How to Build a Referral Program That Works for Your Business

December 11, 2020


By Jason Eiseneberg

Community Program Manager for Office Depot

Is word of mouth advertising a thing of the past? In truth, it will never be so long as family and friends continue to share their favorite stores, products or restaurants over the dinner table.

But for a business, the real question is: “is it scalable?”

In short, the answer is yes. Morning Brew offers young professionals and business owners entertaining and valuable news through their daily newsletter, digital community and podcast. With 2.5 million active subscribers and a daily open rate of 40% (roughly 1 million readers per day), Morning Brew also picks up an estimated 1,000 new subscribers every day (AppSumo) thanks to their referral program.

Head of Brand Partnerships, Jason Schulweis shares their philosophy and strategy behind their incentive programs and how it helps shape the community they have today. We also discuss how he manages a large team of people remotely and how their business supports the staff to help keep productivity and morale up.


Perks of a Strong Referral Program

“Brands that haven’t yet built referral programs are missing out on a loyalty and community hack.” (Morning Brew)

It is indeed a hack because building an organic community of loyal fans/subscribers can be a long and grueling process. But when you gamify something and get people invested and people are enthusiastically referring to friends, family or people that have existing relationships, that sense of community can be incredible – they’re invested in each other as much as they are in the brand.


The second major perk is the lower customer acquisition costs (CAC). For Morning Brew, the cost of branded swag and their referral gift program is much more efficient than their normal CAC. And it drives roughly 30% of their subscriber growth at about 1,000 per day.

The last perk brought up by Jason is that the referred subscribers – or leads – are in general, high quality and genuinely want to learn more about the business or service.


What Rewards Excite Your Subscribers/Customers?


There are two strategies at play – an always-on program and mini sprint programs. The always-on program is basic enough gamification – you have a running total of referrals and when you hit certain numbers, you earn rewards. It’s important to note this always-on tactic means there is a call-to-action on every newsletter and that sending referrals is incredibly easy for the user.

With mini sprint programs, the reward could be a more ‘big-ticket’ item that is essentially a contest to getting as many referrals within a specified timeframe. Likely applied with big moments or announcement of new products.

Jason shared that sometimes they give away crowd pleasers like a MacBook, but since their community is so strong, it was the Morning Brew joggers (pants) that “absolutely killed it” (in a good way). “The people in our community love the brand and it’s a great ecosystem for us.”


Other incentives your business could consider gifting include coffee mugs, clothing (shirts, socks, hats), bags, water bottles and even access to a gated content experience. Think about who your demographic is and offer something they will use with your brand professionally printed on it).


Getting the Right Supplies to Your Remote Team


While discussing the referral program at Morning Brew, I learned Jason manages 6 managers who oversee people as well. I asked how their business, which puts out polished content on a daily basis, is able to stay focused with teams working remote and not always in the office.


“When it was time to work from home we wanted to be as supportive as possible,” said Jason.


They did this by offering a stipend and giving them the ability to choose what they would spend it on. It gives each person a chance to decided what will help them be more happy, focused and productive at work. Jason opted for a high end webcam because he is always on calls and believes having clear picture and sound helps his mission.


“I wanted to try to recreate, as much as possible, a face-to-face feeling. My hypothesis is it feels more like we’re talking in person if the picture and audio are crystal clear.”


But he knows others that upgraded their desk setup or bought a new office chair because they know they’ll be sitting there for hours.

What was important to Morning Brew, was that in one way or another, they wanted to enhance each employee’s WFH experience and they did that by letting them choose what they needed.

If you’re interested in the content Morning Brew puts out, visit them here.


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