Referral Program

This drill sets up a customer referral program from incentive design through launch and optimization. It leverages your happiest customers (identified via NPS or usage data) to drive low-cost, high-quality acquisition.

Prerequisites

• Product with active, satisfied users (run nps-feedback-loop to identify promoters)
• PostHog tracking referral events
• Ability to offer referral incentives (credits, free months, features, or swag)

Steps

1. Design the incentive structure

Choose a referral model that aligns with your product:

• Two-sided reward: Both referrer and referee get a benefit (most effective for consumer and prosumer products). Example: "Give a friend 1 month free, get 1 month free."
• Referrer-only reward: Credits, premium features, or swag for the referrer. Works for B2B where the referee benefits from the product itself.
• Tiered rewards: Escalating rewards as referral count grows (1 referral = sticker, 5 = t-shirt, 10 = free year). Creates gamification.

Keep the incentive simple to explain in one sentence. Complicated programs do not get shared.

2. Build the referral mechanism

Create unique referral links or codes per user. Track referral events in PostHog using posthog-custom-events: link shared, link clicked, referee signed up, referee activated, reward unlocked. The tracking chain must be airtight — users will not refer if rewards are not reliably delivered.

3. Identify and activate referrers

Using the attio-lists fundamental, pull your promoter list from NPS data and your most active users from PostHog. These are your seed referrers. Do not blast the referral program to everyone — start with users who already love the product. They will convert at higher rates and set social proof.

4. Prompt referrals at the right moment

Using intercom-in-app-messages, trigger referral prompts at moments of delight:

• After completing a successful workflow
• After a positive NPS response
• After reaching a usage milestone
• After their first month of active use

The prompt should be celebratory: "You've accomplished X — know someone who'd benefit too?"

5. Automate the reward fulfillment

Using loops-transactional, send automated emails at each step: confirmation when someone uses their link, notification when the referee signs up, reward notification when the referee activates. Make the referrer feel appreciated at every stage. Include a running count of their referrals.

6. Measure and optimize

Track the referral funnel: invites sent, clicks, signups, activations, rewards issued. Calculate cost per acquisition via referral and compare to other channels. Benchmark: 10-15% of promoters should refer at least once. If referral rates are low, test the incentive, the prompt timing, or the ease of sharing. Feed high-value referrers into your customer advocacy list.