So, you’ve decided to launch a referral program to boost your business awareness and sales. It’s a long journey ahead, and we’re here to assist the beginning stage – designing your program.
This article shows you a curated list of the most well-crafted referral program templates on the market. Reviewing what others perform and copying them wisely is a perfect way to run yours quickly.
Whether you work in finance or education, there will be a reference for you. Check them out!
What is A Referral Program Template?
A referral program template is a piece of framework that displays the structure and components of a referral program.
Typically, it briefly crafts how your program works, from making referrals to distributing rewards. From that, referrals know how to enroll and start recommending your product or service to others. They’ll share unique links or codes to track their performance and record their incentives.
17+ Referral Program Templates to Copy
Referral program templates might be varied among communication platforms. This ensures your program effectively reaches the target audience on their preferred channels. So, how do these templates differ? We’ll show you some prime template examples for email, website, and social media platforms.
Asking Someone Directly for a Referral Email Templates
Direct email is a cost-effective channel for sending referral program invites. You’re communicating with those who have already used your product. They might be interested in your offerings. Moreover, email allows you to personalize your referral message to increase engagement.
Many brands applied these techniques to their email referral campaigns. Eager to know? We’ve got some real-time examples to present to you.
Bombas Refer-a-friend Email Template
This email is a great example of how to structure a referral program invite effectively. Here’s what you can learn:
- Compelling benefit is early mentioned. Here, the brand offers free socks, which are considered its premium product, with a value of $11 for each pair.
- Simple and clear 5-step referral process
- Outstanding CTA button
SimiSienna Referral Email
We value this template for having a neat and simple design while still providing customers with key information about the referral program.
SimiSienna clearly displays benefits for both the referrers and their referred clients. There’s also a short piece of information that describes how the program works. Moreover, they offer several social buttons for convenient sharing.
Youfoodz Referral Email Template
The last example is a referral email by Youfoodz. It’s personalized and crafted in a friendly tone. This email is eye-catching, with a visually stunning image and some graphic elements. Plus, the benefits are clear. It offers a free meal for both parties when the referred clients make their first purchase and another hot deal: “Refer three friends and get a week free!”
Referral Program Templates Per Business Type
You’ve explored what makes a successful referral email template. Now, dive deeper into samples from businesses of diverse industries to see how they perform.
Real Estate
The fact is that those who make decisions on houses and other properties need trusted recommendations than any other else. So, referral marketing is a potential way for real estate companies to expand their customer base.
This is what PropertyWize is doing – crafting a referral program landing page. At first glance, the templates include necessary information regarding the benefit, how it works, and eligible referral requirements. They don’t facilitate a CTA button. Instead, they include a refer-a-client form that requires basic information of both parties.
Preview
Beauty Industry
Word-of-mouth marketing is beneficial for beauty companies. A well-crafted referral template can bring in new customers and increase sales.
Bonjout Beauty, a French skincare brand, designed a simple template that clearly mentions the benefit of “Give $20, Get $20.” It also briefly explains how the program works and dedicates a section to entering the email address to get the referral link. At the end of the template, they note additional information, such as eligible requirements and the usage of referral discounts.
Education
Typically, education companies use the referral program to attract more people to sign up for classes or use their tech platform. Discounts or credits are ideal referral benefits for course enrollment. Edtech programs, on the other hand, often offer cash and gift cards.
Coursera, the popular learning platform with world-class courses, implements the discount scheme. They craft a compact referral template with an impactful image on the left side and the program details on the right. They highlight the headline “Give 50% Off, Get 50% Off” and insert a short explanation below it.
The template also offers diverse sharing options, including email, messenger, and Facebook. Moreover, pre-written messages are included to save you time and ensure your friends understand the offer.
E-Commerce
Allbirds is another prime example of how brand positioning and simplicity can help create an effective referral marketing campaign. The template’s background image showcases their sustainable shoes, highlighting their use for outdoor adventures. They put the program details in the center, surrounded by plenty of white space, making it easy to navigate and understand.
The information itself is straightforward. It has a benefit headline, a brief explanation, and an email box. As you enter your email address, Allbirds gives you several sharing options, including link copying, Email, Facebook, Twitter, Messenger, and WhatsApp.
Finance
Western Union has a clear and straightforward referral program. It emphasizes the double-sided rewards – the $20 Amazon e-gift card. Besides, it clearly explains how the program works in three steps and adds eye-grabbing call-to-action buttons at the opening and end of the template.
Another feature that impresses us is how Western Union keeps its referral template consistent with its signature colors – yellow and black. This addition highlights the brand identity and creates a familiar experience for their customers.
SaaS
This is the most dynamic referral template we’ve seen so far. Its engaging visuals and colors grab our attention from the start. Most of the template’s content focuses on the benefits of referring Hiver to others. The program also offers milestone referral bonuses. And it did a great job simplifying the complex reward structure so it’s easy to understand.
Additionally, the program process is clearly explained. We love how they use a friendly tone for this template, such as “show you some love” or “spreading the Hiver buzz”. We also value how they strategically place the “Get Rewarded” buttons throughout the program so that customers can join immediately.
Home Improvement
Houzz Pro, an all-in-one platform for building and designing project management, realized that many of their customers trust their software thanks to the recommendations of friends and family. Therefore, they designed this simple referral program with a significant reward of $100 for the referrers and a one-month free subscription for the new customers.
Beyond the benefits, this template briefly presents a three-step process to clarify Houzz’s program. There’s no social sharing button. They offer a referral link only and a dashboard for users to track their credits.
Restaurant
This customer referral template is a friendly message that CloudKitchens sends to restaurant workers, brokers, influencers, and anyone else who might know potential customers.
It’s a combination of a visually big image and small blocks of texts. The text mainly emphasizes no cap on the number of referrals. It means that participants can make unlimited earnings. Besides, it describes how the program works so that visitors can navigate easily.
Referral Program Social Post Templates
Social media platforms are potential playgrounds for businesses running a referral program. Apparently, they’ll make some twists in template representation to suit the audience. Here are some examples:
Nord Security, an innovative company, leveraged LinkedIn for its employee referral program. It uploaded a post and ran an advertisement (screenshot above).
As you might realize, this brand used a professional tone to discuss its program. The message clearly mentions what the brand wants and how the referrers can get an impressive reward. In the end, it includes a redirect link to Nord Security’s referral landing page.
This Brandless template contains everything needed to make a referral program stand out on Facebook newsfeeds. It has a compelling visual highlighting the program’s reward and showcases the company’s products and brand name.
The caption is short and concise. It clearly explains how users can earn from the referral program. There’s also a strong CTA and an easily accessible referral link.
Toast referral template
Toast, a restaurant management system, promoted its referral program on Twitter. It used an outstanding visual that directly relates to bars and restaurants. The heading text is clear. It concisely mentions what the program is about and the referral reward.
Toast doesn’t say much in the caption. It uses CTA to motivate users to click the link and learn more about the program.
Prosum referral template
The last template on our list is created by Prosum, an IT staffing agency. Unlike Toast, Prosum provides a more detailed explanation of the reward scheme. It tells who the users can refer to and how much they’ll earn for referring each type of customer. The final element in this template is a clear link leading to the Prosum Referral Program landing page.
6 Key Elements In A Referral Program Template
A winning referral program goes beyond providing the necessary information for people. You need to make it engaging and motivating to capture everyone’s attention and encourage them to join. Keep scrolling for six key elements to nail both purposes!
Headline
The first impression is important. So, you need to make your headline engaging enough to keep the customers continue reading. Here are some tips:
- Keep it short and sweet: Users will lose interest in your program if they find the headline complicated and hard to understand. So, get to the point quickly.
- Highlight the benefits: The fact is that people are drawn to gifts and discounts. That’s why most brands briefly mention the program rewards in the headline. For instance, PayPal simply uses “Get $10 for referring a friend” or Allbirds crafts “Give 15% Off, Get 15% Off”.
- Add a subheading: Typically, this part supports the short headline. It adds details and further explains the offer.
- Connect with your value proposition. This creative approach is a tip to increase the possibility of enrollment. Simply put, it reminds customers why they love your brand and want to share it.
Visuals
Visuals play their best role in drawing attention. You can choose images that instantly connect to your brand (like our mentioned programs did). A relevant context helps customers remember your program better and feel more connected.
Besides images, consider using graphic elements to explain program steps visually, making it easy for customers to follow along. The SoFi referral template below is a good example.
Program Overview
As you’ve successfully grabbed your customers’ attention, provide them with more details about your program.
It’s essential to outline the steps users need to take to join and start referring. Additionally, clearly explain program rules and guidelines. Are there any eligibility requirements? What are the requirements for earning rewards?
If your program is complex, include a link to a dedicated page with detailed terms and conditions. This will help users thoroughly understand your program’s details.
Reward
Rewards are key to enticing your loyal customers to become your brand advocate. If you want your referral program template to be effective, craft a reward system that is attractive to both referrers and referred customers.
Choosing an appropriate reward type (e.g., discount, credit, cash) depends on many factors. It might include your business industry, target audience, goals, and cost. Regardless of your chosen structure, ensure the reward is outstanding in your program template. In fact, you should mention them in nearly any part of your template.
We’ve already discussed showcasing incentives in the headline. It’s the best way to capture the customer’s attention. Here’s a bonus tip: Use relevant icons alongside the concise text for easy recognition. For instance, you can add a star for points, a gift box for free products, or a percentage symbol for discounts.
If your program has multiple reward tiers, consider using a table format or graphic elements to showcase the increasing incentives clearly.
Call-to-Action (CTA)
Rewards are perfect motivators. But a strong CTA is crucial if you want an extra touch to get people signing up and referring others. A well-written CTA can entice users to quickly take action so that they don’t miss out on the program’s benefits. So, how to craft a CTA that works? Here are some tips:
- Make it short, clear, and action-oriented
- Use strong action verbs, such as “Start Referring Today” or “Get Your Code Now”
- Highlight the rewards to incentivize them to take action. For instance, “Start Sharing and Earn Rewards!” or “Refer a Friend and Get Rewarded!”
- Make the CTA buttons clear and easy to see by using contrasting colors
- Ensure the buttons are easy to click or tap on mobile devices
Referral link/code
These elements help you track who mentioned whom and ensure that rewards are given out correctly. More specifically, referral links are unique URLs with built-in codes, and referral codes are strings of letters and numbers.
The links work best for online sharing (email, social media posts). On the other hand, the codes might work better for offline sharing (text messages, word of mouth).
Note that a strong template should provide a clear and easy way for users to access their unique referral codes or links. It’s essential to display them right after the customers sign up for your program or within their account dashboard. Additionally, you can offer some social buttons (with pre-written messages or not) for quick sharing.
How to Track the Performance of A Referral Program Template?
So, you’ve crafted a perfect template (you might think). How could we know that it works effectively? Tracking its performance might be an ideal solution. We’ve got this step-by-step guide for you:
- Setting goals for your template
A data-driven approach helps you monitor your program and optimize it for better results. To achieve this, you need to set SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound). Here are some essential metrics to focus on:
- Referral Volume: The number of customer referrals generated through your template
- Conversion Rate: The percentage of referred visitors who take a desired action (e.g., buy a product or sign up for a subscription)
- Referrer Engagement: Track how actively your existing customers participate in the program
- Customer Acquisition Cost: The cost of acquiring a customer through referrals
- Return on Investment: Comparing the revenue generated to the program’s costs (rewards, marketing expenses)
- Referral tracking integration
It’s crucial to choose a referral software that automates tracking and provides insightful dashboards to monitor key metrics. Additionally, using website analytics platforms like Google Analytics is still helpful. You can track referred traffic and understand how referrals behave on your website.
- Analyzing customer feedback
This step involves collecting insights from advocates and their referral prospects. Does the template’s messaging catch them? Are there elements that could be improved to encourage participation? By analyzing their feedback, you can identify potential issues and offer appropriate solutions.
- Optimizing your template
A successful referral program requires continuous template optimization based on the data and feedback provided. We recommend doing A/B testing to see which elements of your referral program template work better. For instance, you can test different CTAs, reward structures, communication channels, etc.
Useful Tips for Your Referral Program Templates
We’ll show you some specific tips for crafting compelling templates across different communication channels
Referral program landing page
This page acts as the home of your program. So, it’s essential to include all necessary information while making it intriguing and inspiring to users. Here are the key elements of a compelling referral landing page:
- Program information
This often includes rewards, program requirements, and how the program works. Note that you need to keep the information concise and straightforward. Avoid fluffing the page with too much information, as this will distract users and make them leave in seconds.
- Visuals
There is often a large banner image at the top of the landing page. Here’s what to keep in mind:
- Use a high-quality image that grabs user attention and visually communicates the program’s goal
- Don’t choose a generic image. Instead, a relevant one that connects to your brand or offering works much better.
- Avoid cluttering the image with too much text or details.
- CTA and Fill-in form
CTA buttons often appear throughout the landing page. You need to make it short and outstanding. Besides, feature a fill-in form so that customers can enter their email to receive the referral link/code.
- Additional referral elements
- Testimonials from existing program participants to build trust and social proof
- An FAQ section to address common questions about the program
- A referral widget to allow participants to share the link through email or social media
- A terms and condition link that lead to legal protection and transparency of your program
Referral program invite on social media
Referral program template on social media does not contain much space and information like the landing page. It’s because you need to quickly catch the user’s attention while they’re scrlloing hundreds of posts on their newsfeed.
So, only the most crucial elements will be presented, including:
- Visuals
One visual can make your post pop up from the rest. So, ensure you choose a high-quality brand or product image. If possible, consider using other engaging formats like GIFs or short videos to encourage viewers to read further
- Program’s benefits
Apparently! Show the users that they can get valuable incentives when joining your program. You should keep the reward information short and impactful. Plus, you can make it as a referral program headline and insert it in the visual for better reach.
- CTA and link to the landing page
End your caption with a clear CTA and a link to your referral program’s landing page for further exploration.
Referral program email invite
Before crafting your own referral email templates, keep these tactics in mind:
- Email’s purpose
Email is a more personalized communication channel than the others. That’s why you need to make’s your email’s purpose clear. This helps reduce the likelihood of ignored or deleted emails when customers have no idea what you send them.
- Subject line
An enticing and strong subject line will encourage your customers to open the email and explore what’s included within. A good option involves highlighting the referral program and its benefits. For instance:
“Limited time offer: Earn bonus rewards for referring friends!”
“Double the fun, double the rewards!”
“Referral program invite: Earn rewards for sharing!”
- Personalization
Personal touch is a perfect way to let your customers feel valued and increase engagement. One common way to personalize the email is by addressing the recipient by name. Another nice option is to refer their past purchases or interactions.
Referral feedback email
It’s crucial to keep the advocates engaged in your program. A referral feedback email newsletter can help. Make sure you include the following details:
- Appreciation
Showing gratitude helps you build loyalty. So, briefly express how appreciated you are to have them as advocates for your program
- Updates and milestones
Let your customers know how far they’ve achieved (e.g., the number of successful referrals they’ve made and their reward status). Then, remind them of milestones of your program (if any) to keep them motivated.
- Fresh incentives
If your program have any new incentives or limited-time offers, inform advocates through timely emails. This way, they feel encouraged to continue referring and potentially earn even more rewards.
Conclusion
The customer referral programs are a cost-effective strategy to enhance your business visibility and revenue generation.
As you’ve explored referral program templates that work, it’s time to set up yours. While this is just the beginning of your referral journey, managing it well will help you run the entire program smoothly.
So, understand your industry and target customers to choose a template that fits. Besides, keep our useful tips handy to create an effective and long-lasting program.
