Referral Program

The Referral Program template helps you create a campaign where existing customers (advocates) refer new people to your business and receive rewards. It’s designed to drive growth through trusted recommendations while automatically tracking performance.

Campaign Goals

Referral Programs support two goal types:

• Conversion events – Reward advocates when their referrals complete your defined conversion goal(s). Example: reward an advocate when their friend signs up or makes a purchase

• Conversion events + Social actions – Reward advocates with points both for completing social actions and when their referrals complete conversion goals. Example: advocates earn points for sharing on social media, plus rewards when referred friends convert

Participation Rules

• All participants automatically become advocates

• Each participant receives a unique referral link to share

• Referrals can also become advocates, continuing the cycle of sharing

Widgets & Activation

ReferralHero provides three widgets for Referral Program campaigns:

• Advocate Dashboard widget – Advocates can sign up or log in, access their referral link, and track progress

• Signup widget – A customizable signup form to engage new subscribers and automatically add them as advocates

• Referral Welcome Banner – A banner-style signup option for embedding on your website to encourage participation

In Referral Programs:

• Anyone who signs up through any widget is immediately activated as an advocate

• No additional activation steps are required

Rewards

• Supports all reward types: Conversion Bonuses, Rewards for Advocates, Rewards for Subscribers, and Manual Rewards

• Includes Organic Signup Bonus: Organic subscribers can be rewarded upon signup, even if they were not referred (Not available in Affiliate Programs)

Automations

• Supports all automation flows

• Includes Welcome Flow > Activation email/SMS: This message is sent to subscribers who have joined but have not yet referred anyone, reminding them about the campaign and motivating engagement (Not available in Affiliate Programs)

When to Use

Use the Referral Program template if you want to:

• Grow your customer base organically through referrals

• Encourage sharing across social media and personal networks

• Incentivize both engagement and conversions

• Run either a continuous or time-limited program

Key Features

In addition to features available in all templates (e.g., customizable rewards, automated tracking, double-sided rewards), Referral Programs include:

• Flexible goal options – Conversions only, or conversions plus social actions

• Automatic advocacy – Every participant receives a referral link

• Organic Signup Bonus – Reward for non-referred signups

• Welcome Flow – Automated email/SMS for inactive advocates