Do referral programs really work?

2 points

18 years ago

Has anyone successfully run a referral program (ie. tell your friend about our product and if he/she purchases and mentions you, you get paid)? We have decent word of mouth for JumpBox at this point and we're interested in accelerating that. My main concerns at this point are:

* Kathy Sierra is adamant about the idea that you never pay your evangelists. I hold her advice in high regard and I can understand her arguments: http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2007/02/inspiring_your_.html

* in any cash-back incentive program you introduce the ability for people to game the system. I suppose it requires willingness to accept some level of that in trade for the boost in visibility.

* energy devoted to implementing the program is potentially be better spent on other evangelism activities (Joel Spolsky in Founders at Work said none of the sales-generating gimmicks he's ever tried has had more ROI than investing time in improving the product - http://www.grid7.com/archives/143_faw-25-joel-spolsky-of-fog-creek-software.html

But at the end of the day, I'm really curious if the referral program could substantially boost our word of mouth. This forum always has insightful startup advice - I'm hoping to get input (good or bad) from folks who have conducted referral programs or other successful activities to get the awareness ball rolling.

sean

6 comments

6 comments