referrals

Start by identifying trigger moments like the first aha moment or a milestone, then choose a share mechanism such as in-product sharing or personalized links. For incentives, double-sided rewards like a free month for both parties typically convert best for subscription products.

Referral programs reward existing customers for recommending your product to their network, offering higher trust but lower volume. Affiliate programs pay commissions to third-party promoters like creators and bloggers, delivering higher volume with variable trust.

Diagnose whether the issue is awareness, timing, incentive strength, or sharing friction. Add prominent in-app prompts, ask at peak satisfaction moments, simplify sharing to one click, and test double-sided or tiered incentives.

Track participation rate, referrals per referrer, conversion rate of referred visitors, and viral coefficient (K-factor). Also compare referral CAC against other channels and measure LTV of referred customers, which typically runs 16-25% higher.

Common fraud includes self-referrals, referral rings, and fake accounts. Prevent it with email verification, device fingerprinting, delayed reward payouts, minimum activity thresholds, and reward clawbacks for refunds or chargebacks.

Common structures include 10-30% of first sale, flat fees of $5-500 per action, or 10-25% recurring commissions for subscriptions. Digital products like courses typically support 20-40% commissions, with cookie durations of 30 days for standard SaaS.