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Referral Program Best Practices
Referral Program Best Practices
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Marketing creative

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Marketing creative
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elements are used to help promote your program and inspire your customers to participate. We recommend including as many as possible in order to maintain a successful program.
Marketing creative
Marketing Creative
Audience
Why it's important
Best practices
1
Launch email
Referrer
Launch emails are a critical part of marketing a new program. Use your email marketing platform to blast the program out to your full audience.
Personalize the message
States the value proposition early on, clearly states CTA & benefits, easy to follow action steps, includes sharelinks. WIIFM.
2
Website feature or callout
Referrer
Include a link to your referral program on your website homepage so that your advocates can find it easily.
Add a feature or callout above the fold, with its own icon or button that is situated near a high traffic area, e.g. near a "request a demo" or "purchase now" feature.
Include a link to the program in your website footer
3
In-app notifications and onboarding
Referrer
If your web or mobile experience includes in app messaging or notifications, use them to invite your customers to participate in your referral program.
Use a concise call to action to drive people to your program landing page or referral widget.
Include a mention of the referral program in your platform or services onboarding tutorial for new users
4
Employee internal communications
Employees
Internal communications are crucial to ensuring your program is a success. Before launch, give your employees a run down of the program and how it works. Providing a program explainer or cheat sheet fuels them with the right details to spread the word when they engage with your customers.
Teams to include:
Sales
Contact and Support team
Launch email dedicated to the program
Ongoing communication/reminders within your company intranet/hub, monthly newsletter, all company huddles, etc.
Include FAQs that employees may encounter when communicating with customers
5
Program landing page and explainer
Referrer
Referred participant
SEO-optimized landing page on your website will assist with program discoverability.
Create a dedicated program landing page for your new program. It should be hosted on your company’s main domain and use consistent corporate branding.
Clearly and directly state the value of participating in the program.
Include CTA buttons that ask the viewer to take a logical next step.
For new programs, use general social proof about your product or service.
Established programs should use testimonials and other program-specific customer feedback.
6
Ongoing email campaigns
Referrer
Continued email marketing gives your program the visibility it needs to maintain consistent performance from month to month.
Segment users to provide tailored emails
Send a custom message to customers that haven’t made a referral yet
If you have special rewards for achieving a certain number of referrals, email people to nudge them over the finish line!
7
“Happy moment” emails
Referrer
Mentioning your rewards program in transactional emails for happy moments such as post-purchase is the perfect time to ask your customers to make a referral.
Ask your customers to participate when they are happiest!
Purchase confirmation emails or after successful customer support calls are great times to tell customers about your program or remind them to make a referral
Craft a message that relates to the content of the transactional email. E.g. If your referral program offers a discount on future purchases or subscription fees your messaging on invoices could read "Want a discount on your next bill? Make a referral and we'll give you $10 off."
8
Blog post and features
Referrer
Blog posts about your program serve two goals: they assist in program discoverability via search engines, and they are a great way to showcase social proof or use cases for your program. Because blog posts are very flexible in content, they offer a versatile way to market your program and all its possibilities. You can also feature a call out for the referral program in blog posts about other topics.
Blog about the referral program: links to the referral landing page should have its own space above and below the blog as well as linked within the post.
Include testimonials as social proof when possible
All other blog posts: Links to the referral landing page should have its own dedicated placement within the post.
9
Social media
Referrer
Mention your referral program on social media often. This ensures your audience will see it if they visit your profiles at different times throughout the year. This also makes it easy for your followers to share the program with their network.
Create unique posts to feature your program and be sure to share blog posts or podcasts about your new program on your social media channels
Include clear and concise directions on how to participate
10
Employee email signatures
Referrer
Employee email signatures give your program an extra boost of visibility. Mention the rewards offered and direct people to your program landing page.
Keep it short & sweet!
Mention the reward & include a link to your program landing page
11
eNewsletter feature
Referrer
A new rewards program makes a great addition to your newsletter and helps maximize the reach of your program.
Give your new program its own feature in your newsletter
Be sure to add a call out for the program in future editions to get as much visibility as possible
12
Sales team script
Referrer
A completed sale is the perfect time to ask your customers to give you a referral. Inviting your new customer to participate in a referral program where they can get rewarded also helps deepen their positive impression of your brand.
Provide your sales team a program explainer
Include a clear CTA that your sales team can use to invite leads & customers to the program
Be sure to provide a FAQ that covers all the basics–how to participate, what the rewards are, how are rewards delivered, what conditions are required to receive the reward, etc.
13
Telephone hold messaging
Referrer
Hold messaging is an underutilized tool when marketing a new rewards program. Add a mention of your program to hold messaging and don't forget to direct listeners to your program landing page.
Another one to keep short and sweet! Start with your CTA, mention the reward & have an easy to remember URL. e.g. www.yourbrand.com/Refer

14
Podcast
Referrer
Do you have a podcast? Don't forget to mention the referral program to your listeners. Customers that follow your podcast are often your most engaged and most likely to participate but they can't participate if they don't know about the program.
Include the CTA, reward and easy to remember URL when talking about the program and don’t forget to link it in your show notes.

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