Want your giveaways to go viral? PromoSimple recently released a new Refer-a-Friend feature, giving entrants the opportunity to earn extra entries when they refer friends. We used it in a recent promotion and wanted to share some quick insights.

Insights from Refer-a-Friend:

  • Refer-a-Friend increased our total number of entrants by 9%.
  • You are much more likely to refer someone if you were referred yourself. 13.5% of the people who were referred by someone referred at least one other person. This compares to 7.8% of entrants who were not referred by anyone.
  • You refer more people when you were referred by someone. Each referrer referred 2.9 entrants on average. Those that were referred by someone referred an average of 4.4 entrants.
  • Most referrals came within a short time window. This suggests that referrers are posting their unique referral links on Facebook and Twitter shortly after they enter.
  • 63% of referrers only referred one person. However, a single referrer can set off a viral chain reaction. I followed a chain of 28 referrals that led back to a single referrer who wasn’t referred by anyone, and only referred one person. This referrer had the word “butterfly” in their email address, making me smile, as they illustrated the butterfly effect a single entrant can have.
  • I also noticed super referrers who referred a ton of people. One of our super referrers accounted for 25% of total referred entrants. This can happen when someone with a large social following posts their unique referral link on Facebook or Twitter, and sometimes posts it multiple times. One tip for future giveaways would be to personally reach out to these super referrers about new giveaways.

Refer-a-Friend is Great for Local Sweepstakes

Refer-a-Friend can be especially effective for local giveaways. Many of our closest friends, the ones we interact with most frequently at work, school, sports, and church, are local. Local businesses such as restaurants, photographers, and salons can increase referral business by running a Refer-a-Friend sweepstakes. It’s also a great way to reach the friends of satisfied clients.

You can add Refer-A-Friend to your next campaign with just a few clicks and increase the effectiveness and virality of your next promotion.