Referral Programs
Turn your happiest customers into your most effective marketing channel with structured referral incentives.
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Your customers are your best salespeople
92% of consumers trust referrals from people they know. A structured program turns organic word-of-mouth into a growth engine.
Built on trust
Recommendations from friends convert at 4-5x the rate of any other channel.
Lower CAC
Referral customers cost 50-70% less to acquire than paid channel customers.
Higher LTV
Referred customers have 16% higher lifetime value than non-referred.
Viral loop
Great referral programs create a self-sustaining growth flywheel.
Get started in 5 steps
Design your incentive structure
Two-sided rewards work best: give both the referrer and the new customer something valuable.
Make sharing frictionless
One-click sharing via email, SMS, and social. Unique referral links for tracking.
Implement with a referral platform
Use ReferralCandy, Viral Loops, or build custom with Supabase.
Promote to existing customers
Email your list, add in-app prompts, and mention during onboarding.
Celebrate and reward top referrers
Public leaderboards, bonus tiers, and personal thank-yous for top performers.
Do's and Don'ts
✓ Do This
- ✓Reward both referrer and referee
- ✓Make the process dead simple
- ✓Promote the program at peak satisfaction moments
- ✓Track and optimize conversion rates
- ✓Test different reward types
✕ Avoid This
- ✕Make rewards too small to motivate
- ✕Create complicated referral processes
- ✕Forget to promote the program
- ✕Ignore fraud and gaming
- ✕Only reward monetary incentives
Is this channel right for you?
Referral programs work best for products people already love and talk about. High-satisfaction businesses see the best results.
Who's doing it well
“Our referral program gives both sides $20 credit. It now drives 30% of new signups and referred users retain 40% better than paid users.”
Tomorrow: Guest Blogging & Backlinks
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