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Create a Friend Referral Program

Updated this week

Harness the power of your participants’ connections! Learn how to set up a WhatsApp referral step in any sign up journey, so users can easily invite friends!

Why You Should Care

Adding a referral step to your raffle can dramatically increase participation and reach. Here’s why it matters:

  • More entries for less: Raffles with friend referral steps improve the collection of high quality leads and reduce customer acquisition costs (Finances Online, 2024)

  • Trust drives action: Referrals from friends are trusted and lead to higher-quality leads. (Finances Online, 2024)

  • Referrals convert faster and better: Referred customers have a 16% higher lifetime value than non-referred customers and convert more quickly on average. (HBR, 2011)

Quick Description

In this setup, we explain and showcase a simple but effective friend-referral program as part of a WhatsApp raffle (but any opt-in journey can work here as long as you can provide a valuable incentive for the referral).

After a user enters your raffle, they’re prompted to invite a friend via WhatsApp. They then simply forward a pre-written message (including your raffle link) to a friend. Once they confirm they’ve sent the message, they receive a second entry—making the process seamless and rewarding for both the user and their friend!

Step-by-Step Set-Up Guide:

1. Create a raffle campaign or entry point

  • Set up a new raffle campaign or create an entry point to capture participants.

  • For detailed instructions on creating entry points on your website (or elsewhere) click here:

  • For detailed instructions on creating campaigns (raffle or otherwise) klick here:

2. Design your standard raffle flow

  • Build the standard raffle entry journey in Charles (opt-in, data capture, confirmation).

  • After a user completes their initial entry, send a follow-up message: “Want a second entry? Invite a friend on WhatsApp!”

  • Include a “Share on WhatsApp” link that opens WhatsApp with a pre-filled message, for example: “Hey! I just entered this raffle. Join me and enter here: [wa.me link]”

  • Back in the raffle flow, prompt the user after a short while:
    “Did you send the message? Tap below to confirm and get your second entry!”

  • Add a “I’ve sent the message!” button.

  • Once the user confirms, automatically grant a second entry in your raffle system.

  • Video guide:

3. Monitor your entries and select a winner

  • Create 2 Segment:

    • Single Entry Users:

      • Has DOI

      • Has Raffle Tag

    • Double Entry Users:

      • Has DOI

      • Has Friend Referred Tag

  • Export both Segments

  • Create a fresh xls. file or Google Sheet

  • Paste the "Double entry user Segment" twice

  • Paste the "Single entry user Segment" once

  • Role the Dice and pick a winner!

4. Notify your community

  • Tag the Winner

  • Create a Winner Campaign and a loser Campaign

  • Send the campaigns to the respective Segments

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