This is ReferralHero. We’re the Bounty of Referrals - we’ll be your Quicker, Picker, Upper.
In this case study, we review how Cheese Therapy was able to build a contest that generated 4000+ subscribers in 7 days and how you can do the same!
Let's get started...
Contest Program Overview
At Cheese Therapy, the team is on a mission to give Australians greater access to great cheese produced by Australia's small artisan makers and at the same time, helping to support Australia's struggling dairy industry & regional communities.
As a customer acquisition strategy, Cheese Therapy decided to run a time-bound contest referral program. They asked their current customers to share Cheese Therapy with a friend (or create a ‘cheesy match’) for a chance to win some cheesy prizes!
Contest Program Rewards
Cheese Therapy decided on a gamified reward structure. The participant with the most referrals is awarded a high-value reward and all other participants are given awards at random. This is a great way to create super-advocates for your brand by appealing to customers’ competitive sides.
Cheese Therapy contest campaign incentivizes the top referrer with a 1-Year supply of their best-selling Therapy Box, valued at $1,139.00, delivered every month for 12 months! This encourages participants to go out of their way to try and earn the top prize and in turn be a spokesperson for the brand.
Besides the grand prize, Cheese Therapy also rewards a randomly selected winner with a prize worth $50.00 every day!
Contest Participant Flow
Referrers and referrals engaged with the contest on a single landing page.
Step 1
Users visit the landing page where the ReferralHero Widget is embedded. They need to provide their first name and email address in order to opt into the contest campaign.
The best thing about Cheese Therapy’s contest landing page is its referral message which shows value – and is short and to the point. People aren't looking to know everything about your brand at this point. Rather, giving them a taste of the benefits and value you offer should persuade them enough to follow through with the action you want them to do.
Step 2
The ReferralHero Sharing Screen is immediately shown after the form is submitted.
Step 3
Participants may now invite other people to sign up by sharing their unique referral link via Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, or email.
Step 4
Participants receive the following Welcome email after they are added to the contest campaign.
Cheese Therapy’s welcome email is highly converting -it includes all the critical elements of the contest campaign,
- Participants are reminded of the contest grand prize, the 1-year supply of products valued at $1,139.00
- A button that links to the contest landing page where participants can check their current ranking and the contest terms
- Cheese Therapy creates a sense of urgency by stating that the contest may end sooner than advertised. Participants are urged to get as many referrals in as they possibly can for the best chance to win the contest
- “We’ll keep you posted via email and facebook!” is included in the email copy to remind participants to regularly check Facebook for updates
- The added bonus is, participants are sent a promo code for a $20.00 discount on orders placed before the redemption date
Step 5
Friends are referred back to the same website landing page and prompted to enter the contest and repeat the process. Creating a viral referral loop.
Step 6
The referrer gets credit every time a friend signs up, increasing their referral count by one. The more friends they refer the higher on the list they’ll go.
Contest Program Launch
Cheese Therapy publicly announced the launch of the contest campaign on Sept 13, 2022, on Facebook, which is the platform they found resonates most with their intended audience.
The campaign launch post which included an image of the grand prize helped build initial buzz with over 100 likes and 140+ comments generated. It also encouraged people who are not their customers (yet) to join the contest.
The post linked people straight to the contest landing page.
Contest Results
On the day of the first public social media announcement on Sept 13, 2022
- Number of subscribers: 2022
- Number of referrals: 332
Results after one week on Sept 20, 2022
- Number of subscribers: 3957
- Number of referrals: 929
- Referral rate: 8.7% (343 subscribers have referred more than 1 person/total 3957 subscribers)
- Referral growth: 30.7% (929/(3957-929))
All time results as of campaign end date Oct 29, 2002
- Number of subscribers: 5498
- Number of referrals: 1517
- Referral rate: 7.8% (431/5496)
- Referral growth: 38.1% (1517/3981)
Their referral links were also shared more than 2.5K times, driving more product and brand awareness.
At the end of the day, the referral contest had a pretty cheesy outcome for Cheese Therapy. They have now been able to unlock viral growth for their business, and their success is not unusual.
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