Driving Referral Program Awareness

William Harper Updated by William Harper

Strong visibility into your referral program is a critical element for program health and success. Drive program awareness by proactively telling customers the program exists as well as sharing compelling details about it.  

Dedicated Referral Program Email

A dedicated email is a great way to let customers know that you have a referral program where they can earn rewards for sharing with friends. In this email, you can share so much about your referral program including the offer and how to participate. 

Dedicated referral trigger emails can be seamlessly integrated into many parts of the customer journey: from welcome flows, to post-purchase flows, to survey completion, etc. Merchants leveraging Klaviyo as their email provider can seamlessly prompt a referral post-purchase!

Similarly, be sure to send a dedicated referral marketing email to your complete list on a quarterly, or ideally monthly, cadence to remind them about your referral program.

When first launching a referral program, include a program announcement or instructions for your customers on how to best take advantage of this exciting opportunity.

Make sharing even easier for your advocates by including their personal referral URL (PURL) in an email.

Persistent Referral CTAs in Marketing Emails

Drive referral program awareness through your regular marketing efforts by including a persistent referral call to action in your marketing and transactional emails. Visibility is a critical component to a successful referral program. Adding a CTA to all marketing emails extends awareness of the program, makes it easier to access and can generate impulse referrals, increasing the number of acquired customers. 

Post-Purchase Emails

In addition to a post-purchase overlay, adding a dedicated email to your email campaigns after a customer purchases is a great way to remind your customers of your referral program while their interaction with your brand is fresh in their memory.

Social Media Promotion

Tap into your existing network of fans by using social media to promote your referral program. Utilize this following to expose the program and create new ambassadors of your brand. You can also optimize paid social channels for additional targeting. 

Offline Promotion

Invite customers to join the program offline as well. There are many ways to promote your referral program offline. From in-store cards to box inserts, here are some ways brands have creatively driven awareness offline: 

Adding inserts into all shipments, often times using a QR code for easy mobile access and sharing:

Brands have even included pop up modals into their devices and streaming services.

SMS & Push Notifications

Mobile web accounts for about 70% of customer traffic. Customer behavior shows that customers are most likely to refer on impulse while chatting with their friends. Optimizing both SMS pushes and in-app notifications, if applicable, can drive program performance by increasing its accessibility and puts the referral program just one click away.

Increase referral program awareness, accessibility, and ease of use by incorporating referral into your Google Ads campaign using Sitelinks. 

Questions? Reach out to your dedicated Customer Success Manager or email us at support@friendbuy.com.

How did we do?

Friendbuy Referral Emails

Referral Offer Strategies

Contact