The Ultimate Guide to Help You Boost a Mobile Referral Program

When it comes to creating a successful marketing campaign demands an in-depth understanding of your customers. Also, while implementing mobile referral marketing, you have to strategize your rewards, boost referral invites and onboard newly referred users. 

Referral programs, particularly those on mobile, demand a boost sometimes, so make sure you boost your mobile referral program effectively. Therefore, to help you out in this blog, we will discuss the tips to boost a mobile referral program and make it successful.

Tips To Boost a Mobile Referral Program

1. Keep user acquisition costs low.

This is the most important tip to remember as a referral program is not a short-term marketing strategy. Therefore, while creating a new marketing campaign, you should always consider the cost to budget accordingly, so you don’t run out of money.

Now, you must be wondering How much does it cost to get a new user or customer? So, your business could be in serious trouble if this number gets out of control. Therefore, it is recommended to start with inexpensive customer acquisition strategies. In every business, acquisition costs matter.

 However,a referral’s user acquisition costs will be low because you don’t need to promote it to new people. All you have to do is to inform your current users about the program and let them do the work. It won’t cost you because you can already reach out to them via email, push notifications, or whenever they open your app.

In expensive marketing campaigns, you need to gather new information from prospective customers, but in a referral program, you don’t need new email subscribers.

All you need to know is when to contact your current app users and how to pitch the program to them. 

2. Timing is everything

Yes, you read it right! Remember, you don’t need to launch a referral program as soon as you build your app. Because if the referral program is implemented too soon, then people who download your app aren’t engaged and loyal customers yet. They don’t have a reason to refer to anyone because they are not sure if they want to continue using your app.

But also waiting too long could be a problem too. Over time, people might begin using your app less and less. So you’ve got to develop your user lifecycle funnel to make loyal, engaged, and active customers.

So make sure you keep a tab on your app analytics. Therefore, it is the best time to launch your referral program as it will maximize your program’s growth and boost a mobile referral program, app and brand.

3. Offer an incentive for referrals.

Sometimes, users refer your app to someone out of the kindness of their hearts. However, that’s not a feasible or long-term strategy for scalable growth. You have to give people a reason to refer to others. Make it worth their time. Moreover, users shouldn’t have to go through a complex process to refer to others. They should effortlessly be able to send the link via text or email to their friends and family.

Another way to execute this strategy is with a referral code. You can provide a unique referral code to every user, and then they can share that with their friends. Or to make it more exciting users can customize their referral code, so it’s easy to remember. Remember, they will only do this if you offer a legitimate incentive. 

4. Using push notifications to send reminders.

Once your referral program is set and live, you’ve got to notify people about it. One of the best methods to do this is through push notifications. But also make sure don’t be so pushy while reminding your customers about your referral program.

It is recommended to send a push notification once or twice per user to tell them about your program. Then that’s it. Sending too many push notifications is irritating. 

Sending out a notification whenever a referral is accepted. So, for example, just sending out the referral won’t be enough to get rewarded. But once the new user buys something or performs a specific action, the original user can be notified.

You can send messages like You earned $10 for the successful referral). These are messages that people like to receive because they’re being notified that they just got a reward. This tip to boost a mobile referral program will entice your users to keep inviting more people since they know their referral was validated.

5. Leverage all of your distribution channels

Apart from using push notifications, you can think of other ways to spread the word about your in-app referral program. Promote your program like crazy.

Since some users may not get push notifications (if they are turned off on their devices), therefore, you’ll need to reach your active users through other channels. Promote the program on your website and share it on your social media profiles.

Get in touch with social influencers to encourage the referral program. Make use of every distribution channel you have, such as YouTube, which is a great channel to promote if your channel is active.

Moreover, consider using email marketing to keep them engaged even when they are not using your app. When people download your app, you probably had them build a profile before they could get started. So leverage the database and contact your email subscribers.

 Email is amazing because users can forward the referral message to others on their contact list. According to the statistics, 50% of emails are opened on mobile devices.

So if the prospective user gets an email forwarded to them about the program, there is a fair chance that they’ll open it on their mobile device.

It will make it effortless for them to download and use your app if there is a download link that takes them directly to the app store.

6. Quality control

To ensure that your program runs smoothly, keep a check on the quality. For instance, someone refers to his friend and does not get rewarded. In this case, it will negatively impact your company and turn people away from using your app.

Moreover, you have to ensure that new customers are rewarded. Exhaustively test your app to confirm it works on all devices and reference methods. For instance, if people can refer friends via text and email, you must check that both options work.

Also keep an eye out for anyone who might be taking advantage of you or the program. There will always be people out there that want to see loopholes in the system. They may attempt to make multiple accounts on your mobile app from different devices. Or maybe they’re setting up several email addresses and entering different credit cards to make it seem like you’re getting new users.

But in reality, it could just be one person with five accounts who keeps referring to themselves and earning free stuff out of it. If this happens too frequently, it can crush your acquisition costs and kill your ROI. So try to create a quality control system with safety nets to stop this.

7. Make adjustments

Referral programs perform if your existing users have a wonderful experience with your app.

If your app has problems, nobody will refer to their friends. So ensure you’re regularly updating the app and performing at a high level.

Users will be more likely to experience the program and refer their friends. New users would entrust these referrals if they came from their friends. So don’t let them down and provide a sub-par app experience. You also have to make adjustments to your referral program itself. Make sure you reward users based on the promotion when they complete it.

Also, adjusting the program too frequently, it can confuse you and the users. This makes it too challenging to keep track of everything.

When you first establish the program, see what kind of success it has. If it’s not working great, adjust it. Maybe you can present more of an incentive than your initial promotion.

After a while, with lots of success, you could even lower the incentive if you get abundant downloads that aren’t coming from referrals.

Conclusion

You should implement an in-app referral program if you want a fresh new way to get more downloads while keeping your current user base engaged.

It is a great strategy because your user acquisition costs will be low, and you’ll get a quick return on your investment.

You’ll need to present an incentive for the referrals to do this effectively. For the most part, monetary advantages work the best. The timing of your referral program launch is very significant. Releasing it too prematurely may not be your best option.

Use push notifications and other distribution channels to inform your current users about the program. Actively monitor the program for quality control goals and make necessary adjustments. If you follow these tips to boost a mobile referral program, you’ll get tons of new downloads by letting your current users do all the work for you.

If you want to leverage a referral program for your app, then consider using InviteReferrals. It is an intuitive referral program software that can help you set up a great referral program effectively.

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