I keep hearing a common fallacy of 'if I give users $5 to refer a friend' = viral growth. We're looking to add an invite a friend feature to our learning app and I'm looking for best resources and feedback on it.
Here's how we're thinking about it:
- Set goals for what would be a successful referral program (measuring viral coefficient, CAC & absolute numbers to see if this will be meaningful for us)
- Focusing on a cohort of our power users
- Diagnosed the customer needs that a referral program could address & the JTBD, for example: Money ("Gain seeking" or "Generosity" are two emotions that correlate), Utility ("Learn with a friend" or "compete vs someone").
- Building specific flows/features that will address different needs to test which resonate the most.
What do you think? What have you seen work? What does a successful referral program look like - do you measure CPI? CAC?