SocialTwist Launches KnownCircle Social Referral Network
SocialTwist, a provider of social referral marketing and the Influencer Quotient, today launched KnownCircle.com, a social referral network where consumers can discover and connect with professional service providers that are most trusted by their friends and family.
According to a recent study by Boston Consulting Group, consumers rely on word of mouth more than paid media advertising:The results of the BCG survey of more than 32,000 consumers in Europe and the U.S. show that 66 percent of the respondents consult friends and family before purchasing—two to 10 times more often than they consult paid media advertising.
The KnownCircle network gives consumers a way to find trusted service providers while allowing the latter to rapidly build their referral business. Service providers can generate leads year round and track their referral success via a robust analytics dashboard that gives them detailed insights on leads generated, referral sources, and trends.
"Service providers spend considerable time, effort and money in keeping their customers happy, but only a handful of these satisfied customers end up making referrals and generating new business," said Vijay Pullur, CEO of SocialTwist, in a statement. "There is no lack of good will as most customers just don't have the time to facilitate the right connections. With KnownCircle, we are making it incredibly easy to secure a customer's endorsement and then helping get these endorsements the right reach and constant visibility."
Professional service providers can set up their KnownCircle.com profiles for free and invite customers to endorse them by simply joining their KnownCircle. Now, anytime the customer's friends or family are in the market for a service, they can just search knowncircle.com and discover the service providers specifically endorsed by people they know. Customers can also choose to refer the service provider directly by sending emails or posting to their social networks, all from within the KnownCircle platform.
KnownCircle is currently available to the insurance industry. In the next few months the platform will expand to include additional professional service providers, including tax preparers, real estate agents, attorneys, and more.