How to increase the frequency of referral sharing? This article will answer your questions.

1. Methods to increase the frequency of referrals and sharing

In fact, the core method to increase the frequency of referral sharing is to systematically divide the behavioral depth of old and new users.

Simply put, it is to divide the user's product behavior process into several small detectable links. The system tracks and analyzes the data of each link to form a referral behavior funnel. The purpose of this is to facilitate the design of referral incentive plans that stimulate and enhance sharing behavior based on the behavioral links.

For example, the user behavior of online education products can be divided into registration, reservation, experience, transaction and renewal, and different sharing and invitation thresholds can be designed for each link. The basic principle is: the later the link, the lower the invitation threshold and the higher the reward threshold.

When VIPKID designed the referral system, it divided user behavior into four parts: registration, trial, payment, and retention. The reward strategy based on this design is that old users can only get the main course reward if they invite any new users who complete the entire process of registration, trial, payment, and retention. Such visual settings can actually easily help users to actively follow up on referrals and objectively improve the referral effect.

In addition, VIPKID arranges the hours of major courses based on the number of user invitations and the conversion rate of the invitees, with the intention of increasing the referral rate by increasing the frequency.

2. Specific strategies to increase sharing frequency

The case mentioned above actually involves the issue of how to design tiered rewards, which is the core method to increase the sharing rate. In order to allow readers to have a more systematic and comprehensive understanding of the complete idea of ​​improving the referral sharing rate, the author has broken it down into the following four strategies.

1. Design reward thresholds based on behavioral depth

The first strategy is to design invitation thresholds and invitation incentives based on user behavior. There are two specific logics:

1. The invited new users must complete one of the four steps, such as registration - trial listening - payment - renewal, before the old users can receive the corresponding rewards. As for the rewards for old users, calculated on a per-invitation basis, they will increase in a step-by-step manner from registration to renewal, and the threshold for the number of people who can receive the rewards will be lowered in a step-by-step manner. For example, if 10 people register to get a reward, 5 people must pay before the reward can be given, and the reward amount for a single person must be less than the amount paid.
2. The rewards for old users should be designed in an incremental manner based on the price gradient of the products sold by the invited new users. For example, three products with different price points are designed, namely 1 yuan course, 9 yuan course and 500 yuan course. If an old user invites 10 people to buy the 1 yuan course, he will get reward one. If he invites 5 people to buy the 9 yuan course, he will get reward two. If he invites one person to buy the 500 yuan course, he will get reward three. The value ranking of the three rewards is: reward one <= reward two <= reward three.

A similar example of this logic is Walnut Programming, which rewards friends with 30 yuan for signing up for a trial class. If they sign up for advanced classes on that basis, they will receive another 150 yuan.

A typical example of the second logic is Pea Thinking. According to the requirements of the recommendation gift activity of Wandou Thinking, if friends purchase the annual course package, the popular course package, or the quarterly course package through the invitation poster, they will receive rewards of 9 class hours, 6 class hours, and 2 class hours respectively.

In addition, Spark Education’s distribution system also follows the second logic. For example, it launched two distribution courses: a 4-hour AI course and a high-priced course of more than 40 hours. According to Dugujun's observation, 4-hour classes are lead-generating classes with a very high distribution ratio, while classes above 40 hours are annual classes with a higher unit price and a lower distribution ratio, but the profit is considerable from a single transaction. The overall design is similar to the second logic.

As for the new user reward program, it can also be designed in a tiered manner based on the depth of behavior and transaction price. However, a good referral often takes into account both new and old users, and will try to design a tiered reward plan according to the above two logics, but one principle must be followed: the reward for old users must be higher than the reward for new users, otherwise it will be a failed referral plan.

2. Design a reward plan based on sharing behavior

Before old users successfully invite new users, they can get rewards by sharing referral materials on social platforms such as Moments, and tiered rewards can be designed based on the number of shares. The more shares you share, the greater the reward. VIPKID, DaDa, Wandou Thinking and others have incorporated this gameplay into their referral plans.

For example, VIPKID has launched a "share and get gifts" activity with monthly themes, requiring the sharing of personalized posters, growth diaries and other content and uploading of screenshots to the service account. This step is said to be reviewed with technical assistance (related to the browsing of the poster QR code). In addition, a tiered reward system has been designed, that is, different number of shares correspond to different value rewards. The basic reward includes 1 major course. Obviously, such a design can greatly increase the frequency of referrals.

DaDa, as the main competitor of VIPKID, has different referral features. One is to design rewards based on the depth of behavior, such as a 30-day monthly membership card for registration, 5 major courses for purchasing courses, etc. The other is to design rewards based on sharing behavior. In the past, rewards were awarded if the referral materials were forwarded on Weibo or WeChat Moments and screenshots were uploaded and passed the review. Currently, rewards are awarded if "posters + class photos + learning experience" are forwarded to WeChat Moments and 5 likes are collected, and screenshots must be uploaded for review. Overall, the frequency is also increasing.

In order to increase the frequency, Wandou Thinking has also thought of rewarding the behavior of forwarding to Moments. It packages it as "punch in and get gifts", that is, it requires full-paying users to upload a screenshot of sharing the recommendation poster to Moments once a week. There is a special upload page for this step. The principle is the same as VIPKID. If the review is successful, there will be virtual currency rewards, and there is a check-in process, which will have a certain effect on promoting behavior.

3. Design a reward plan based on the number of invitees

The first strategy actually includes the part of designing a ladder based on the number of invitees. The reason why it is singled out is that most referrals cannot be so complicated, and instead design a reward plan based on the number of invitees based on a single link. The simplest way is to give a fixed form of reward such as scholarships, discounts, points, tokens, class hours, redemption vouchers, etc., and then add a sentence "the more you invite, the more you get, there is no upper limit" and that's it.

Such a strategy cannot actually bring about a higher sharing rate because people have become numb, unless there are rewards in the form of redemption, which use the richness of the prizes to impact the user's psychology and thus increase the probability of sharing. This is the main reason why many online education institutions combine referrals with points malls.

Back to the design of the invitation reward program, by setting up a clear step-by-step path for the number of people, the sharing rate can be effectively improved. The reason is that users can feel clear goals and tasks, which will bring a certain pleasure. Just like a game, as long as there is a goal, there will naturally be action, and what we need to do is to reward users for completing the invitation goal.

There are actually many specific cases. Many promotion systems set different cash reward amounts based on the number of invitees, while others set reward levels based on the number of friends invited to purchase courses.

For example, Yuanfudao has set the following tiered rewards in its activity of bringing in new customers for its 9-yuan or 49-yuan courses: for every person you invite to make a purchase, you can get a physical gift of your choice, and the more you invite, the more gifts you get, and their value is getting bigger and bigger. The key point is that all the gifts are what children like, and even I want them.

In fact, many referral programs have already adopted a task-based format, that is, combining sharing materials, inviting registration or course purchases, inviting multiple people to register or course purchases, and other related behaviors into a series of small tasks, and matching them with different forms of rewards such as points, physical objects, discounts, and class hours. This can ensure the maximum sharing frequency. If all aspects are well designed and the user experience is smooth, it will produce the effect of automated customer acquisition. Of course, this is something that requires a long period of verification and iteration to achieve.

4. Use products and creativity to increase sharing rate

The last strategy to increase sharing frequency is related to the product features and creativity of the referral.

Let’s talk about the product first. It mainly refers to the fact that after any user receives a reward, he can use pop-up windows and other functions to remind him to continue sharing. For example, by using the altruistic psychology to design copy such as “Congratulations on getting a free spot, go give it to your friends” and pop up a poster.

An example of a good implementation in this regard is the Zebra AI class. Its 0-yuan trial class will automatically pop up an invitation poster after the user purchases it. The purpose is to remind users to share and attract new users. However, this depends on the poster design and whether the motivation presented on it is sufficient. Otherwise, there will be a large loss of users because pop-ups are very easy to be ignored by users.

As for the creativity, it is the gameplay that can bring about wide dissemination through unlocking, bargaining, red envelopes, card collection, and support. The premise is to limit the user participation threshold. For example, only newly registered users can support, otherwise it is no different from fission.

For example, the trial class referral launched by Ivy Dad at Christmas clearly completed the strategy of combining products and creativity to promote sharing. The specific way of playing is to first give a 5-yuan coupon, and then guide the forwarding. After the forwarding is completed, the 5-yuan coupon will be unlocked, and then a 10-yuan coupon will be obtained. It takes into account sharing and conversion at the same time, killing two birds with one stone. It is a good way of referral.

Xueersi Online School uses blind box lottery to help improve the spread of referrals. The specific logic is that if a user invites 4 new registered users to complete the help, he or she will have a chance to draw a blind box. There are 9 blind boxes in total. In addition to opening one yourself, 32 new users need to be attracted, greatly improving the efficiency of attracting new users.

The above are all the strategies to increase the frequency of referral sharing. The purpose is to stratify referral participants and pave the way for subsequent refined operations. The specific routines of operating referrals will be described in the next article.

At this point, the analysis of the design transfer part is completed. Let’s summarize:

• Referral design formula: Referral effect = referral sharing efficiency * referral conversion efficiency * referral sharing frequency;
• Two factors that affect referral sharing efficiency: the motivation for sharing referral activities and the difficulty of sharing referral activities;
• Two aspects to improve referral conversion efficiency: design eye-catching referral posters and lower the participation threshold after conversion;
• Four solutions to increase referral sharing frequency: design tiered rewards based on behavior depth, sharing behavior, and number of invitees, or use products and creativity to increase sharing rates.

Author: Dugu

Source: Dugu bacteria