Some say that "word of mouth" is the best form of advertising. That makes sense, as it is essentially free and can have exponential effects.

That's why it's always a good idea to give your customers a little incentive to spread the word about your store. And edrone can help you with that in a way that you, your customers, and their friends will all benefit from: the Refer-a-friend Program.

It works in just four steps:

It's a simple, but incredibly powerful strategy to grow your revenue, expand your contact base, and increase customer satisfaction.

Let's set it up!

Before you set up your Refer-a-friend Program, the very first step would be to invite your subscribers to join the Program in the first place by giving them their unique referrer link.

That will require setting up another newsletter scenario, such as Dynamic Newsletter or After Sale, and using the merge tag *|REFERRER_LINK|* on a text.

Alternatively, you can also use a landing page for this. In this option, the landing page URL should be: yourstore.com/landing-page?e_ref=*|REFERRAL_CODE|* (substitute "yourstore.com/landing-page" for your landing page's URL). See our Refer-a-friend landing page documentation before creating this landing page.

Once that's set up, you can start working on your Refer-a-friend Program!

To begin, login to your Mission Control and go to AUTOMATIONS > READY FLOWS > REFER A FRIEND. The first page is just an overview, so we'll skip that. Click on the next step: opt-in button or select OPT-IN from the progress bar on the top of the page.

If you haven't already set it up in other scenarios, your first step will be to determine how you deal with new users. Please note that, since opt-in is a global parameter in edrone's system, any change here will affect all scenarios.

There are four opt-in options:

Here you will determine the minimum order value for the referrer to get a reward, and when that will happen. For example, if you set the "minimum order value" to 200 PLN and "Time to reward after purchase" to 1 day and 6 hours, here's how that would look like in two different situations:

Choose DESIGN from the progress bar.

Time to craft your messages! In this section you will see our Drag 'n' Drop Editor, which will help you easily design beautiful e-mails.

NOTE: If you don't want to design your e-mails from scratch, just click on TEMPLATES and choose from pre-existing models. There are a few who were designed specifically for the Refer-a-friend Program!

Depending on which option you chose on Step 1, there will be one or more messages to create. For the purpose of this tutorial, let's assume you took our advice and chose Double Opt-In edrone, which will require three distinct e-mails. Design each e-mail by choosing from the drop-down menu on the top left of your screen.

When the referrer's friends use his referral link, they will be invited to join your newsletter in order to get their discount coupon. Once they accept, they will receive this confirmation message (this is the double opt-in).

When creating this email, insert a button and choose Action type "Confirm Refer A Friend Participation Link".

After the referee confirms, they will receive their discount coupon. To set this message up, insert the *|COUPON|* merge tag inside a text field.

Alternatively, if you also set up a coupon reminder (see Step 9), you can create a button with the following URL: https://yourstore.com?coupon=*|COUPON|* (replace "yourstore.com" for your own domain name). That way, the coupon will be automatically displayed on the weblayer. If you don't set up a reminder, it's better to use the merge tag on a text.

This is the e-mail in which you give your referrer a reward in the form of a discount coupon. This process is exactly the same as the previous one. Just insert the merge tag *|COUPON|* inside a text field, or a button with the URL: https://yourstore.com?coupon=*|COUPON|*

Don't forget to hit SAVE every once in a while to make sure you won't accidentally lose your progress!

Here, you will set up who is sending the e-mail: Name, E-mail, and Reply-to E-mail. You can input new data, or choose sender from the list. To choose Sender click on SETTINGS

If you want to add new Sender, click on coghwheel:

You are free to include a coupon in any e-mail, but as we've covered above, standard practice for the Refer-a-friend Program is to include a coupon in the After confimation message (coupon for the referee) and Reward message (coupon for the referrer after referee makes a purchase).

You can choose between Static (same coupon for all customers) and Dynamic (each customer gets a unique coupon). To add Coupon click on COUPON and then select the relevant coupon pool or add it to our system by clicking on the cogwheel:

You will need to upload a CSV file with the coupons. It is important to use separate CSV files with different and unique coupons for each type of message. If you need help creating these, there are several free online coupon generators.

Once your files are ready, select each message type in turn from the drop-down menu in the top left-hand corner, then click on CUPON, then COGHWHEEL and ADD NEW.

Onward! Since Design is already taken care of (or at least should be), jump straight to WELCOME POPUP (ONSITE) on the progress bar.

Now we'll set up the welcome message for the referees when they come to your website using the referral link. As we've seen at the very beginning, there are two ways to achieve this:

Once you're done, select COUPON REMINDER (ON SITE) on the progress bar.

Alright! Now your Refer-a-friend Program is all set. Send a test e-mail to double-check if everything is working properly, and when you're ready, click on the RUN button.

Congratulations! Enjoy your "new subscriber generating machine".

As with any automation tool, setting it up is only half the job. You also need to check its performance regularly to make sure you are getting the results you expect.

To view your Refer-a-friend Program's performance, go to the REPORTS section on the progress bar. Here you will find the main metrics such as Engagement revenue, Sent, Opened, Clicked, Orders, Orders with Coupon, Unsubscribed, and CTR.

Apart from the regular metrics, you will also find:

By clicking on the SHOW ADVANCED button, you will see an additional 37 performance metrics such as Hard Bounce, Soft Bounce, Spam, and others.

Need more help?

If you have any further questions about Refer-a-Friend Program, please do not hesitate to contact us at hello@edrone.me