There's no debate: When it comes to acquiring customers, referral marketing is one of the most effective strategies.
Why?
Because it relies on the time-tested psychology of word-of-mouth. While some call these bring a friend promotion ideas, and others call them referral programs, the core concept remains the same: turning existing customers into advocates.
Best Referral Marketing Strategies, Ideas and Examples
Looking for effective referral promotion ideas?
Whether you’re building a Stripe-based referral program, SaaS referral marketing program, ecommerce referral program, or any other online business, you need to come up with creative referral marketing ideas to maximize its results.
We compiled this list of the 11 best referral marketing ideas and examples to help you create your referral marketing system.
Below, we'll explore proven refer a friend promotion ideas that have driven success for various businesses.
These referral program ideas can serve as inspiration to build a unique and exciting referral system.
Related: Learn what makes referral marketing different from affiliate marketing.
1. Leverage Social Gifting
Let's explore some creative referral incentive ideas, starting with a unique approach: social gifting is a unique referral marketing idea because it doesn’t reward the referrer with anything at all.
The entire reward goes to the referred friend.
Subscription boxes are known for using this method. They often offer their customers a code that gives a free box to their friends.
One of the most successful referral marketing examples comes from Try the World, who used this method for their anniversary.
They let each customer send a free box to three of their friends. The referrer didn’t get anything except the satisfaction of a happy friend.
This is an excellent referral marketing strategy. The friend is delighted to receive a gift from the referrer, the referrer gets the satisfaction (and credit) of giving a gift, and the brand gets an opportunity to convert someone into a customer.
This technique is especially useful for brands who are confident that people will buy their product once they become aware of it.
2. Reward Referrers with a Mystery Gift
In referral marketing, typically, it’s smart to be specific with your rewards. Your users want to know exactly what they’ll get for their referrals. But depending on your customer, that might not be necessary. They may enjoy a little mystery.
Among our favorite referral ideas, MeUndies offers customers a free mysterious gift with their order if they share the brand with their friends. Plus, their friends get a 20% coupon.
The beauty of sending a mystery gift is that you can throw anything in the box. You don’t have to prepare a special item just for the promotion. You can send anything you have on hand that your customer will like and that you’re willing to give away.
3. Reward Referrers with a Charity Donation
When looking for ideas for referral programs that resonate with socially conscious customers, charitable donations can be particularly effective.
That said, some people are more motivated by contributions to causes than rewards for themselves. If you donate to a worthy charity on their behalf, they might be more likely to join your referral marketing program and refer their friends.
Naturally, the charity you choose will need to align with your business and your customer’s values. For instance, if you run an ecommerce store that sells pet accessories, you could donate to an animal rights organization or a group of pet shelters.
4. Create a Referral Contest
When brainstorming referral campaign ideas, referral marketing contests are more common than you think and can be particularly effective.
Looking for engaging referral contest ideas? You have more options than you might think.
You can invite people to become contestants by creating a video, or you can create a widget that rewards contestants with entries for completing tasks such as signing up for your email list or sharing your website on social media.
Here’s how to implement this referral marketing strategy. Basically, you need to set up a widget (there are plenty of paid and free apps/plugins available) for contestants to enter the contest. The widget rewards the contestant with entries into the competition for completing basic tasks. The more tasks they complete, the more chances they have to win.
Huckberry’s ran a popular referral contest that awarded the top referrer $1,000 to spend at their store (which didn’t cost them $1,000 – we’ll explain more about this in a minute.)
Typically, these types of referral contests focus on ways to refer more people to the race and brand. For instance, you would give an entry for sharing on Facebook, an entry for sharing on Twitter, an entry for sharing via email, etc.
You can also drive brand engagement (and thus loyalty) by giving out entries for tasks like commenting on an Instagram post, downloading a lead magnet, subscribing to your email list, etc.
5. Reward Referrers with Store or Subscription Credit
Giving store or subscription credit is one of the most common referral marketing ideas. Here’s why.
First, it preserves your margins. It doesn’t actually cost you $20 to give someone $20 in credit. You only pay the price for acquiring or creating the product. So if someone uses that $20 to buy a t-shirt at your retail price, you only lose the cost of the shirt (which is presumably less than your retail price).
Popular Referral Discount Ideas That Work
- Give $20, Get $20
- 25% off first purchase for both parties
- Free month of service for each referral
- Double-sided discount codes
- Tiered rewards for multiple referrals
This variety of discount structures gives you flexibility to match your margins and customer acquisition costs while maximizing referral participation.
This referral marketing technique is especially useful for subscription tools and paid programs like courses. A free month of access may cost you pennies, or nothing at all, even though the customer feels like they’re saving a lot of money.
Second, credit drives repeat purchasing behavior. When they use their credit to make additional purchases, they reinforce their loyalty and build trust with your brand, which makes future purchases even easier.
6. Reward Referrers with an Upgraded Product or Service
Some of the most successful referral reward ideas don't involve giving something new - instead, they upgrade what customers already have (or just bought).
For instance, you could upgrade them to the premium tier of your SaaS tool, tack on an additional hour of consulting time, or ship them extra laces for the shoes they just bought.
Among unique referral programs, Dropbox's approach stands out. Dropbox referral program gives customers with additional storage space.
Customer could earn 500 MB of space for each successful referral (up to 16 GB). This method fueled their meteoric growth from 100,000 to 4 million users in just about a year.
Just like rewarding someone with store/subscription credit, this technique is usually cost-effective because your costs are less than the retail value of the reward.
7. Reduce Referrers Friction
The best refer a friend program ideas won't succeed if they're too complicated. Make referring a friend super easy for your customers.
If they have to take more than three steps, or if they have to make any complex decisions, they probably won’t bother.
When implementing referral scheme ideas, reducing friction is crucial. Here are a few ways to make your referral program seamless:
- Don’t hide your refer-a-friend feature somewhere your customers won’t find. Instead, feature them on your homepage or pricing page.
- Populate the referral messages so your customers can just click “send” without spending time crafting their own copy.
- Keep any emails you send (to the referrer or the referred party) short and simple.
- Automatically track their rewards so they don’t have to.
The best way to reduce friction in your referral marketing campaigns is to use a referral marketing tool designed to make the whole process easy—for you and your users/customers.
8. Optimize the Referral Program Headline
Your referral offer’s headline is the most visible part of the program. It should be simple, specific, catchy, and memorable. Most importantly, it should clearly explain the value of the referral program.
Here’s a bad referral program headline: “Mandy’s Makeup Refer-a-Friend Program”
Sure, that headline is accurate, but it doesn’t tell people why they should bother and certainly isn’t compelling.
Here are a few examples of great referral marketing headlines:
- “Earn $20 just by sharing”
- “Give $50 to a friend and get $50 for yourself”
- “Invite your friends and earn a free ride”
- “Get $25 when your friends sign up”
- “Tell your friends about us and you both get $20”
- “You get $10 for every friend you sign up”
- “Share your purchase and we’ll include a free gift”
9. Make Your Referral Marketing Program Discoverable
Your referral marketing program isn’t just a way to leverage your existing customers. It’s also a selling point for new customers considering using or buying your products. If their decision comes down to you or your competitor, they may choose your business because they want access to your referral program.
So, it’s important to make your referral program’s landing page discoverable. It's best when users can access it without logging into their accounts. For instance, link your referral marketing page from your top or footer web navigation. You could also mention it on your homepage. Make sure to write a blog post about the program, too.
Here are a few more places you should mention your referral marketing program:
- Your email signature
- Your newsletter
- Your “thank you for purchasing” page
- Your “thank you for subscribing” page
- Invoices, recipients, and flyers
- Social media posts
10. Retarget Your Customers
Retargeting is the practice of tracking people who visit a page on your website and promoting to them on another medium—usually social media platforms.
It’s worth the time and cost to retarget these people because you know they’re at least somewhat interested in your program.
If your customers view your referral page but don’t take any steps, you can give them another opportunity to refer a friend.
Among our advanced referral marketing tips, you can use retargeting to connect with people who were referred by your customers but didn't sign up or buy.
11. Implement Professional Client Referral Program Ideas
When developing client referral program ideas for B2B or professional services, consider these proven approaches:
- Create a VIP tier for top referring clients, offering exclusive benefits like priority support or advanced feature access
- Offer complementary consulting sessions or service upgrades as referral rewards
- Develop co-marketing opportunities where referring clients can showcase their success stories
- Set up a professional referral portal where clients can track their referrals and rewards
- Establish a points-based system where clients can accumulate rewards across multiple successful referrals
Remember that B2B client referral programs often require a more sophisticated approach than consumer referrals. Focus on rewards that add genuine business value and reflect the professional nature of your relationships.
Implementing Creative Ways to Get Referrals
The key to success is choosing and adapting these refer a friend campaign ideas to match your unique business and customer base.
Start with one approach, test it thoroughly, and gradually expand your referral program with additional creative methods as you learn what works best for your audience.
Launch a Robust Referral Marketing Program with Rewardful
When evaluating customer referral programs ideas, remember this: The best referral marketing program is one your customers actually want to share.
You’ll have to dig deep into your customers’ personalities and mindsets to create the program that resonates most with them.
Hopefully, these examples of creative referral programs have inspired you to design something your customers will love to share.
Do you have an e-commerce website? Here are nine examples of e-commerce referral marketing programs.
Start your referral marketing program with Rewardful—easy-to-install and use affiliate and referral management software.
