Referral Marketing - Examples of Successful Referral Marketing Programs

Examples of Successful Referral Marketing Programs

• Dropbox - In 2009, Dropbox implemented a referral program to encourage their users to tell their friends about Dropbox. Their referral program had a two-sided incentive for sharing: the person who signs up for Dropbox through a referral link gets more space than through a normal sign up, and the referrer gets additional space as well. According to Drew Houston, the Co-founder and CEO of Dropbox, at the Startup Lessons Learnt Conference on 23 April 2010, the referral program was inspired by the Paypal Sign up Bonus program. The referral program permanently increased their signups by 60%. Referrals account for roughly 35% of their daily signups (as of April 2010). In the 30 days before the conference presentation, Dropbox estimated that their users had sent 2.8 million direct referral invites to their friends.
• Okabashi - In March 2011, Okabashi, the largest US manufacturer of sandals and flip-flops, implemented their own customer referral program through ReferralCandy, a customer referral web app by Anafore. According to a case study released, the referral program became one of their top ten drivers of external traffic, boosting sales within a week of implementation. Referred customers also spent 13.2% more on average compared to regular non-referred customers.