Cash cannot be the Only Motivator

Cash is a great reward for users to refer their friends – but it is not enough of motivator to get users to actually do it. Surprisingly, users tend to prefer not to bug their friends with an invite code strictly for a cash prize. However, there are ways to entice your users to refer their friends by making the referral process fun, feel organic, and give more dopamine than just cash can provide.

Referral Programs can Unlock Growth

According to a study by Texas Tech University, 83% of satisfied customers are willing to refer a product or service but only 29% actually do. There are several reasons for this but the largest bottleneck is simple: users are not prompted to invite their friends at the right time in their user journey. Having a fun and rewarding referral program in place is a necessary first step in unlocking growth. However, gamification can be used to boost referrals even further by providing an engaging experience on top of a simple reward.

Using Gamification to Build the Best Referral Engine

According to a study by Tobias Wolf, Welf H. Weiger, and Maik Hammerschmidt from the University of Goettingen,“ customers are more likely to be engaged with referrals if the tasks deliver ongoing challenges and positive feedback.” We built our quest system to reward and challenge the user at subsequent steps of bringing their friends to your product, and companies have the ability to customize the rewards they are willing to offer their users for each step of the acquisition journey. So not only is the experience engaging, but the rewards can be dynamic and customized to the user doing the referring.

Using a gamified system to build or enhance a referral program is a smart way to foster trust and brand loyalty. Users will feel a part of your company by inviting their friends, and feel rewarded for their loyalty beyond a one-time reward. Furthermore, the user being brought on will be far more likely to give your product a try, as long as your onboarding is seamless (Stop Losing Customers with Boring Onboarding). According to a study by Nielsen, 92% of customers are more inclined to trust recommendations given to them over traditional marketing channels. This makes a good referral program a cost-effective way to unlock your growth.