How to Choose the Perfect Referral Software for Your Company

Posted by Sandra Petrova | Last updated Oct 17, 2024

This is a complete guide to how to choose referral software in 2024. We'll cover everything you need to know to select the best referral marketing platform for your business, from key features to look for to important questions to ask potential vendors.

In this comprehensive guide, you'll learn:

  • What referral marketing software is and how it works
  • The key benefits of using referral software for your business
  • Essential features to look for in a referral platform
  • How to evaluate different referral software options
  • Important questions to ask potential referral software vendors
  • Tips for implementing and optimizing your referral program
  • What are the best referral marketing tools

Let’s get started.

What Is Referral Marketing Software?

Referral marketing software is a powerful tool that helps businesses systematically promote their products and services through word-of-mouth marketing. It enables companies to create, manage, and track referral programs that incentivize existing customers to recommend the business to their friends, family, and colleagues. This type of software automates many aspects of referral marketing, making it a cost-effective and scalable way to acquire new customers.

In recent years, referral software has been gaining significant popularity due to its proven ability to reduce customer acquisition costs, promote brand awareness, and drive sustainable growth. According to a study by the Wharton School of Business, referred customers have a 16% higher lifetime value compared to non-referred customers. This demonstrates the long-term impact that effective referral programs can have on a company's bottom line.

Let's illustrate how referral software works with a practical example. Imagine Jake is your customer and he's a big fan of your service. He wants to share the good word but just needs a reminder and some incentive. Referral marketing software can help you create and manage customer referral campaigns that automatically remind customers like Jake to share their positive experiences. The software can send personalized emails or in-app notifications to Jake, prompting him to refer his friends. When Jake shares his unique referral link, the software tracks the referral. If Jake's friend signs up or makes a purchase, both Jake and his friend can be automatically rewarded with discounts, credits, or other incentives you've set up. This entire process is managed and tracked by the referral software, making it easy for you to measure the success of your referral program and optimize it over time.

But that's just scratching the surface of what modern referral software can do. Let's dive deeper into the advanced features and capabilities that make these platforms so powerful for businesses of all sizes:

  • Multi-channel referral tracking: Monitor referrals across email, social media, SMS, and more
  • A/B testing capabilities: Optimize your referral program by testing different incentives, messaging, and user flows
  • Fraud detection and prevention: Protect your program from abuse with advanced algorithms and manual review tools
  • Integration with CRM and marketing tools: Seamlessly connect your referral data with other business systems
  • Advanced analytics and reporting: Gain deep insights into program performance and ROI
  • Customizable referral widgets and landing pages: Create on-brand referral experiences that convert

One of the key advantages of modern referral software is the ability to customize your campaigns to align with your specific business goals and target audience. You can choose between different incentive models, each with its own strengths:

  • One-sided programs: Reward only the referrer, which can be effective for businesses with a strong value proposition
  • Two-sided programs: Reward both the referrer and the new customer, which can increase the likelihood of referrals being accepted
  • Leaderboard programs: Create a competitive element by rewarding top referrers, which can be particularly effective for B2B or high-value products
  • Tiered programs: Offer increasing rewards as referrers hit different milestones, encouraging ongoing participation
  • Milestone programs: Reward customers for reaching specific referral targets, driving long-term engagement

The flexibility to experiment with these different models allows you to find the optimal approach for your unique business and customer base.

A critical feature of top-tier referral software is its comprehensive tracking and analytics capabilities. Here's a breakdown of what advanced referral platforms can monitor:

  • Referral link shares: Track how and where your customers are sharing their referral links
  • Click-through rates: Measure the effectiveness of referral messages in driving traffic
  • Conversion rates: Monitor how many referrals result in new customers or sales
  • Customer lifetime value (CLV): Compare the CLV of referred customers vs. non-referred customers
  • ROI analysis: Calculate the return on investment of your referral program
  • Referral source analysis: Identify which channels (e.g., email, social media, SMS) are most effective for referrals
  • Referrer performance: Track your top referrers and their impact on your business
  • Reward distribution: Monitor the rewards earned and distributed through your program

This level of detailed tracking allows you to optimize every aspect of your referral program, from the initial share to the final conversion. By leveraging these insights, you can continually refine your referral strategy to maximize its effectiveness and drive sustainable growth for your business.

Referral software will track every step of your customer referral program, from shares and clicks to successful conversions.

The good news is there's a wide range of different referral marketing software to choose from, catering to businesses of all sizes and industries. However, selecting the right platform requires careful consideration of several factors:

  • Your business model: B2B, B2C, or marketplace
  • Industry-specific requirements: Some platforms specialize in certain sectors like e-commerce, SaaS, or financial services
  • Scale of your business: Number of customers, transaction volume, and growth projections
  • Technical requirements: Integration needs, API access, and customization capabilities
  • Budget: Both upfront costs and long-term ROI considerations
  • Feature set: Ensure the platform offers the specific tools and capabilities you need
  • Ease of use: Consider the learning curve for your team and the quality of customer support
  • Scalability: Choose a platform that can grow with your business

By carefully evaluating these factors against your specific needs and goals, you can select a referral marketing platform that not only fits your current requirements but also supports your long-term growth strategy.

What Are the Benefits of Using Referral Software?

Implementing a referral program through specialized software can yield numerous advantages for businesses across various industries. Let's explore the key benefits in detail:

The widespread adoption of referral marketing tools by successful businesses across various industries is a testament to their effectiveness. But what specific advantages do these tools offer? Let's dive into the key benefits that make referral software a valuable asset for businesses looking to accelerate growth and improve customer acquisition:

Lower Customer Acquisition Cost and Higher ROI

Implementing a referral program through specialized software can significantly reduce customer acquisition costs (CAC) while boosting return on investment (ROI). Here's how:

  • Targeted reach: Referrals naturally target individuals who are more likely to be interested in your product or service, increasing conversion rates.
  • Trust factor: Recommendations from friends or family carry more weight than traditional advertising, leading to higher conversion rates and lower marketing costs.
  • Cost-effective scaling: As your customer base grows, so does your pool of potential referrers, allowing for organic growth without proportional increases in marketing spend.
  • Improved customer lifetime value: Referred customers often have a higher lifetime value, further enhancing the ROI of your referral program.

Without a proper referral system in place, attempting to harness word-of-mouth marketing can be time-consuming, ineffective, and lacking in analytical insights. Referral software provides the structure and tools needed to maximize the potential of customer recommendations.

Saves Engineering Resources and Time

One of the most significant advantages of using referral program software is the substantial savings in engineering resources and time. Here's a detailed look at how referral platforms can benefit your development team and overall business efficiency:

  • Eliminates the need for in-house development: Instead of allocating valuable engineering resources to build a referral system from scratch, you can leverage pre-built solutions that are battle-tested and continuously improved.
  • Rapid deployment: Most referral software platforms can be implemented in a matter of days or weeks, rather than the months it might take to develop a custom solution.
  • Reduced maintenance burden: Software vendors handle updates, bug fixes, and security patches, freeing your IT team to focus on core business applications.
  • Scalability without additional development: As your business grows, the referral platform can easily scale to handle increased volume without requiring significant engineering effort.
  • Integration capabilities: Many referral platforms offer pre-built integrations with popular CRMs, marketing tools, and e-commerce platforms, reducing the need for custom integration work.
  • Compliance and security: Reputable referral software providers ensure their platforms meet industry standards for data security and privacy, reducing the burden on your internal teams.

By leveraging a specialized referral platform, you can achieve a sophisticated referral program without straining your engineering resources or delaying other critical projects.

Helps You Understand Customers Better

One of the most valuable aspects of referral marketing software is its ability to provide deep insights into customer behavior and preferences. These platforms offer sophisticated analytics tools that go beyond basic referral metrics, helping you gain a comprehensive understanding of your customers and their interactions with your brand. Here's how referral software can enhance your customer insights:

  • Referral behavior analysis: Understand which customers are most likely to refer others and what motivates them to do so.
  • Customer segmentation: Identify different groups of customers based on their referral activity, purchase history, and engagement levels.
  • Conversion funnel analysis: Track how referred customers move through your sales funnel, identifying potential bottlenecks or drop-off points.
  • Lifetime value comparisons: Compare the long-term value of referred customers versus those acquired through other channels.
  • Referral source attribution: Determine which channels (e.g., social media, email, in-app) are most effective for generating quality referrals.
  • Reward preference insights: Analyze which types of incentives are most effective in motivating referrals across different customer segments.
  • Network effect visualization: Map out how referrals spread through customer networks, identifying key influencers and brand advocates.
  • Demographic and psychographic data: Gather rich data on your most valuable customers and their referred friends, informing broader marketing strategies.

The wealth of data provided by referral software empowers you to make strategic decisions that can significantly impact your business. Here's how you can leverage these insights to optimize your customer engagement and referral strategies:

  1. Identify and nurture top referrers:
    • Create tiered reward systems that offer increasing benefits to your most active referrers
    • Develop exclusive VIP programs for your top brand advocates
    • Provide early access to new products or features for your most valuable referrers
  2. Personalize referral experiences:
    • Tailor referral incentives based on customer segments and their preferences
    • Customize referral messaging to resonate with different customer groups
    • Adjust reward structures based on customer lifetime value or purchase history
  3. Optimize engagement timing:
    • Analyze purchase behavior and device usage patterns to identify the best times to send referral prompts
    • Implement triggered referral requests based on specific customer actions or milestones
    • Schedule automated follow-ups and reminders to keep your referral program top-of-mind
  4. Enhance multi-channel communication:
    • Determine which communication channels (email, SMS, in-app notifications) are most effective for different customer segments
    • Create a cohesive omnichannel referral experience that aligns with your overall marketing strategy
    • Integrate referral prompts seamlessly into your existing customer touchpoints
  5. Refine your overall marketing strategy:
    • Use insights from your referral program to inform broader customer acquisition and retention efforts
    • Identify common characteristics among your best referrers and referred customers to refine your target audience
    • Apply learnings from successful referral messaging to other marketing campaigns

By leveraging these data-driven insights, you can create a more targeted, personalized, and effective referral program that not only drives new customer acquisition but also enhances overall customer engagement and loyalty.

Refine Your Customer Referral Programs

Customer referral programs are the cornerstone of effective referral marketing, and modern referral software provides powerful tools to make these programs not just functional, but truly engaging and impactful. Here's how advanced referral platforms enable you to create and refine referral programs that stand out:

  • Dynamic program structures:
    • Implement tiered rewards that increase as customers refer more friends
    • Create milestone-based incentives to encourage ongoing participation
    • Set up double-sided rewards that benefit both the referrer and the new customer
  • Gamification elements:
    • Incorporate leaderboards to foster friendly competition among referrers
    • Add progress bars and achievement badges to motivate continued engagement
    • Implement time-limited challenges or special events to boost referral activity
  • Personalization capabilities:
    • Tailor referral offers based on customer segments or individual preferences
    • Customize messaging and visuals to align with different customer personas
    • Adapt reward options to suit various customer interests and motivations
  • Multi-channel promotion:
    • Create seamless referral experiences across web, mobile, and in-app platforms
    • Leverage social media integrations for easy sharing and tracking
    • Implement email and SMS campaigns to remind and re-engage participants
  • A/B testing and optimization:
    • Experiment with different incentive structures to find the most effective rewards
    • Test various messaging and visual elements to improve conversion rates
    • Optimize the referral flow to minimize friction and maximize completions
  • Compliance and fraud prevention:
    • Implement robust verification processes to ensure the authenticity of referrals
    • Set up rules and limits to prevent program abuse
    • Ensure your program adheres to industry regulations and best practices

By leveraging these advanced features, you can create referral programs that are not only visually appealing and fun for participants but also strategically designed to drive meaningful results for your business. The ability to continuously refine and optimize your program based on real-time data ensures that your referral marketing efforts remain effective and aligned with your evolving business goals.

Helps With Marketing Automation

Advanced referral software serves as a powerful ally for your marketing team, automating a wide range of tasks and processes to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. Here's a more comprehensive look at how these platforms can streamline your referral marketing efforts:

  1. Campaign promotion and management:
    • Automatically schedule and send multi-channel promotional messages (email, SMS, push notifications)
    • Create and manage segmented campaigns based on customer data and behavior
    • A/B test different promotional messages and offers to optimize performance
  2. Participant onboarding and engagement:
    • Automatically email new participants with their unique referral link and program details
    • Generate personalized referral dashboards for each participant
    • Send automated welcome series to educate and motivate new referrers
  3. Reward fulfillment and notification:
    • Automatically track referral conversions and trigger reward distribution
    • Notify winners through their preferred communication channel
    • Manage reward inventory and facilitate digital or physical reward fulfillment
  4. Ongoing participant communication:
    • Send monthly reminders to keep the program top-of-mind
    • Create triggered messages based on participant activity or inactivity
    • Provide automated progress updates and milestone celebrations
  5. Program optimization:
    • Automatically generate performance reports and insights
    • Identify and flag potential fraud or abuse patterns
    • Suggest optimization opportunities based on program data and benchmarks
  6. Integration and data management:
    • Sync referral program data with your CRM and other marketing tools
    • Automate data cleansing and deduplication processes
    • Generate and update customer segments based on referral activity

By automating these crucial tasks, referral software not only saves your marketing team valuable time but also ensures consistent execution of your referral program. This allows your team to focus on high-level strategy, creative initiatives, and data-driven optimization, ultimately leading to a more successful and scalable referral marketing effort.

Build your customer referral program without the dev time

Sign up for a free trial of GrowSurf to lower your customer acquisition costs, increase customer loyalty, and save gobs of time.

Top Features of Referral Marketing Software 

Here's a fact:

Different software comes with different sets of features.

However, there are some common features that you're likely to get with each referral marketing tool.

They include: 

Automation

Automation is amazing. It saves you a great deal of time, energy and makes life simpler.

Email automation is one of the most common features you'll find with any referral marketing tool.

What does this feature do?

In a nutshell, it automatically:

  • Promotes your campaign.
  • Emails new participants with their unique referral link.
  • Notifies winners.
  • Sends out monthly reminders.
  • And more.

Analytics

Here's another great feature of referral marketing software: analytics and reports.

In short, a tool that comes with this important feature lets you:

  • View campaign performance.
  • Get insight into your conversion rates.
  • See channel performance to understand the effectiveness of your referral campaign.
  • Know your top referrers.
  • See how your referral program performs against industry standards.
  • Track your top traffic sources.

Fraud Prevention

Not all of your customers will be as sweet as a rose. Some of them might try to engage in fraudulent activities, such as hacking the process to get numerous incentives.

The best tools have an anti-fraud system that identifies suspicious participants and lets you disqualify them. Some tools offer a suite of anti-fraud tools such as blacklisting/whitelisting, bulk fraud deletion, and reCAPTCHA.

Customization 

Think about this for a moment:

Branding creates loyal customers.

It's a sure way to appeal to people's emotions and make them feel more connected to your company.

The good news is that referral marketing software can help you provide a consistent, on-brand experience for your customers.

In other words, you control the copy, design, and messaging of your referral program.  

You can choose between various referral program templates and fully customize everything to your liking. Whether you're a florist who decided to sell online or a tech startup that will release the next big product, you're likely to find a template that fits your specific needs.

Channels 

Another super awesome feature of referral marketing software is that you can promote your referral program across all marketing channels.

For instance, you can:

  • Invite customers through email to join your program.
  • Invite customers to join your program by showing them a pop-up after checkout.
  • Send customers an invite email after they buy your product/service.
  • Send customers to a landing page where they can get their referral link.
  • Add referral links to your newsletter to invite customers to join your program.

Referral Link Generation

Here's another cool feature: referral link generation.

This feature lets you provide each of your customers and subscribers with their own referral link. Participants can share the link through different channels, such as via email, social media, or send direct email invites.

Rewards Management System

Rewards management systems are integrated into your software and help you stay organized. You'll get access to a real-time dashboard that will reveal your campaign's overall performance. What's more, you'll be able to view your winners and stay on top of rewards. You’ll always know when you need to approve or fulfill a reward.

What to Look for in a Referral Marketing Software

If you're a newbie to the world of referral marketing, all this terminology and jumble may be a little bit overwhelming.

How do you know which software is the right one for your business? 

Is there some magic ball that has all the answers to your questions? 

We're here to help!

When selecting a referral marketing software for your business, there are some things to consider when creating your pros and cons lists for each tool.

Here are six things to consider before we dive into the top referral marketing software options out there.

Integrations

Referral marketing software won't be the only tool you'll be using to grow your business. There's a range of other tools you'll need on a daily basis.

That's why it's crucial that you go with a tool that offers integration with other tools you love to use.

By integrating your referral marketing software with other systems, you can automate your referral program from end to end.

Luckily for you, many vendors offer third-party integrations, Zapier integration, and REST API to connect with your software.

For instance, by connecting your system with MailChimp, you'll manage to grow your lists and build automated emails. Or, by connecting with a third-party tool like Revue, you'll be able to add a referral program inside your newsletters.

Customer Support

Here's a fact:

Unexpected things can happen when transitioning to a referral marketing tool.

You may hit a roadblock with the integration process. You may struggle to customize the referral program to fit your branding. Perhaps you'll underestimate the complexity of integrating your system with other tools critical for the business.

Maybe everything will go swimmingly, but you know what they say: hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

That's why you need to go with a vendor that can offer a 5-star customer support experience. The support team has to be accessible at all times and responsive to give you the answers you are looking for.

To get a feeling of the customer support team, try getting in touch with a problem. See how responsive they will be in solving your issue. Another idea is to look for online reviews and see what customers say about each vendor.

Pricing

In the perfect world, money is no problem.

But in the real world, budgeting is a critical part of running any business. It ensures you are staying within your means and not going into debt with overhead costs.

On the one hand, you want to get the best referral marketing software out there, and on the other hand, you must be careful not to go over budget.

As luck would have it, there are plenty of options out there that give you the best of both worlds. In other words, you can find a solid software solution that offers powerful features at an affordable price.

If a budget constraints you, make sure you check the pricing plans for each vendor and look into the specific features each plan offers. One good idea is to go with a vendor that has a free trial so that you can give the software a go before making a monthly or yearly commitment.

Scalability

The scalability of the system is another thing to check before deciding on a software. If you're a larger enterprise or have plans to grow your company in the future, make sure you verify the maximum capacity supported by the software.

Here are some things to ask your vendor?

  • How many referral programs can be run at the same time?
  • Are there transaction limits?
  • Is there a limit to the number of participants?
  • How many integrations do you offer?
  • Do you offer deep analytics and customer reports? 

Referral Programs Replication 

Let's say there's a popular referral program you want to replicate. Maybe you're a fan of the Airbnb program and want to implement something similar at your company. In this case, the best option is to look for a referral marketing tool that can help you create the exact referral program that you were inspired by.

Setup Time and Complexity 

The truth is that some referral marketing tools have a long set-up time. Even worse, the software may be too complex and have a long learning curve that can make it challenging for your team to get up to speed.

With that said, if you want to say goodbye to weeks-long set-up times and get your team working in the new system fast, then make sure you go with a tool that fits these criteria.

The best thing you can do is read online reviews by previous users to get a feel of the set-up time and complexity of each software on your short list.

What Are the Best Referral Marketing Tools? 

Now that you’ve gone and learned about the features and benefits of referral marketing tools, it’s time to check out some of the best systems around today. We give a short overview of their best features and look at the pricing.

Company Best for Free trial Pricing Website
GrowSurf B2B SaaS, B2C Subscriptions, Financial Services,
Online Education, Online Insurance
Free trial $179/mo Visit
Referral Rock eCommerce, Auto, Staffing 14-day free trial $200/mo Visit
Extole Enterprise Retail, Finance No Not provided Visit
Referral Candy eCommerce stores with at 100+ transactions a month 30-day free trial $49/mo + commission Visit
SaaSquatch Marketplaces, Telecom, eCommerce No (demo upon request) $1,750/mo Visit
Rocket Referrals Insurance Agencies No (demo upon request) $180/mo Visit
Viral-Loops Businesses looking for an affordable lead generation tool 14-day free trial $34/mo billed yearly Visit
InviteReferrals Online Businesses 14-day free trial $99/mo Visit


GrowSurf

GrowSurf referral software

GrowSurf is a referral program software for tech companies that makes launching and running referral programs quick and simple. The software is a cost-savvy solution that can be managed and changed quickly without the help of IT/devs. Another thing you can expect with this software is quick campaign creation (you can launch in under a day!) and super fast customer support. The price is another big plus. It's suitable for businesses of all sizes.

Features 

  • Automagic form detection
  • Automated emails
  • Rewards management system
  • Track participant activity
  • Easy-to-use campaign editor
  • Analytics
  • Fraud protection

Pricing 

Growsurf offers scalable paid plans based on participant limits:

  • Startup ($179/mo) plans from 2,500 participants
  • Business plans from 10,000 participants
  • Custom plans from 150,000+ participants

Request a free demo to learn more.

Referral Rock

Referral Rock

Referral Rock's referral marketing software promises to help you get more customers and increase your brand awareness. The software is easy to use and requires minimal effort to run. The customer support team is fantastic and extremely responsive. All in all, it's a great referral program software that will help you automate your campaigns in days instead of months. On the plus side, the product team is constantly coming out with new features.

Features

  • Referral tracking
  • Analytics/ROI Tracking
  • Campaign Management
  • Fraud Detection
  • Gamification
  • Lead Engagement
  • Multi-Channel Marketing
  • Referral Templates

Pricing

Referral Rock offers three paid plans:

  • Starter ($200 per month) that is limited to 500 Members and 1 Program

  • Growth ($400 per month) that is limited to 5,000 Members and 3 Programs

  • Established Business ($800 per month) that is limited to 10,000 Members and 5 Programs

There's a 14-day free trial that lets you test the live program with up to 5 members.

Extole

Extole

Extole is another outstanding software provider that's an expert in turning customers into advocates. The software lets you build referral programs tailored to your brand that will turn more of your customers into advocates and increase brand awareness. The software's interface is user-friendly and digestible, making the process of managing your referral programs much easier. Customers seem to be satisfied with the product, their ROI, and the efficiency of the Extole team. What's more, it comes with powerful out-of-the-box features to support all of your referral marketing needs.

Features

  • Advocate Management
  • Analytics/ROI Tracking
  • Campaign Management
  • Employee Referral Management
  • Gamification
  • Lead Engagement
  • Multi-Channel Marketing
  • Referral Templates
  • Referral Tracking
  • Analytics
  • Rewards Management

Pricing

This vendor doesn't provide pricing details.

Referral Candy

Referral Candy

ReferralCandy is a referral marketing software that helps you grow your sales through word-of-mouth marketing. The software integrates with all the popular eCommerce platforms such as Shopify, BigCommerce, and Magento and other tools like Klaviyo, MailChimp, and Google Analytics. It's a great pick if you need a simpler referral system with a generous set of features to help you boost your customer acquisition. On the plus side, the system is fully customizable to fit your needs and relatively easy to set up.

Features

  • Automatic integration
  • Email marketing
  • Sales, traffic, and customer insights
  • Retargeting
  • Multi-Channel Marketing
  • Fully customizable templates
  • Automated emails

Pricing

ReferralCandy lets you choose between two paid plans:

  • Premium ($49/month + commission) that comes with features such as unlimited customers and automatic fraud protection

  • Enterprise ($3,999 /mo billed annually) that comes with features such as unlimited customers, account manager, and priority support

The vendor offers a 30-day free trial, giving your team plenty of time to test out all the features.

SaaSquatch

SaaSquatch

SaaSquatch is a loyalty, referral, and rewards platform geared towards B2B and B2C companies across various industries, including finance, media, and SaaS. It's a great tool if you want to create custom referral programs, build customer loyalty, and accelerate your revenue growth. The software lets you do all kinds of things. You can create multiple programs and run them simultaneously. You can configure the program to meet your needs. Heck, you can also get access to some great tracking and analytics tools.

Features

  • Multi-program and multi-tier campaigns
  • Robust analytics and insights
  • Out of the box designs and templates
  • A library of pre-configured growth programs
  • End-user rewards portal
  • Automated reward issuing and management
  • Multi-language and multi-currency support
  • Fraud detection and management

Pricing

SaaSquatch offers three paid plans:

  • Pro ($1,750/month) that includes 200k Program Members, Setup Support and Coaching, and Drag-and-Drop Widget and Email Editor

  • Enterprise (quote upon request) that includes 1M+ Program Members, Setup Coach and Architect, and 8 Hours of Custom Design Services

  • Managed (quote upon request) that includes Active Program Manager, Monthly Program Review with a Dedicated Customer Success Manager, and Unlimited Active Programs

The vendor doesn't offer a free trial, but a demo is available upon request.

Rocket Referrals

Rocket Referrals

Rocket Referrals is a referral marketing software that is specialized for insurance agencies to help them automate referrals, improve customer retention, and manage online reviews. Although it's geared towards insurance companies, businesses in other industries that care about maintaining long-lasting client relationships have been using the system as well. All in all, the system is integrative, seamless, and easy to use.

Features

  • Feedback surveys
  • Personalization
  • Customizable templates
  • Real-time dashboard
  • Custom campaigns
  • Personalized, handwritten cards
  • Review Generation
  • Negative Feedback Management
  • Custom performance reports

Pricing

You get to choose between three different plans:

  • Pro ($180/month)

  • Pro + Text ($195/month)

  • Pro + Premium ($215/month)

What's more, there are enterprise plans available. You can work with the Rocket Referrals team to tailor an Enterprise plan to meet your needs. The Enterprise plans come with advanced support, customized features, enhanced data analytics, and more. There's no free trial, but you can book a one-on-one demo.

Viral Loops

Viral Loops

Viral Loops is a referral marketing solution that aims to make customer acquisition easy and affordable for everyone. It's best suited for businesses that need an affordable lead generation tool and agencies looking for new marketing strategies for their clients. The software is easy to use, letting you launch a full-blown campaign in a few clicks. You can even make use of pre-made templates inspired by top brands in the market, such as Airbnb and Dropbox. The tools let you perform a range of tasks, such as creating dedicated landing pages, integrating the system with the tools that you already love using, and tracking and analyzing your campaign's performance.

Features

  • Campaign Wizard
  • Customizable templates
  • Landing Page Builder
  • Real-time Dashboard
  • Integrations
  • Referral Tracking
  • Rewards Management

Pricing

Viral Loops lets you choose one of the following three plans:

  • Start-up ($34/month billed yearly) that includes up to 1,000 Participants, Pre-launch Campaigns, Newsletter Referral, and Viral Giveaways

  • Growing ($69/month billed yearly) that includes everything from the Start-up plan + 3,000 participants and API Access

  • Power ($208/month billed yearly) that includes everything from the Growing plan + up to 25,000 participants and Priority Support

There's also a 14-day free trial that lets you test all of the features from the Growing plan.

InviteReferrals

InviteReferrals

InviteReferrals is a powerful and yet easy-to-use referral marketing software that helps you acquire new customers without breaking the bank. It's the ideal solution for online businesses that can't afford to spend large bucks on paid ads to attract customers. Creating customer referral campaigns is a piece of cake, and the software will track every step of the campaign, from shares and clicks to conversions. Oh, and there's also multi-language support.

Features

  • In-Depth Analytics
  • Fully Customizable Campaigns
  • Multiple referral and Social sharing options
  • Referral Statistics
  • Full Automation
  • Fraud Prevention & Security
  • Multi-Language Support
  • Multiple Campaign Types

Pricing

InviteReferrals offers three paid plans:

  • Basic for $99 per month that includes 1,000 new referrers/month and 3 campaigns.

  • Standard for $249 per month that includes 3,000 new referrers/month and 6 campaigns.

  • Enterprise plan that comes at a custom price. The pricing of this plan is at a higher end.

The vendor also offers a 14-day free trial for the Basic and Standard plans.

Our Conclusion

One thing is for certain:

All businesses, including B2B, B2C, and e-commerce, have a lot to benefit from a referral marketing software.

From creating referral programs and email campaigns to tracking the performance of your campaigns, these types of tools provide real-life benefits for lowering your customer acquisition costs and growing your business.

The quickest, most risk-free way to choose the best software for your needs is to take advantage of the free trials most of these tools offer and get a feel of the system. Demos will work even better.

To sum up, each of the eight referral marketing tools we featured in this post has strong points that make them perfect for different types of companies. We hope that at least one of these suggestions has appealed to you while reading this extensive post.

Now it's time to go out there and acquire those new customers like a pro!

Put your growth on autopilot

Launch a referral program for your B2C or B2B tech company and grow through the power of word-of-mouth

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