One of the first projects I participated in — and still one I often reference when discussing anything referral-based. Arguably, it was the first project that made me realize marketing is the science I want to master and evolve in.
This project took place during my time at Bocconi, where I worked as a consultant for the Bocconi Marketing Association. Guidoio, still a startup at the time, was one of my clients. The company’s goal was to digitalize the process of getting a driver’s licence — from the first lesson all the way to the final exam. Simple, yet genius.
Regardless of all the guerrilla tactics they let us experiment with, one part of the project stood out to me — the referral marketing campaign we created. Below are my original, untouched notes for the campaign.
Appropriate as our customers will interact with their peers who are potentially interested in obtaining their licence. For 17 year olds, 20$ goes a long way. Especially, if their parents are paying for the service but they’re the ones redeeming the monetary rewards.
Encourage existing customers to invite friends to join the service.
The primary incentive for participants will be cash rewards, as this appeals directly to the younger demographic who are not paying for the service themselves ( parents paying ) students earning.
To prevent abuse of the program, only customers who have already paid a deposit for our service will be eligible to participate in the referral program.
Implement a visually engaging milestone graph to track progress, creating a game-like experience for participants. Time pressure can be applied as well “Double Rewards For 2 Days” to create urgency.
New users can collect cash rewards or redeem them as a discount on their purchase. The cash reward can be stored and withdrawn along with additional rewards gained from invitations.
Launch an Instagram campaign called “Learn and Earn” to provide additional incentive for users to engage with the app and participate in the referral program.
Once the referee signs up and begins filling in his details he will also be able to enter the referral code and redeem his reward.
In the invite contacts section include Potential Earnings section where the user can visualise how much money he could potentially earn by inviting all his contacts. This will greater incentivise the user to become an ‘affiliate’. “ Potential Earnings: 3453$”
Even though most founders and marketers may be against the idea of providing incentives in their referral marketing, lets take a moment to consider the CAC compared to other channels. Does it still seem expensive?