Weekly Campaign Idea: Refer-a-Friend Promotion

Each week on Socially Stacked, we feature a social media marketing Campaign to inspire marketers and ShortStack users.

‍I recently read a jaw-dropping statistic from Get Ambassador, "84% of consumers say they either completely or somewhat trust recommendations from family and friends about products - making these recommendations the information source ranked highest for trustworthiness."While I wasn't surprised about the success of word-of-mouth marketing,with all the information on the web, I find it surprising that people still rely on their friends and families so heavily when seeking information.So how can businesses leverage this? The answer is by using a refer-a-friend strategy when running your next promotion. Refer-a-friend promotionsallow a business to reward their entrants with extra chances to win when theygettheir friends to enter the same promotion.

Planning a Refer-a-Friend Promotion

1. Pick a prize that's worth sharing:If your prize isn't a good one not only will people not want to enter, but if your goal is to get your promotion shared, it won't happen if you're not offering up something your fans want to win. Remember to keep your prize relevant to your brand and your product.

‍2. Clearly state why your fans should refer your promotion: Throwing up a "please share this" message isn't very inviting. However, letting your entrants know that they'll receive extra entries into the promotion for each friend they get to enter is more intriguing. With ShortStack's refer-a-friend feature fans are rewarded with extra points for each friend they refer that also enters a promotion. You can reward fans with as many additional "points" per friend they recommend.

‍3. Make it easy for your friends to refer their friends: There are a variety of ways you can ask your fans to share your promotion and we always recommend using multiple strategies. Of course the refer-a-friend feature is one way, but you can also add share features to your Campaign that allow your fans to share your promotion with their friends on the top social networks; Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and Pinterest.Make the share buttons easy to find and include a call-to-action that directs your fans attention to them.

‍4. Customize your refer-a-friend text: When you use ShortStack's refer-a-friend feature you can customize the share text that displays when your friends share your promotion. We recommend customizing the text to fit your brand and to include a strong call-to-action. For example, "I just enteredto win a $500 gift card, you should too!"

Templates to help you build a Refer-a-Friend Promotion

Refer-a-Friend Template

‍Want some more campaign ideas? Check out our previous weekly campaign ideas here.

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