Almost every business uses referrals and swears by their effectiveness in driving more traffic, generating more leads, and increasing sales. And with good reason – 84% of consumers trust referrals.
However, not all referral programs are successful. The key is to develop referral campaigns that are easy to use and track. And that’s what referral codes are for.
Referral codes are easy to create, share, and customize for every campaign.
An easy-to-use referral marketing program leverages the power of word of mouth to win more clients and grow your business. Moreover, it’s incredibly effective for bringing in new clients.
In this article, we’ll look at some of the big brands’ most successful referral code examples for inspiration.
Table of contents
What is a referral code?
A referral code is a unique combination of numbers and letters. The code becomes a unique ID for anyone participating in your referral program. Some referral codes may also contain complete words, like the name of a campaign or a client’s name.
Every client joining the program (referrer) gets a referral code to share with others to earn rewards. Your referral request message with a code makes it easy for customers to forward it via text or email to friends and family.
Referral codes help companies track a referral’s origin and automatically credit the referrer with a reward.
Here’s one of the referral code examples that Ibotta uses to incentivize users on its app.
Why do you need a referral code?
Referral codes provide convenience to both businesses and customers:
- A referral code helps you manage your referral program and track where your referrals originate.
- Referral codes also help you distribute rewards to the correct referrer. And they’re great for avoiding issues with unpaid referrals.
- Referral codes are easy methods for enhancing client satisfaction and fostering loyalty since it ensures customers receive their promised rewards.
- It is easy to streamline the process with referral codes and measure the effectiveness of your referral efforts.
Create easy-to-use codes and set up Referral rewards programs with a few simple steps. Make the best of customer loyalty with Birdeye Referrals.
Referral code vs. referral links
Did you know that even though referral codes and referral links are often used together, they are quite different?
| SI.No | Referral code | Referral link |
| 1 | A referral code is a unique identifier that clients can use to refer and redeem awards. | A referral link refers to an entire link that the referrer shares with friends when participating in the referral program. |
| 2 | A referral code links each customer to the referrals they bring. The code also distributes the rewards they earn from the program. Giving customers access to a referral code makes sharing it with friends and family easier across all devices. Customers can invite their networks quickly and frequently, increasing the program’s success. | A referral link can also help connect the referral code to the customer and the referral. But with referral links, sharing is limited to digital platforms, reducing its impact. |
| 3 | Ideal for in-store usage | Ideal for digital marketing |
The customer’s referral link is shown in the red box. The text highlighted in yellow is their actual referral code.
7 referral code examples
Wondering what successful referral code examples look like for inspiration? It looks simple, but it has taken major brands a lot of time and resources to determine what works best. So let’s examine how many brands leverage referral codes for their business.
Airbnb
This brand has enjoyed staggering growth in just a few short years, thanks to the power of referrals. In this referral code example, the company used a simple referral strategy that incentivized customers in credits for each referral. Referrers would receive a $40 travel credit when new members sign up on Airbnb. Then, they would receive an additional $20 credit when the referral took their first trip.
In the example below, Airbnb combines the user’s name with a series of numbers to create a unique referral code embedded inside a referral link. Customers can just share the unique code with their friends and family to enjoy the benefits of Airbnb.
Gymshark
Gymshark is one of the world’s most recognized fitness apparel and accessories brands. It has earned a significant following among fitness enthusiasts and athletes due to its fashionable fitness apparel. Gymshark also uses referrals to raise awareness of its products and reward its participants for bringing in new clients.
Their referral code is a simple promotional code that the referred client types in at checkout to receive a discount on their purchase. Conversely, the referrer gets a small commission whenever anyone purchases a Gymshark product using their referral code.
Dropbox
Dropbox is another classic example of a brand that grew remarkably by starting a referral program. The brand launched its double-sided referral program, in which both the referrer and the referred client received free storage space. The program boosted signups by a whopping 60% in just 15 months.
After clients sign up for a Dropbox account, they’re automatically assigned a unique referral link to share among friends. And the incentives vary by value. A Dropbox Basic account gets 500 MB per referral, while a Plus account gets 1 GB for every referral.
The Dropbox referral code (highlighted in yellow) combines lower and uppercase letters and random numbers. It is inside a link to make it easier to share.
Wine Insiders
Wine Insiders is a discount wine delivery service that offers a curated wine selection to its customers. For a discounted price of $20, customers can sample reds, whites, sparkling wine, and rosés.
The company uses a subscription-based referral program to grow its client base. The program incentivizes advocates to share their personalized URLs (PURLs). PURLs are essentially custom referral codes that have the customer’s name or social media handle in them, making them easier for them to remember.
In one of its referral code examples (above,) Wine Insiders executed a highly successful personalized referral program to celebrate its 39th anniversary. Customers get a link with a personalized code to share with friends and family.
The referrer would get a $39 coupon if someone purchases using their code. The referred client also enjoys a $39 discount off their first purchase totaling $100 or more.
Flaviar
This brand is a whiskey experience subscription service for customers who want to explore whiskey, vodka, tequila, and personalized spirits. Members pay a $349/year or $109/quarter subscription fee to join the spirit-sampling club.
What makes Flaviar unique, however, is its referral marketing strategy. They incentivize subscribers to become advocates for the brand and refer their friends. Their goal is to build an online community of whiskey lovers.
The referral link contains a personalized referral code that shows the person’s name, making it easy to share with friends and family.
Free Agent
FreeAgent is a cloud-based accounting software businesses use to send invoices and gentle payment reminders to clients and record expenses. It is specifically aimed at small business owners, contractors, and freelancers.
Currently, businesses pay $20 a month to use the platform. However, with their innovative referral program, business owners can get 10% off their bill for every successful referral. That means if you bring ten users to FreeAgent and each referral pays for a subscription, you get 100% off.
Each FreeAgent gets a unique referral code made up of letters and numbers.
Dollar Shave Club
Dollar Shave Club is a monthly shaving subscription service. When someone joins Dollar Shave Club and creates an account, they’re given a unique referral code to copy to share with friends.
Their referral program offers members a $5 bonus credit for each friend they refer successfully.
Dollar Shave Club’s referral program is one-sided, meaning only the referrer receives a reward for using the program. So, only existing DSC members receive the $5 credit for every successful referral.
The Dollar Shave Club referral code example demonstrates how you can customize your referral codes and incentives within your business model.
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Building your own referral code: Best practices
A referral code can be anything, but as we saw from the many examples here, a meaningful code is more impactful and has good recall value. So here are a few best practices to follow while building your referral code:
- Customize the referral code to your business, product, and campaign. For example, if it is a Christmas campaign, codes like Jolly10 or Santa15 work better than just a bunch of letters.
- If possible, add the customer’s name to the referral code. This will attract attention, and personalization will make the client feel valuable, making them more likely to share it with friends and family.
- Keep it short. A longer code defeats using one instead of a referral link. Make sure it is within 10-15 characters whenever possible.
- Avoid using special characters unless they have significance to your brand.
How to ace referral marketing with ease?
Having referral codes and links is the first step in creating a successful referral program. Getting customers to refer you to your friends is not an easy task, but you can ace it with a few simple steps:
- Focus on customer experience before requesting a referral. Ensure your customers have a great experience every step of the way, address any issues proactively, and follow up for feedback.
- Find happy customers from reviews, testimonials, and survey responses. This guarantees a higher referral rate instantly.
- Work with referral marketing software that tracks requests to understand what works for your business.
Conclusion
Referral marketing is definitely a good idea if you want to boost your sales. As we’ve seen with these referral code examples, a referral program creates a win-win outcome for you and your clients. They earn rewards for sharing their referral codes while you get new clients and sales.
FAQs about referral code examples
You can manually create a referral code for each campaign or use referral program software to automatically generate and track those referrals.
The four types of referrals include direct, email, incentive-based, and referrals from online reviews. Referral codes can help with all of them.
Share your referral code by simply sending them a link with your referral code. Copy and paste the link directly into an email, text, or social media message.
Your referral code is visible inside or embedded within your referral link. Usually, the referral code shows up at the end of the referral link string of characters.
A referral code link is a referral code (a unique identifier) that is part of a referral link. The code allows businesses to track the referral to know the actual referrer. The link allows customers easy access to participate and share.
Grow your referral program with Birdeye
Referrals are the backbone of every business. They ensure that the effort you put into customer experience is rewarded with more customers. That is why you need strong referral program software like Birdeye to manage it for your business.
With Birdeye, you can:
- Build custom referral program automation and ensure every customer gets a request
- Send and track referral requests across customer communication channels
- Connect with new referral customers instantly and take the conversation ahead
- Monitor which employee gets the maximum referrals and reward them accordingly
So why wait? Step up your referral program with Birdeye today! Watch a free demo to learn more.
About the Author
Sunitha Raghunathan
Originally published
