Once you've set up your initial program, you can shift your focus to automation. Here's our 6-step guide to automating and scaling your referral program.
Not everything in this guide needs to be completed right away. Use this guide as a checklist to prioritize the automation you want to implement first.
Some steps may require help from other team members. You can add team members under Settings > Team Management or learn more here.
Request Assistance if you need help and someone from our integrations team will follow up. Alternatively, you can contact us via the chat bubble in the bottom right corner of the screen.
Step 1: Finalize payouts
During the initial setup of your referral program, you created reward logic that determined when, how, and what members and referrals earn.
Now it’s time to finalize and fund those payouts, so you're ready to issue rewards. Learn more about managing payouts.
To set up and fund your payouts, navigate to Settings > Payouts.
Add coupon codes if you plan on distributing coupons.
Set up a Tango account to fund and issue gift cards.
Link to your PayPal or Wise account for cash payments.
Manage custom payouts
Step 2: Configure auto invites
Automated messages not only update and engage your existing members, but also let you continue inviting new members to join and share.
1) Enable automatic invites
Built-in rules to automatically ask people to share your program (learn more):
Approved Referrals: invite all Approved Referrals to become Members
Web Conversion: invite anyone who made a conversion on your site (i.e., completed your form, made a purchase, etc.) to become Members
Invite Feed API or Zapier: Set up rules and automatically send invites to members when conditions are met
2) Set up your own workflows and automation
Send email invites to potential members from your own systems (i.e. email marketing tool).
First, determine when in the journey it makes sense to ask someone to join your program and share:
Right after a purchase?
During onboarding, when they reach a given "aha moment?"
After completion of service?
Then use the Program Link Builder to build One Click Access links that let your members skip registration and share directly from their portal.
Step 3: Set up advanced integrations (optional)
Explore additional integration options to increase your program automation. These integrations will streamline your process for adding new referrals, updating existing referrals, updating member details, or triggering recurring rewards.
Step 4: Add promotion
Successful programs are promoted through multiple channels and touchpoints to attract new members and raise awareness that your program exists. A good promotion strategy has elements of both direct and indirect promotion.
Your Launch Page includes some great promotion options to get started. See our Integration Docs for more advanced methods or contact us to discuss strategies and possible promotion channels.
Direct promotion
Direct promotion focuses on asking someone to join and share your program.
The entire message centers around sharing and referring their friends
It doesn't include any other content or distracting messaging
It’s often triggered during key moments when someone is most likely to make a referral
Examples of direct promotion include:
Program announcement emails
Share reminder emails (including Monthly Summary emails)
Reward update emails
Push notifications to share
Website pop-ups
Emails to new customers
Seasonal email campaigns
When creating your direct promotion strategy:
Identify key moments in your customer lifecycle or relationship where someone is happiest and most likely to refer (i.e. after a purchase, after you deliver a great service, during an annual review, around holidays, etc.)
Determine the best channel that the potential member is most likely to engage with when asking for a referral (i.e., email, website, via sales/service rep, etc.)
Create a compelling message that is relevant to the member and encourages them to share (i.e., lead with the benefits to them and the referral, make it easy to share, etc.)
Indirect promotion
Indirect promotion is more subtle. Think of this as passively asking for a referral. The goal is to ensure members are aware your program exists so that they can share and join when they’re ready.
These subtle ways to promote your program take advantage of moments you’re already connecting with customers, unrelated to your program. Use these moments to briefly bring the referral program up so it stays top of mind.
Unlike direct promotion where you need to be careful of over-promoting the program, indirect promotion can happen wherever is relevant to your audience.
Examples of indirect promotion channels include:
Email newsletters
Website banners
Email signatures
Order receipts or invoice emails
Account notifications
Including a ‘refer’ button in website or customer portal navigation
Include referral program promotions in all the emails you send customers, even if it’s just a link in the email footer or signature. These passive asks are an easy way to keep your program top of mind without overflooding your customer’s inbox, as they let your emails do double duty.
Step 5: Test changes
Now that you've updated your program with new integrations and promotion channels, it's important to retest the member and referral journey.
Here's a quick checklist of what to look for:
Automated emails sent at correct times
Integrations work as expected
Promotion channels work as expected
Data systems update and sync
Rewards send properly
Step 6: Get an optimization audit
Schedule an optimization audit with your Onboarding Specialist to ensure your program is properly optimized.
Our team has set up and optimized thousands of programs and can make sure your program has the best chance of success. We’ll review your program for potential issues or gaps in the member and referral journey and make actionable recommendations on how you can make it better.
To schedule an Audit, navigate to our Request Assistance page and select the Optimization Audit option.
Key Resources
Support Center 📖
We have all our help articles like this one, FAQs, how-tos, and best practices all in one place.
Integration Docs 🎓
Check out our comprehensive guides for connecting your referral program to other software such as your website, email marketing system, and customer data platforms.
Chat with support 🗣️
If you'd like some extra assistance with your optimization, just reach out via chat to our support team or Request Assistance. We're always ready to help!