and proven efficiency. 

Here is an example of what peer-to-peer marketing is. Imagine your coworker constantly complains about her current bank. After suffering for some time, she decides to use other financial services and is very satisfied with the customer experience. When you meet the coworker during lunch, she shares her story and positive feedback about the new bank. Given that it’s a person you trust, you are likely to choose the same bank next time you need banking services or even decide to switch your current bank. If her new bank has a referral program, she may even get a bonus for inviting you. That’s how traditional word-of-mouth marketing works.

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4 P2P Marketing Strategy Ideas You Should Try in Your Company

Quality products and services are the easiest way to make customers talk about you. But what to do when despite being fantastic, your company still doesn’t have brand ambassadors?

A P2P marketing strategy can help you get more delighted reviews. With several simple approaches, offline and digital marketers can boost their P2P marketing efforts. Here are some P2P marketing strategy options to consider.

P2P marketing strategy idea #1. Send your customers an email or postcard asking them to bring a friend

When friends and family recommend something, it’s precious feedback. To inspire your current customers to promote your brand, ping them with emails or postcards. You can send reminders at specific milestones. For example, when customers engage with your brand, make the third purchase or stay loyal for two years. Before implementing this P2P marketing strategy, make sure the target audience is satisfied with your services and likes your brand. Only then a request for recommendation with a pleasant bonus can make them act.

P2P marketing strategy idea #2. Launch a referral program in your app or website

If you can afford something more costly than sending emails and postcards, it makes sense to implement a full-fledged loyalty program. Those who have an app can enable customers to invite friends through an app for lead generation. Businesses that target consumers through their websites can add a referral program to their web resources. It can look like a separate website section on an option available in user accounts.

Referral programs are a highly effective P2P marketing strategy. They generate 3-5 times higher conversion rates than any other channel.

P2P marketing strategy idea #3. A special offer or discount for social media reviews

Let your customers benefit from peer-to-peer network marketing by making the offer they cannot refuse. For example, when you deliver ordered products, you can enclose a postcard asking to leave a review in exchange for a 20% next-order discount, beta access to the upcoming product features, etc. They will be able to either use the special offer themselves or share it with a friend.

Apart from growing revenue, you will also get more positive online reviews. Besides, when a person reviews something on social media, their friends or subscribers will see this in their feed. 

P2P marketing strategy idea #4. Cooperate with micro-influencers

Micro-influencers are people who have over 3000 followers on their Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram accounts. There are many, and their advertising prices are much more humble than those of renowned bloggers. Besides, consumers are more likely to trust such social media accounts. Since micro-influencers lead an ordinary life, the products and services they use will match the needs of a large target audience. This makes micro-influencers a great option for peer-to-peer network marketing.

Peer-to-Peer Network Marketing Best Practices

In addition to implementing a P2P marketing strategy, you have to follow some best practices. They will help you maximize the power of peer-to-peer network marketing throughout the conversion funnel. Here are the most important things to note:

• Start with loyalty. If consumers don’t like your brand that much, they won’t recommend it to friends and family. Therefore, before asking leads to do you a favor, build solid and reliable customer relationships.
• Use lead scoring software to find out what kind of leads can bring your the best referrals. This helps to estimate the customer lifetime value and know how much you can spend on customer acquisition through peer-to-peer marketing.
• Always be specific to let your customers know what rewards they will get. If you have a referral program, it’s essential to set clear peer-to-peer network marketing rules.
• Combine online and offline lead nurturing. Reach out to potential customers who tend to ignore digital marketing strategies with direct mail. A print postcard, leaflet, or thank you notice has better chances to grasp attention.
  

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• Mind hidden peer-to-peer network marketing cost. Even though word-of-mouth marketing is free, other peer-to-peer network marketing hacks require investment. So keep in mind that social media posts, customer bonuses, referral programs are continuous P2P expenses.
• Humanize your marketing efforts. When marketing communications and customer interactions are more intimate, this builds a special bond. To create it, you can share inspirational videos, post personal stories on social media, or send personalized greeting postcards to your customers.
  

To put a long story short, peer-to-peer marketing is mostly about customer loyalty and trust. Regardless of how convincing your sales pitches are, people will always value quality and long-term connections.

Inkit’s Reach Enablement Platform for Peer-to-Peer Network Marketing

Inkit is a multifunctional reach enablement platform that allows you to reach customers across multiple channels. Inkit’s Send provides automated mail printing and delivery so that you can send personalized offline messages to your leads. This allows you to automate P2P communications, like postcards.

In addition to in-built marketing features, Inkit supports over a hundred integrations. You can use it to synchronize multiple online and offline channels for a comprehensive P2P marketing strategy.

Inkit also provides automated address verification and document rendering to get in touch with customers and securely store archives of all the communications. Inkit Render automatically renders PDF documents, like invoices or bills, for a seamless customer experience. And the better you treat customers, the more likely they are to recommend you.