Referral pages are a great way to use your loyal customers to generate more leads and amplify conversion rates. That’s because people are 90% more likely to trust and buy from a brand that was recommended by a friend, but you still need a good referral page to build credibility, display benefits, and prompt action.
As a performing marketing agency with a track record of maximizing ROI for countless brands, XYZ Advantage put together these referral page examples and a step-by-step guide to help you gather more leads and build brand loyalty with a successful referral program.
Keep reading to learn what referral pages are, use 10 examples of referral pages to inspire your campaign, and put everything into action with a step-by-step guide that takes you from your objectives all the way to launch and optimization.
Table of Contents:
- What is a referral page?
- 10 Killer Referral Pages
- Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Your Own Killer Referral Page
- 13 Tools for A Referral Page
What is a referral page?
A referral page is a dedicated landing page that promotes the benefits of your referral program. The goal is to convince visitors to take action by offering rewards, benefits, discounts, coupons, and other incentives when they refer friends or family to your product or service.
These referral landing pages are a key component of your referral campaigns because they are used to highlight the program and the benefits to drive word-of-mouth business. The best part is that referrals are exponential: as you get more customers, they will continue to refer your business and help you grow and build credibility.
To ensure your page is effective, it’s important to use clear messaging that not only tells the reader what the referral program is and how it works but to encourage them to use it. To do this, you also need to make it as easy as possible for visitors to sign-up.
Use the examples and step-by-step guide below to craft an effective referral landing page that drives conversion rates and enhances your customer referral program.
10 Killer Referral Pages
Example #1: T-Mobile
The T-Mobile referral program landing page is excellent because of its simplicity. It clearly tells existing customers what they should do (invite friends) and the benefit of doing so (earn up to $500 a year or $50 per new customer referred).
They also link to Terms & Conditions, which enhances credibility because it shows they are transparent about how their program works. Plus, it has clear CTA buttons that target both existing customers and potential customers who were referred by friends, making a short, sweet, simple, and effective page.
Example #2: Canva Affiliate Page
An affiliate program is basically a slightly different type of referral program, and this Canva page shows you exactly how it works. The three steps show that it’s free and easy to sign-up and that affiliates can earn up to $36 for each new subscriber that uses their unique referral link to sign-up.
Plus, it offers plenty of detail after covering the simplicity and benefits, including links to a “How to guide” and community tips and information about Canva to add credibility. They also link a video and include multiple call-to-action buttons, the first being readily available in the hero image.
Example #3: Rakuten
Rakuten is an e-commerce brand that basically acts as a referral middleman by directing its users to shop at certain participating websites. Their referral landing page offers an attractive and colorful two-part design with all the relevant steps and referral rewards above the fold for easy understandability.
Then, below the fold, they offer more detailed information with a complete terms & conditions section. This builds credibility while also easing the mind of the visitor about the benefits. The headline also highlights the regular benefits of their service in addition to the $30 extra for every friend you refer.
Example #4: Morning Brew
This great referral page also acts as a homepage for program sign-ups as well as for monitoring your earned rewards, which not only makes it unique but also makes it easy to use. At the top, they use images to display the great rewards you can earn, and the referral counter tells you how far you are from earning one of them.
They also make it super easy to copy your link, sign up friends to their newsletter email campaign, share on social media platforms, and more. There’s also plenty of white space to make the clear call-to-action buttons and catchy copywriting stand out and grab the customer’s attention.
Example #5: CHASE
CHASE Bank has this on-brand referral landing page with clear messaging and a form that is easy to fill out to join. In addition, they include a FAQ section as well as links to build credibility and show why they need to gather certain information.
The page looks professional and clearly highlights the referral process as well as the cash reward benefits, which makes it a great example of showing that you don’t have to do too much with your page for it to be effective.
Example #6: MeUndies
This referral page looks less like a landing page and more like a pop-up, but that’s what makes it so great. Not only do they have an on-brand picture of their products, but the page is minimal and only requires an email to sign-up. Plus, it gives the option to avoid signing up for MeUndies email marketing, which adds a benefit, even if only a marginal one.
However, it’s the headline that you should consider stealing. Lots of referral programs use this same type of headline because it’s effective. The “Get $20, Give 20%” idea can be envisioned for your brand and offers clear and fantastic benefits for both the existing customer and the friend they refer.
Example #7: Dosh
This page uses great contrasting colors and concise copy to demonstrate benefits in a friendly, on-brand tone. The “WHAT TO EXPECT” section is a great way to highlight individual benefits, including cash rewards, newsletter access, exclusive offers, detailed reporting on conversion rates and clicks, and access to quality creatives.
The image is a great way to demonstrate the benefit differently by showing the $10 actually going directly into the pocket of someone who referred their friend. Plus, the logos of recognizable brands help to build social proof, which is a great way to add credibility whether you’re a startup or an established business.
Example #8: Koodo
Koodo is a mobile phone service that offers a food-oriented, conversational, relaxed, and colorful brand, and its referral page is no exception. It has a large image of the two halves of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and the headline plays off the image in a fun way. While the subheading really pushes the benefits, the headline and image grab attention.
Another great element of this page is the referral steps that simplify everything by using the second step to say, “There is no step two!” That makes it clear how easy their referral program is and the rest of the page follows up with humor and links to more information for a memorable and comfortable experience.
Example #9: SwagBucks
This page has an excellent offer detailed in a clear headline and the addition of “for Life” really drills the benefits of home and makes visitors not want to miss out. The icons and white space make it easy on the eyes, and the clear call to action and focus on helping friends make it easy for customers to start sharing.
They say everything that the visitor needs to know without saying any more than necessary. Our only gripe is that there is only one call to action below the benefits, and the different colors and additional links at the bottom make it easier to miss than we’d prefer.
Example #10: NATIVE
NATIVE’s referral invitation page uses the common Give/Get headline, but the page is wonderfully colored, attractive, and simple to make it extremely easy for the visitor to insert their email and click. Plus, it highlights some of their most popular products in the image to subtly market certain products of 4 different types to target all prospects.
The page is also conversational and slightly humorous without any distractions. It’s straight and to the point. Then, when you click the button with your email, you can copy a link or insert your friend’s email or even share it on social media. Finally, it leads you to refer more friends and even track your referrals all without directing you to a new webpage.
Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Your Own Killer Referral Page
Now that you have some good inspiration for design, purpose, approach, messaging, and more, it’s time to learn how to create your own killer referral page.
Set Your Objectives and Goals
The first step to creating any landing page, including a referral page, is to set your goals. Ask yourself what you want to get out of your referral page and your program in general.
While all referral pages have a goal to get referrals, some focus on building customer loyalty, elevating email marketing campaigns, or driving more sales. As you can see from some of the examples above, some even use their referral page to subtly advertise new products or services.
Decide what your primary referral marketing goal is. That way, you can execute effectively with every aspect of your landing page.
Choose the Right Type of Referral Program
There are different types of referral programs that you can use. While the most common type of referral program uses existing customers to generate new referral leads themselves by word-of-mouth, there are others to consider.
For example, affiliate programs offer incentives to brand ambassadors who use social sharing, social media content, online marketing, or other methods to refer not only to friends and family but to a larger audience.
The type will depend on your customer base as well as your objectives. If most of your customers are social media influencers, then a social media-based affiliate program might be best. Conversely, if your customers are generally located in a certain area, then email or word-of-mouth is probably a better approach.
Design an Attractive and User-Friendly Referral Page
Now it’s time to design a user-friend referral page that also looks great. Some of the main components include clear messaging, social proof, benefit-focused headlines, simple navigation, and clear CTA buttons.
You want the page to be visually appealing, which means you want to use a balance of white space, attractive images or graphics, and clear copywriting that details all the necessary information about your program. Strive to use powerful words like “Free,” “Get {offer},” “Don’t Miss Out,” or “Earn {offer} today!”
Using a clear and compelling call-to-action will also help the reader know what they have to do. Like many of the killer referral page examples above, you can also use steps to show them how to start earning their referral rewards.
Finally, if you need to gather emails or additional information, consider using an easy-to-fill-out form. This makes it easier for customers to sign-up, especially if you can use drop-down menus for some items. The easier, the better.
Optimize the Referral Page for Conversions
Next, you need to optimize the referral page for conversions. This includes tracking analytics, clicks, and conversions to see if it’s working. In addition, you can use A/B testing to see how different versions or templates of your referral landing page perform.
In addition, depending on where your visitors are coming from, you’ll want to optimize the responsiveness and design for search engines, social media, and mobile devices. If you have a mobile app, it might be a good idea to integrate our referral page and program directly into the platform.
Promote Your Referral Page
To ensure a successful referral marketing campaign, you’ll need to promote your page. There are several marketing channels you can use to advertise your referral program and get people onto the landing page, including email, social media, and paid advertising.
If you have an existing email list of customers, then advertising your referral rewards and incentives directly to them is a great way to spread awareness. The same goes for if you have a following on a social media platform.
Additionally, you can use testimonials, case studies, and social proof to build credibility for the success of your referral program. One way to do this is to use an influencer or other partner to explain how the program worked for them, including a call-to-action that encourages a first purchase or sign-up.
13 Tools for A Referral Page
These are tools you can use to improve your referral page and ensure a pleasant experience and solid conversion rate.
Tool #1: Referral Factory
Referral Factory provides tools that allow you to build, launch, track, and promote your customer referral program, including easy-to-use program templates, access to over 200 referral rewards, and easy-to-install widgets, pop-ups, embeds, and more. Plus, it can sync with your current CRM and offers advanced analytics to ensure a good conversion rate.
Pricing: $95 per month to $1400 per month based on the number of users, campaigns, and other features.
Tool #2: Referral Rock
You can use Referral Rock visual editor to create a completely on-brand referral program experience. From a single platform, you can control design, copy, creative, messaging, and more. Plus, it works for many types of programs, including customer, partner and affiliate, incentive-based, and more.
Pricing: $200 per month to $800 per month, depending on the number of members, programs, accounts, and other features like HubSpot integration, recurring rewards, Salesforce integration, and more.
Tool #3: Ambassador
Whether you want a referral, influencer, partner, or affiliate program, Ambassador offers an entire suite of features to help. It offers branded customer portals and mobile apps, personalized landing pages, custom share links, and much more. One of the great features is A/B testing tools and conversion monitoring with customized reports.
Pricing: Starting at $1,000 a month with larger plans available
Tool #4: ReferralCandy
ReferralCandy markets its tools for hands-off referral programs that use automated invitations, custom rewards, easy pop-up or landing page features, segmented targeting, and more. Plus, their pricing structure means that you pay for performance, unlike most other referral tools with a low starting cost. This is perfect for businesses on a budget for their referral programs.
Pricing: Starting at $47/month plus a 3.5% commission fee with larger plans available
Tool #5: Friendbuy
Used by major brands including Walmart, Intuit, and Disney, Friendbuy is a platform that combines easy templates that integrate email, SMS, links, and social with dashboards for user-friendliness. They have top-of-the-line fraud prevention as well as reward automation tools to simplify your program management.
Pricing: Starting at $249/month with a $749/month upgrade and custom plans also available
Tool #6: Refersion
Refersion is designed primarily for affiliate and influencer referral approaches with easy integration with Amazon, Shopify, WooCommerce, and many other popular tools. It even has payment and tax management options built-in alongside campaign management, affiliate recruiting, and other features designed for exceptional ROI.
Pricing: Starts at $99 per month with a $249 per month plan and custom plans as well.
Tool #7: Extole
As one of the most popular large-brand referral platforms, Extole makes it easy to implement and monitor your referral or advocacy program while also offering more complex features for detailed tracking, A/B testing, fraud protection, and programs customized for the entire customer journey.
Pricing: Custom, but typically starting at around $3,500 per month
Tool #8: InviteReferrals
This is one of the easiest referral platforms that is great for mobile app installation referrals as well as website referral programs that work alongside your existing email campaign. Using simple setup instructions and easy-to-understand API access, this is an affordable and simple option.
Pricing: Starts at $99 per month with a $249 per month plan and custom plans as well.
Tool #9: InviteBox
InviteBox makes it easy and affordable to add a referral program to your existing website. All you have to do is customize the rules and paste the widget code into your pages. While it doesn’t offer the extensive features of some of the other options, it’s a cheap and fast way to launch a referral program in minutes,
Pricing: $19 per month
Tool #10: CrewFire
With CrewFire, you can drive engagement and share on social media by allowing your brand ambassadors to easily share your brand’s updates with user-generated content. By spreading awareness of your brand, your customers can gain points to use for rewards and CrewFire also integrates with major social media platforms and ecommerce tools.
Pricing: $1k per month to $4k per month
Tool #11: Mention Me
Mention Me has a long track record of results for their clients and uses a dedicated referrer dashboard for your existing customers that works both on desktop and mobile. Then, you can use A/B testing, leverage data, optimize performance, and even create referral mobile apps with extensive features.
Pricing: Custom
Tool #12: Referral SaaSquatch
This company offers customer referral programs, loyalty programs, and partner programs all customized to fit your goals, business, and brand. Use their drag-and-drop builder or HTML/CC to completely customize your referral experiences and incentivize them with great rewards, including points, gift cards, discounts, product upgrades, and more.
Pricing: Starting at $1,750 per month
Tool #13: ReferralMagic
This is a referral tracking software made for developers. You create your referral campaign, add the JavaScript code to your website as well as invite friend widgets, and then start promoting your program. It’s straightforward and customized for your needs. Plus, their team is on your side to ensure success with their software.
Pricing: Packages for $254 per month, $2205 per year, or a one-time license fee of $9700 for a program that runs on your server.
Wrap Up
A referral page is a great way to use existing satisfied customers to generate more leads, boost conversions, and grow brand awareness. Use our 10 referral page examples to inspire your upcoming campaign, and make sure you use powerful words, attractive design elements, straightforward messaging, and a clear call-to-action.
Want help creating a high-performance referral landing page that drives leads, boosts conversions, and amplifies your brand? Schedule a free consultation today!
References:
50 Referral Marketing Statistics That Prove Its Power (viral-loops.com)
