Best Referral Marketing Tools To Use [Compared By Average Review Score]

Have you ever raved about a product to a friend and then felt secretly smug when they loved it too? That’s the power of referral marketing in action! It’s literally about turning your happy customers into a personal sales force. Eager to spread the word about what they love, your clients can often bring more and more like-minded people to try your brand.

In fact, studies have shown that referred leads are 2x more likely to convert than leads acquired through paid marketing channels, and referred customers are more loyal than customers acquired through other marketing channels.

Besides, setting up your referral marketing program with software lowers your customer acquisition costs, and even your sales team can act as referrals to bring you more customer loyalty. That’s why we decided to create this list of the best referral program software that you can use to launch your referral program in 2024!

With data from more than 28,000 Internet respondents in 56 countries, it has been seen that 92% of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family above all other forms of advertising.

Going Viral: The Epidemiological Strategy of Referral Marketing by Sayantari Ghosha, 2018.

To make the most of your referral marketing efforts, you’ll need the right tools.

There is a variety of referral program software available, each with its own unique features and capabilities. These platforms offer an easy set-up of your referral engine, page builders to create your actual referral program landing pages, tools to prompt and ask your target audience to refer, and connections to your CRM (or Stripe) so you can generate referral links for your existing contacts, a wide range of rewards and incentives, and detailed analytics to help you track the success of your referral marketing programs. In addition, there should be fraud prevention.

👉 Below, we’ve listed a breakdown of the top referral marketing tools on the market right now, including their pricing ranges and review scores on Capterra and G2. The software comparison below is by their average review scores, showing which tools are most loved by real customers. They can empower your referral marketing program and bring amazing results.

Now, let’s dig a little deeper. Here’s an in-depth look at each platform that claims to offer the best software. There are many platforms on the market right now, but these are the top 14 that customers are buying…

1. Referral Factory

🎯 Review scores:

• Capterra Rating – 4.9 

• G2 Rating – 4.8 

• Software Advice Rating – 5.0

• Google Rating – 5.0 

💰 Pricing range: $95 to $1400 / month

✅ Description: Referral Factory is plug-and-play referral program software to build and track your referral program. Easy to use and built for marketing and sales teams that want to get more referrals. 100+ referral program templates designed by experts. 100% customizable. Integrates seamlessly with your CRM or internal workflows. Referral Factory offers advanced referral tracking and analytics. Many tools to promote your referral program. Voted the #1 referral program software to host your referral program by Influencer Marketing Hub and Growth Marketing Pro. This powerful referral software is fast and simple, while capable of providing you with detailed reporting on any referral campaign. 

🔥 Most popular features: 

• One-click sync with your CRM to generate referral links for your contacts (works with most CRMs); 
• The ability to 100% customize your referral marketing program;
• Widgets to add to your website; 
• Email tools to ask your customers for referrals.

Also offers advanced referral analytics and rewards automation (with a nifty way for you to issue your own rewards, too). HubSpot certified referral app. This tool also covers influencer tracking and affiliate tracking.

📌 Limitations: Free trial is only 15 days, doesn’t offer a Shopify integration. 

⚡ Free trial without demo: Yes (15-day free trial)

2. Everflow

🎯 Review scores:

• Capterra Rating – 4.9
• G2 Rating – 4.8
• Software Advice Rating – 4.87
• Google Rating – N/A 

💰 Pricing range: Starting from $750 / month

✅ Description: Everflow is a cloud-based performance marketing platform and referral tracking software,  designed to help businesses track, manage, and optimize their affiliate programs. This referral marketing tool allows users to set up and run multiple campaigns across various channels, provides referral tracking software, counts conversions and revenue in real-time, and manages payments to affiliates. The platform also provides advanced analytics and reporting capabilities, giving businesses actionable insights to help them optimize their campaigns and drive better results. This referral program software also comes with features like anti-fraud protection, customizable dashboards, and integrations with popular marketing tools, Everflow provides a comprehensive solution for managing affiliate marketing programs.

🔥 Most popular features: 

• Flexible commission structures, including multi-tiered and fixed fee options; 
• API integrations with popular e-commerce platforms like Shopify, Magento, and WooCommerce; 
• Real-time analytics and insights to track campaign performance and optimize campaigns accordingly. 

📌 Limitations: Limited customer support options for users on lower-tier plans; limited customization options for referral program landing pages; steep learning curve for users who are new to the platform.

⚡ Free trial without demo: No

3. Talon.One

🎯 Review scores:

• Capterra Rating – 4.7 
• G2 Rating – 4.6
• Software Advice Rating – 4.73
• Google Rating – 4.7 

💰 Pricing range: Custom pricing

✅ Description: Talon.one is API-first referral program software that enables businesses to create and manage custom referral campaigns, offering a drag-and-drop interface and advanced segmentation tools that allow businesses to target their campaigns to specific customer groups. Talon. One also integrates with other marketing tools and e-commerce platforms via API integration. 

🔥 Most popular features: 

• Offers advanced segmentation, allowing targeting of your campaigns to specific customer groups based on factors such as demographics, purchase history, and location;
• Advanced API integration that allows businesses to connect the software with other marketing tools and e-commerce platforms. 

📌 Limitations: Has a steep learning curve and may require significant technical expertise to facilitate the entire process effectively; users report that customer support can be slow to respond, which can be frustrating when issues arise; integrations with other business tools require development resources.

⚡ Free trial without demo: Limited time free trial for developers

4. Affise

🎯 Review scores:

• Capterra Rating – 4.6
• G2 Rating – 4.6
• Software Advice Rating – 4.55
• Google Rating – N/A 

💰 Pricing range: $500 – $1500

✅ Description: Affise is a performance marketing platform and referral program software that offers solutions for managing and optimizing referral marketing campaigns. Affise has a range of features including customizable dashboards, real-time reporting, and an open API. Affise also integrates with a wide range of third-party services and platforms, making it a versatile and scalable solution for businesses of all sizes. 

🔥 Most popular features: 

• Flexible commission management system;
• Advanced targeting and tracking capabilities, customizable dashboards, and real-time reporting. 

📌 Limitations: Steep learning curve due to its extensive feature set, limited customer support options outside of business hours, occasional technical glitches or bugs, and the need for manual adjustments to ensure accurate tracking and reporting. Some users have also noted that the software’s user interface could be more intuitive and streamlined.

⚡Free trial without demo: No

5. InviteReferrals

🎯 Review scores:

• Capterra Rating – 4.9 
• G2 Rating – 4.5
• Software Advice Rating – 4.94
• Google Rating – 4.0 

💰 Pricing range: Starting from $99 / month

✅ Description: With InviteReferrals, businesses can create customizable referral campaigns that reward existing customers for referring their friends and family. The referral program software also provides analytics and reporting tracking the success of campaigns and optimizing them for better results. Additionally, InviteReferrals offers integrations with popular tools like Shopify, Magento, and WooCommerce to make it easy for businesses to implement referrals on their e-commerce sites. The referral marketing software has a user-friendly interface, making it simple for businesses of any size to set up and run a successful referral program.

🔥 Most popular features: 

• Supports multiple languages, making it accessible to businesses operating in different regions;
• Integrates with many popular e-commerce platforms, including Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and more.

📌 Limitations: Setting up campaigns in InviteReferrals may be complex and require technical expertise; some users have reported that InviteReferrals’ campaign types may not offer enough flexibility to meet their specific needs; lower-tier plans of InviteReferrals may not offer all the features they need for their referral program.

⚡ Free trial without demo: Yes

6. Extole

🎯 Review scores:

• Capterra Rating – 4.7 
• G2 Rating – 4.8 
• Software Advice Rating – 4.73
• Google Rating – 3.7

💰 Pricing range: Starting from $3000.00 / month

✅ Description: Extole aims to help businesses acquire new customers and increase sales through word-of-mouth marketing. The referral tool offers a range of features, such as customizable referral campaigns, A/B testing, advanced analytics, referral tracking, and personalized incentives. The platform integrates with various marketing tools and allows businesses to track and measure the success of their referral programs. Extole also offers comprehensive reporting and provides insights into customer behavior, engagement rates, and referral sources. 

🔥 Most popular features: 

• A/B testing, which allows users to test different referral program variations to identify the most effective design and incentive options; 
• Enterprise-grade security.

📌 Limitations: Users have mentioned that the customization options require some technical knowledge, which could be a limitation for non-technical users; few integrations, especially with CRMs; limited integration options with third-party platforms and tools

⚡ Free trial without demo: No

7. Growsurf

🎯 Review scores:

• Capterra Rating – 4.7 
• G2 Rating – 4.1
• Software Advice Rating – 4.67
• Google Rating – N/A 

💰 Pricing range: Starting at $775 / month

✅ Description: Designed primarily for e-commerce companies, GrowSurf offers a range of customizable referral program templates and campaign management tools, as well as features like automatic fraud detection and built-in email notifications. GrowSurf integrates with popular e-commerce platforms and other marketing tools, making it easy to set up and launch a referral campaign. 

🔥 Most popular features: 

• Customizable referral program templates;
• Automatic fraud detection and built-in email notifications.

📌 Limitations: Limited customization options; reporting features could be improved; expensive refer a friend tool in comparison to competitors that serve tech companies

⚡ Free trial without demo: Yes (14-day free trial)

8. ReferralCandy

🎯 Review scores:

• Capterra Rating – 4.5 
• G2 Rating – 4.4 
• Software Advice Rating – 4.53
• Google Rating – N/A

💰 Pricing range: Starting from $47 / month, billed annually, as well as a 3.5% commission fee

✅ Description: ReferralCandy is a cloud-based referral marketing platform designed to help e-commerce businesses increase customer acquisition and retention through referral marketing campaigns. The software enables businesses to create and launch customizable campaigns, track the performance of these campaigns, and incentivize customers to refer their friends and family. Referral Candy supports a range of referral reward options, including cash, discounts, and exclusive content. The platform integrates with a variety of e-commerce and marketing tools, including Shopify, WooCommerce, and Mailchimp, making it easy to set up and manage different referral campaigns. They also offer great customer service. You can establish affiliate programs as well. Customer support provides timely and extensive help. 

🔥 Most popular features: 

• Subscription app integration with ReCharge;
• PayWhirl and Bold make this platform a powerful marketing tool. 

📌 Limitations: Limited customization options for referral program design; limited support for non-e-commerce businesses; integrates mostly with e-commerce platforms. 

⚡ Free trial without demo: Yes (14-day free trial)

9. Mention Me

🎯 Review scores:

• Capterra Rating – 4.6
• G2 Rating – 4.3
• Software Advice Rating – 4.60
• Google Rating – 3.5 

💰 Pricing range: Custom pricing

✅ Description: Described as advanced referral engineering for your e-commerce business, Mention Me offers a host of data-driven referral program software to help you grow your Shopify or Magento store. Mention Me powers referral & customer retention marketing for 400+ e-commerce brands worldwide, including Farfetch, Ted Baker, and Charlotte Tilbury. The platform offers a fully customisable customer journey with a choice of 20 languages, 15 reward types, and 16 sharing methods, including a unique name-share feature.

🔥 Most popular features: 

• A/B testing functionality that allows businesses to test different elements of their referral program, such as messaging, incentives, and referral channels; 
• Fraud detection tools that help prevent fraudulent activity and protect businesses from fake referrals.

📌 Limitations: Lacks integration options with other software tools, which can make it difficult to integrate with existing workflow; the setup process can be complicated and time-consuming because of all the customisation options.

⚡ Free trial without demo: No

10. Ambassador

🎯 Review scores:

• Capterra Rating – 4.1 
• G2 Rating – 4.4 
• Software Advice – 4.12
• Google Rating – 5.0 

💰 Pricing range: Starting at $1000 / month

✅ Description: Ambassador is one of the top referral tools that provides businesses with equipment for managing their campaigns, tracking referrals, and rewarding customers for successful referrals. The software allows businesses to create a customized referral program that aligns with their unique goals and needs. Additionally, Ambassador integrates with popular e-commerce platforms and marketing tools, streamlining the setup and launch of a referral program. 

🔥 Most popular features:

• Integration with e-commerce platforms Shopify, Magento, and WooCommerce; 
• Integration with popular email marketing tools such as Mailchimp and Constant Contact, making it easy to send referral program-related emails and communications to customers. 

📌 Limitations: Lack of flexibility in terms of designing and customizing referral program workflows; some users find that it takes time to get familiar with the platform and its features, especially for those with no prior experience in referrals; on the expensive side compared to other referral marketing solutions, especially for small businesses with limited marketing budgets.

⚡ Free trial without demo: No

11. Friend Buy

🎯 Review scores:

• Capterra Rating – 4.2
• G2 Rating – 4.4
• Software Advice – 4.20
• Google Rating – N/A 

💰 Pricing range: Starting at $249 / month

✅ Description: Referral software that helps businesses create and manage campaigns. FriendBuy’s website highlights the ease of use, flexibility, and powerful analytics of the platform. Referral programs can be integrated into a business’s website or app, and they provide tools for tracking referrals, analyzing data, and optimizing the program’s performance. The software supports integration with several popular eCommerce platforms, including Shopify, Magento, and WooCommerce, and enables businesses to track referrals across multiple devices and platforms.

🔥 Most popular features:

• 10+ integrations to marketing tools and e-commerce stores;
• Automated A/B testing; 
• Built-in detection system to prevent fraudulent referrals and ensure fairness in your campaigns.

📌 Limitations: Limited integrations with CRMS; inflexible customization; complex and time-consuming setup.

⚡ Free trial without demo: No

12. Referral Rock

🎯 Review scores: 

• Capterra Rating – 4.5 
• G2 Rating – 4.0 
• Software Advice Rating – 4.52
• Google Rating – 4.0 

💰 Pricing range: $200 to $800

✅ Description: Referral Rock is a cloud-based referral solution that helps businesses of all sizes design, launch, and manage their referral programs. The referral program software offers a variety of features, including a customizable dashboard, email automation, reward fulfillment, and analytics. Referral Rock provides customers with tools to manage all aspects of their referral program, from designing the program to tracking customer engagement and reward fulfillment. Referral Rock integrates with other marketing tools and e-commerce platforms, making it easy to set up and launch a referral campaign. Overall, it makes a great referral system, capable of managing different campaigns. 

🔥 Most popular features:

• Automation of the reward process for referrals, ensuring that customers receive their incentives quickly and easily;
• Integrates with a variety of popular marketing and e-commerce platforms, such as Shopify and Mailchimp;
• Detailed analytics on referral program performance.

📌 Limitations: Email templates are limited in terms of customization options; platform UI can be difficult to navigate without a success managers’ help.

⚡ Free trial without demo: Yes (15-day free trial)

13. Refersion

🎯 Review scores:

• Capterra Rating – 4.2 
• G2 Rating – 3.4 
• Software Advice – 4.22
• Google Rating – 3.4

💰 Pricing range: Starting from $119 / month

✅ Description: With Refersion, businesses can create personalized referral links for their customers to share and incentivize them with rewards for each successful referral. This is a way to boost new customer acquisition. The platform offers robust reporting and analytics to help businesses track their referral program’s success and make data-driven decisions to optimize their campaigns. Additionally, Refersion integrates with a variety of popular e-commerce platforms and tools, making it easy to set up and manage referral programs alongside existing sales and marketing efforts. Refersion has a simple integration process that allows businesses to get started with affiliate marketing quickly. It offers integration with various platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce, and Amazon. Affiliate marketers can use this software to boost their efforts. 

🔥 Most popular features: 

• The ability to create customizable affiliate portals that allow them to create unique pages for their affiliates, providing proper partner management; 
• Advanced commissioning options, such as commission tiers and rate schedules. 

📌 Limitations: Refersion’s customization options are limited compared to some of its competitors, which can make it difficult for businesses to create a unique affiliate program; some users have reported difficulty in setting up certain features, such as conversion tracking.

⚡ Free trial without demo: Yes (14-day free trial)

14. Viral Loops

🎯 Review scores:

• Capterra Rating – 4.5
• G2 Rating – 3.5 
• Software Advice – N/A
• Google Rating – 1.0

💰 Pricing range: $35 to $399

✅ Description: Viral Loops is a cloud-based referral marketing software designed for businesses to launch and manage referral, affiliate, and loyalty programs. The software offers pre-built templates and drag-and-drop editors to create personalized referral campaigns with a variety of reward options, such as cash, discounts, and free products. Viral Loops also integrates with popular e-commerce platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce, as well as marketing automation tools such as Zapier and Mailchimp. 

🔥 Most popular features: 

• Simple interface; 
• Templates based on integrations; 
• Ability to create customizable referral rewards, which can help incentivize customers to refer others.

📌 Limitations: Limited customization options compared to other referral marketing software; reporting features are also limited, making it difficult to get detailed analytics on the success of a referral campaign.

⚡ Free trial without demo: Yes (14-day free trial)

Feature Comparison Of The Top Referral Program Software

Below, we’ve charted the features of this referral program software to help you compare platforms based on the features you need to build and launch your referral program. The features listed in the table below showcase what you get on the ENTRY LEVEL plan of each of these tools. It is only for you to decide which one is the best referral program software for your goals. 

If you’re looking to supercharge your growth and get more customers, then launching a referral program could be the most valuable form of marketing you try this year. Using referral program software can make it easy to create and manage your own referral program – no coding required, and no experience needed. Check if there is fraud prevention to ensure that no one can game the system.

60% of marketers say that referral programs generate a high volume of leads into their pipeline

Forbes – Why Referrals Are The Most Valuable Form Of Marketing (And How To Get More)

With referral program software, you can easily create a variety of different campaigns to suit your business’s needs. In the past, businesses had to design and code their referral program from scratch, often meaning it took weeks or months to get up and running.

Fast-forward to 2024, and you can now get your referral program up and running in just a few days!

You can use referral program software to build many types of campaigns…

5 Types Of Referral Programs You Can Build Using Referral Tools

There are many different types of referral programs to choose from when launching your customer referral program. Based on data collected from over 1000 referral marketing campaigns run in 2023, the double-sided referral program is most likely to drive results.

This is because both parties participating in your referral program will be rewarded, which makes the person referring more comfortable to share their referral program links with friends, and the person invited is more likely to accept their friend’s offer because they will be rewarded for taking action, too. 

1. Double-Sided Referral Program 👇

As its name suggests, a two-sided or double-sided referral program rewards both existing customers and newly referred customers. These are the most popular types of referral programs because they provide extra motivation for both parties to complete the desired action. 

The person referring gets a reward, and they get the opportunity to offer their friend a special deal. The person invited gets a special offer from their friend to accept, giving them more motivation to take action right now. It is not complex to build and often requires just proper software and a landing page. Besides, word-of-mouth marketing works better, when there is a reward for those who try the product. 

2. Single-Sided Referral Programs 👇

In a one-sided or single sided referral program – only one of the participants gets rewarded. This could be the person referring or the person invited.

3. Refer To Win Competitions 👇

This is a competition-style referral program where people can refer their friends for entry into a competition. The more they refer, the higher their chances of winning. This type of campaign is particularly popular in the crypto industry and for e-commerce stores, and often offer coupon codes.

4. Tiered (Milestone) Referral Programs 👇

In a tiered referral program, customers are incentivized to refer multiple people for various different rewards. The more referrals they make, the greater the reward they receive.

These programs have often been criticized for being more complicated for businesses to manage and more difficult for users to understand. In comparison to a simple landing page where both parties get rewarded, this one will include a lot of “ifs”.

So, we typically suggest avoiding a tiered structure in your referral program – keeping it simple is often a better solution for everyone involved. One referral = one reward. The best customers will bring you more loyal clients. The good thing is that they can use social media sharing. This is word-of-mouth marketing at its best.

5. Influencer Referral Programs 👇

While this blog post is largely referring to customer referral programs, it’s important to note that you can also use the same software for influencer tracking. It could be done in the same plug-and-play program.

Influencers register to get a unique referral link to share with their followers (just like your customers), and they receive a commission for every sale made through their link. Your referral software should be able to effectively track how many referrals each influencer generates and how many of those referrals convert. You can also try to start brand ambassador programs – those are flexible campaigns with custom rewards.

Can I Use Referral Tools To Run My Partner Program?

Yes, you can use referral software to run your partner program. Partner programs are similar to referral programs in that they incentivize non-competing businesses to refer new customers to your business.

Most companies don’t realize that they can use the same referral marketing tools they use to manage their referral program, to also manage their referral partners. 

This is because the main goals are the same:

👉 Create referral links for your promoters (this could be your customers or your partners)

👉 Ask these people to refer and generate new referred leads (from your customers or partners)

👉 Track which of those referred leads convert

👉 Reward the customer or partner for that successful referral

👉 Provide referral analytics to track the success of your program

Your referral tool really will pay for itself if you use it to run your referral program, your influencer referral program, your employee referral program, and even your partner program. It goes without saying that your best customers will be there too. 

Some customer referral software even includes features specifically designed for partner programs, such as joint marketing materials, customizable landing pages, cash payouts, and the ability to send your new referred deals straight into your pre-existing deal pipeline on your CRM.

What Factors Should I Consider When Choosing A Referral Tool?

With the help of powerful referral marketing software, managing your referral program becomes easier and more efficient. Every business may have different marketing needs, but there are certain features that all the proper referral program software offers.

When choosing your software, make sure it offers all the below features as minimum requirements:

1. Simple To Use

The referral software you choose should be easy to use, even if you don’t have technical experience, and work well to track new customers. 

Out of the box and without writing any code, you should be able to create a referral program (either from a template or from scratch), email your customers to ask them to refer, set up your tracking to monitor your referrals, and offer your users a simple way to track their own referrals. All these elements are standard for any customer referral program, so make sure the solution you choose ensures they are simple to do.

2. 100% Customizable (So Your Program Looks And Feels On Brand)

The referral software you choose should be easy to use, even if you don’t have technical experience, and work well to track new customers. A refer-a-friend program, by its nature, should be simple, as should the way of handling it. 

Out of the box and without writing any code, you should be able to create a referral program (either from a template or from scratch), email your customers to ask them to refer, set up tracking to monitor your referrals and offer your users a simple way to track their own referrals.

All these elements are standard for any referral program, so make sure the solution you choose makes them simple to do. Plus, read reviews about their customer support because it is another aspect that has to be straightforward.

3. An Easy Way For Your Customers To Register To Refer (Or Be Automatically Added To Tour Referral Program)

You want to find referral software that is not only easy for you to use, but also easy for your customers to use. Just a few clicks, no more.

They should be able to generate their referral links by joining your referral program, or you should be able to generate your customers’ referral links for them.

See below how this contact record in HubSpot has a referral link attached.

Your customers should also be able to track their own referrals in an easy way – users DO NOT want to have to create passwords to see how many of their referrals have been successful, so avoid using referral software that forces users to create accounts and passwords to track the success of their efforts.

4. Deep Referral Analytics

It’s impossible to grow and optimize your referral program if you aren’t tracking key performance indicators in detail. It is impossible to grow customer loyalty, if you don’t understand your current performance. 

You’ll need to be able to see the following data on an analytics dashboard: how many referrals you’ve received, which referrals converted, the average conversion rate of your referrals, a leaderboard of your top referrers, a graph showing how many referrals you’re generating daily, and which social and direct messaging channels your customers are using to refer their friends. You also have to see how many loyalty points your customers have (if you have established a loyalty program).

5. A Variety Of Reward Options

The rewards you’ll offer your customers for referring friends depend entirely on what they would find valuable.

Some popular options include store discounts, free products or services, gift cards, cash, or swag. Make sure your referral marketing software allows you to offer a variety of rewards — including the option to issue your own (aka custom reward options) — because your journey with referrals will more than likely grow, so having access to many rewards and incentive options is crucial, even if at the moment you don’t plan to use custom gifts.

If you’re unsure what value to make your reward, then read our guide on calculating the value of a reward here.

6. Integration With Other Tools

Integrations are so important that we’ve included an in-depth guide on this towards the end of this blog post. Spoiler alert: it helps you not only to ensure the referral sales, but also to handle the entire referral system much easier. 

By integrating your referral software with your marketing tech stack, you can enhance the referral program’s impact and lower the amount of manual work required to manage your referral program. In the end, you will have a set of powerful, highly efficient referral program software. 

The main reasons you’d want to integrate your referral program into tools like your CRM is so that you can easily generate referral links for your contacts (using a sync), and also so that you can send your new referred leads into the workflows you already use.

CRM integrations also allow you to qualify the referred leads that convert automatically based on actions that happen in your CRM. In addition, you may enable post-purchase popups, landing pages, and referral widgets to grab attention.

Do Referral Marketing Tools Integrate With Other Marketing Software Like CRMs?

Yes, the best referral program software can work with other marketing / automation tools.

In fact, the integration of referral software with marketing tools can boost the effectiveness of your referral program, and ensure the management of your referral program is largely automated. Multiple integrations are non-negotiable to great referral program software. 

Proper referral marketing solutions help you tap into the power of your existing customer base to refer their friends and family members to your business. It also tracks the referral process from start to finish, assigns rewards to successful referrers, and provides valuable analytics on your referral program’s success metrics. Your own referral program will be literally on the next level with a proper solution. No matter if it’s SaaS businesses, e-commerce companies, on-demand businesses, etc.

On the other hand, marketing tools and CRMs automate and streamline various digital tasks such as storing your current customer’s data, lead capturing, lead nurturing, tracking lead conversion, email marketing, social media promotion, and more.

By integrating your referral software with your marketing tech stack, you can enhance the referral program’s impact and lower the amount of manual work required to manage your referral program.

For instance, your referral software can be linked to your CRM so that you can automatically generate referral links for all or some of your customers.

This means customers’ referral links are easy for anyone in your business to access, whether it’s a salesperson manually asking for a referral or a marketing manager including each customer’s referral link in an email marketing campaign.

Another reason why it’s important to integrate your referral software with your existing marketing tools is to ensure that your new referred leads go into the same workflows you already use.

When referral software is integrated with your pre-existing workflows, it allows for a streamlined process that saves you time and effort. This is because your new referred leads flow directly into the funnels you already have set up.

The best referral marketing software can also be integrated with social media platforms, allowing customers to share their referral links and promote the business on social media and direct messaging channels – like Whats App, Telegram, Text, and more.

Moreover, the most effective referral software can provide valuable customer data that can be synced to your internal systems. By integrating your referral program with your CRM, you can:

✅ Access all customers’ links in one click

✅ See how many referrals and converted referrals each customer has generated (from inside your CRM)

✅ Send all your new referred leads directly into your CRM

✅ Track those referred leads through your sales cycle so you can see when they convert

✅ Automatically issue rewards to the customers that refer new business your way

When choosing your tool, look for features that integrate seamlessly with other marketing tools like HubSpot, Intercom, Zoho, Pipedrive, Salesforce, Zapier, Mailchimp, and more.

By doing so, you’ll save yourself a ton of time managing your referral process – as most of it can be automated in just a few clicks.

NOTE: If you use a custom-built CRM in your business or an industry-specific CRM that doesn’t have many integrations – then you’ll want to choose referral software that offers webhooks, an API, or Zapier integrations.

Often you can achieve the same automation results by connecting your referral program to your internal systems through methods like these.

To sum up, integrating your referral tool with your other marketing and automation tools is essential for any business looking to grow its customer base through referrals.

By sending your referred leads into the same funnels as your other marketing efforts, tracking the conversions of referred leads, and generating unique referral links for customers, businesses can do more with fewer resources. This is especially useful for smaller and local businesses.

Automation can help your business streamline your customer acquisition and retention strategies, improve your targeting efforts, and make more data-driven decisions.

In the next section, I’ll show you an example of an integration with referral software – using HubSpot and Referral Factory.

Example Of A Referral Software Integration (Using HubSpot)

The best referral software is designed to integrate with other tools – so we wanted to show you how that works and why it’s important. To do that, we’ve used HubSpot + Referral Factory. Together they make a perfect referral tool. 

The integration process should be quick and easy – just a few minutes, no more, –  and once complete, your referral software should automatically sync with HubSpot (or any CRM). This will automate generating referral links for your contacts and also ensure that your referred leads are seamlessly incorporated into your marketing workflows.

To integrate Referral Factory with HubSpot, these are the steps you would follow:

1. Build your referral program in Referral Factory 

2. Navigate to the “Integration” section in the builder

3. Click on the “HubSpot” integration and follow the on-screen instructions to authorize the integration

4. Go into the referral campaign you want to integrate, navigate to the ‘integration’ step in your campaign builder, and set up your integration rules that let you send new referred users directly into HubSpot, and automatically qualify them when they convert.

5. Once the integration is set up, Referral Factory and HubSpot will automatically sync customer and lead data, ensuring that referred leads are added to your HubSpot database in real time.

6. From there, you can sync your HubSpot contacts or leads (either all or a specific list), so that you can sync each contact’s referral link back into HubSpot.

By finding the most efficient referral software tools, you can set up your referral program quickly, offer a wide range of rewards and incentives, integrate your referral program with other tools, and track the success of your program with detailed analytics.

Whether you choose a double-sided referral program, single-sided referral program, or a refer-to-win competition, it’s important to make sure that the referral software you choose offers all the features you need to leverage the power of customer referrals.

If you’d like to learn more about referral marketing in general, you can read our full guide on the topic here 👉 Referral Marketing 101.