Create Referral Program

Learn how to set up a referral program and create unique referral codes in the Campaign Manager.

Contents

1. Program size
2. Timeframe
3. Referral workflow
4. Referee reward
5. Tiers for referrers
6. Distributions
7. Metadata and the summary

Go to the Campaign Manager in the Campaigns tab in the Campaign Hub section and create a new referral program.

Program size

In the first step, define program details such as:

• Program name and category. 
• Code settings (pattern, redemption limit, code count).
• Auto-increase voucher count campaign mode (new codes will be automatically added to the campaign if you run out of the original pool of codes).
• Customers will join the campaign only once*.

Program timeframe

In the second step, define optional time limits:

• Start and end date (if no end date is set, the program will run non-stop and will need to be paused manually). 
• Validity timeframe (e.g., every day between 3 and 6 pm). 
• Valid on particular days only (e.g., only on the weekend). 
• Valid for specific amount of time after publication (e.g., code is active for 48 hours after sharing with customers).

Incentive workflow

In the third section, you will be asked to set up your referral campaign workflow.

Choose a conversion event (when a new customer is designated as a referred customer).

• Referral code redemption - the referee redeems a referral code
• Custom event - a custom trigger

Next, choose the type of referral program.

• Referrer - This is a single-sided referral program where only the referrer is rewarded. 
• Referrer and referee - This is a double-sided referral program in which both the referrer and the referee who was invited receive a reward.

Referee reward

If you decide on a double-sided referral program, you need to define a reward for new customers (referees). It can be a discount coupon (percent, unit, amount, free shipping, fixed price), credits on gift card, or points on loyalty card.

Discount Effects

If you choose discount coupons, you need to decide if the discount is applied to the whole order or to specific items only. Select the discount effect and if needed, define discounted products using validation rules. The discount effect is discount-specific, meaning that the effects are based on the discount context.

Validation Rules

You can create validation rules attached to referral codes. They restrict redemptions made by new customers (referees). For example, you can set the required minimum order value to $50. You can create these validation rules for both single and double-sided referral programs.

Tiers

In the fifth stage of the program creation, you need to define rewarding criteria and tell Voucherify when and how the referrer is rewarded.

To do so, you are going to build tiers. Each tier is a separate level in your referral program. If you want to have different rewards or/and different rewarding criteria, then tiers are what you need. For example, you can reward a referrer for each successful referral with a 10% discount, and by using the second tier, you can trigger an extra reward for every 5th, 10th, and 15th referred customer.

The number of tiers is not limited, so you can build multi-level referral programs with many rewards and custom rewarding schemas.

The creation of tiers is a 3-step process:

• Criteria
• Rewards
• Notifications

Step 1: Tier criteria 

For both custom events and referral code redemption-based conversion events, you can reward the referrer based on two criteria:

• Reward every time a referee (the invited customer) performs the conversion event (custom event or referral code redemption).
• Reward for a given number of referees who performed a conversion event.

Use filters to create needed segment conditions and confirm the selection with Add. As a result, a referrer needs to enter the created segment to get the reward.

Step 2: Tier rewards

Next, define the reward for referrers. You can choose from digital and material rewards:

• Discount coupon
• Credits on gift card
• Points on loyalty card
• Material reward (imported from your product catalog).

If you have already created rewards, you can select them from a list. You can also create new rewards by clicking on the plus sign. Read more about the Rewards Catalog.

When creating digital rewards, choose an existing campaign that will be the source of the codes.

Continue to add possible rewards for the referrer. The referral tier manager will list all active referrer rewards.

Step 3: Tier notifications

Lastly, you can add notifications that are triggered when all rewarding criteria are met, and a reward is assigned to the referrer.

You can design your message on the spot (email & SMS) or map fields for your integrations. Read more.

When the tier is ready, confirm with Done. You can add another referral tier or go to the Next step.

Distributions

This section allows you to set up automatic messages that are sent when certain referral events happen. These messages can go to customers or external systems using channels like sms, email, webhook, or one of the built-in integrations. You can add a new distribution by clicking Add notification and selecting one of the available trigger events:

• Successfully published – used when a voucher is successfully published to a customer
• Customer was referred – used when a new customer joins through a referral

Once a notification is added, it appears in a table showing:

1. Name
2. Action after which the message is sent (trigger)
3. Communication channel (like email)
4. Current status (Live or Draft)
5. The time it was created or scheduled to be sent

You can manage each notification through the options menu on the right side of each row.

Read more about setting up distributions in this guide. 

Metadata and summary

In the 7th step, you can add additional metadata to your campaign. Read more here about metadata.

The last stage of the manager shows a summary of your referral program. You can see the overview and, in case you need to, go back to each step to modify it.

When all program details are ready, confirm with Save and wait until the referral codes are generated.