banks - Page 1 - Blog | Buyapowa - Refer / Invite a Friend Marketing Program

Bravo, Nationwide. Bravo.

Nationwide refer-a-friend newspaper advert

I opened up a newspaper today. The usual procession of sensationalised nonsense, global tragedy and 14-year-old celebrities frantically trying to rewind their educations. It took about 30 seconds to read, but then the very last page - the back cover, in fact - caught my eye.

There it is, up there in the picture. A full page advert for the Nationwide Building Society. Nothing out of the ordinary there, right? People need financial services, banks and building societies need to tell 'em where to get 'em. But this ad wasn't selling current accounts. Or mortgages. Or even Smart Junior ISAs (guess what my five-year-old's getting for Christmas!).

It was for Nationwide's excellent refer-a-friend programme, where their 15 million existing members can share the love and invite their friends to switch their current accounts. They get £100 if their friend signs up, the friend gets £100. Everyone - including Nationwide - is a winner.

But wait. There's more. I get home, pour myself a large Lemsip & tonic and turn on the TV. And look what's on: an advert for Nationwide's refer-a-friend programme. Right there. On my telly.

Nationwide refer-a-friend TV advert

Full page adverts, TV campaigns: Nationwide are going BIG on this whole referral

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Do or Die: Referral Marketing the Saviour of Banks & Insurers

Getting your customers to talk about you

If you are a bank or an insurance company you may feel that being seen as ‘safe and trustworthy (and perhaps a little boring)’ is not a bad place to be. After all, your customers want to trust their savings, bank balances and insurance cover to someone who is sober, reliable and who they believe will be there when they need them, not someone seen as risqué, daring or amusing who might not be around very long.

But the problem with being ‘safe and trustworthy (and perhaps a little boring)’ is that it does not make for a product that people instinctively want to tell their friends about. Can you imagine a bank customer interrupting his friends discussion of ‘Making a Murderer’ or the latest ‘Star Wars’ epic to announce ‘I have just gotta tell you all just how much I love my bank’?

No, well neither can I.

So if you don’t remind your customers to refer their friends and family and give them the right tools and incentives to do so, then chances are they won’t tell anyone about you. In fact, let’s say that the chances are

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