How to create a referral program in Patch

First, you will need to create a Referral SmartLink.

Navigate to the SmartLinks Module in your Patch account. Click the purple plus button in the bottom left corner to create a new SmartLink. 

Give your SmartLink a name, for this example, we are using 'Referral Link'. Under Redirect Options, click the dropdown and select URL. Then input the website link you will be sending the user to. 

Then you will need to click 'Advanced Options' and check the box for 'Treat this as a 'Referral SmartLink'. 

Then click Save & Close.

Now you will need to create a Referral Data Field. 

Navigate to your Account Settings, then click on Fields.

Then click the purple plus button in the bottom right corner to create a new data field. 

Name the field 'Referred By', then click the dropdown and select the 'Text' option.

Then click Save & Close.

Click create new field again to create a field that will be a Yes or No value if the new customer receives their bonus points. Name the field 'Referral Bonus Applied' and the field type will be 'Checkbox'. Click Save & Close.

Optional: If you want to build into your campaign a total count of the number of people each person has referred to be able to reference later you will also want to create a field for Referrals. This field will be a number. 

Now you will set up your referral elements as an Automation.

Navigate to the Automations module. 

In the bottom right corner click the purple plus icon to create a new automation. 

Choose 'Start from Scratch'

This automation will be triggered based on an 'Order Finished' event. When this order finished event happens, we will check the contacts event data to see if there is a data field value for 'Referred By', if there is we will then award the new customer by using a 'Set Fields' block to increase their number of Loyalty Points. The value of points will be based on your individual account loyalty redemption conversion settings, so the number of points they earn for each dollar spent as well as the number of points required to redeem $1. Then you will send the new customer a message letting them know the reward has been added to their Rewards Account. Separately within this same Automation, you will want to also send a message to the person who did the referring. To do so, you will include a Select Contacts block to filter for the person who referred them, award them their points, and then send them a message letting them know they have earned a reward. 

Here is a complete view of the automation once you are done. We will break down each block below. 

Order Finished Block Configuration

Click the first dropdown and select the 'Referred By' field, and set the operation to 'Is Not Empty'.

Then add another rule for 'Referral Bonus Applied' and set the operation to 'Is Empty'.

At the bottom ensure the rule is set to 'One time at a certain number of orders' and the number of orders is set to '1'. This will ensure you are only awarding points if it is the new users' first purchase with your business. Then click Save & Close. 

Set Fields Blocks 

Next, you will need two (2) Set Fields blocks, one for the new customer and one for the person who referred them. 

For the first Set Fields block that is awarding the new customer for their purchase, you will click the 'add new field' button twice. In the first field, you will select 'Contact Loyalty Points', set the operation to 'Increment' then enter the number of points it will take to award them the promised amount. Now in the next add field, select 'Referral Bonus Applied', the operation will need to equal 'Set To' and then click the dropdown for Yes. Make sure to name your block so you can easily identify which block is for the Referee versus the Referrer. Then Click Save & Close.

For the second Set Field block, you will be awarding the person who referred their friend their points. You will only need to click the ' + add new field' once. Select 'Contact Loyalty Points' again, then the operation is set to 'Increment' then enter the number of points. 

Sens SMS Block

You will need two Send SMS blocks, one for the Referee and one for the Referrer.

Write your content accordingly and make sure to properly name each block so you can identify which message is for which contact. 

Referee Example

Referrer Example

Select Contacts Block

You will only need one 'Select Contacts' block. This block is going to find the contact id of the person who was the referrer for the order that was placed that way you can award their points and send them a message. 

Select 'ID', set the operation to 'Equal To', and then enter the following SmartText: {{contact.referred_by}}

Name the block accordingly and then click Save & Close. 

Connecting Your Blocks

Before you can enable your automation you will need to connect the pathways between the blocks.

For the 'Order Finished' you will hover over the block, click the 'right' arrow, then drag that path to the first Set Fields block for the Referee (new customer), then repeat this process to connect the Set Field block to the Send SMS message for the referee.

Once the completed path for the Referee is done, you will need to connect the paths for the Referrer flow.

Hover over the 'right' arrow on the 'Order Finished' block again to create a second path. This path will need to be connected to the Select Contacts block. Then the Select Contacts Block will connect to the Set Fields block for the Referrer and then connect the Set Fields block to the Send SMS.

Inviting Your Customers to Participate/Sending the Unique Referral Link

Now that you have your Referral Elements set, you will need to decide where and when you will invite customers to participate in your Referral Program. Patch recommends including this invite in your Welcome Series and/or Loyalty Program Welcome campaigns. 

Whichever campaign you decide you will want to send an SMS and/or Email to your customers with content that invites them to participate by sharing their unique link. The SmartLink you created at the beginning of this article is what you will want to include in the message. To do this you will open the Send SMS or Send Email Block of your choice, then in the Header or Text Content block you will use the INSERT menu, choose SmartLink and then select the 'Referral Link'. This will then create a unique referral link for each contact this message is sent to.

Here is an example:

Send SMS Example

Send Email Example

Steps to include Referral SmartLink

In either the Send SMS or Send Email blocks, click in the content editor where you enter text. Find the 'INSERT' button (in the email editor this is in the Text Settings, in the SMS editor the button is next to the Gateway selector), and click + SmartLink.

Select 'Existing SmartLink'

Then click the purple 'Select SmartLink'

Then select 'Referral SmartLink', and then click Insert & Close

Once you have your Referral Invite messaging accounted for, test your campaign to ensure everything is applied correctly.

If you need any assistance or want a trained account rep to review what you have set up please email our Customer Success team at success@patchretention.com