Referral Program Overview
Pitch is an innovative marketplace that offers creators a way to connect and monetize their audiences in a simple and flexible way. It's designed for creators of all types, from musicians and artists to writers and beyond. With Pitch, creators can build a loyal fan base and generate sustainable revenue streams, unlocking the true potential of their audience.
Jesus Molina, a talented Jazz Pianist, Singer, and Saxophonist from Colombia, is one of the many creators featured on Pitch. With fans all over the world, Jesus wants to play in places where there is high demand for his music. Using Pitch, he can request his fans' location through a simple web form and choose where to play next.
Pitch's referral program has been effective in generating new leads for Jesus. While text alert lists or newsletters may not be enough to generate new leads, the referral program incentivizes fans to refer their friends and contacts to Jesus' shows. The program offers up to 20% off tickets and an exclusive meet-n-greet to fans who refer their friends. The referral program was particularly effective in identifying new fan hot spots, as some locations generated a higher percentage of referrals.
“The referral program unlocked this little pocket of energy in Bucharest that we didn't know existed. That's a really big positive value for Jesus.” -Greg Spero, Founder/CEO of Pitch
Let’s take a look at how Pitch nails referral marketing by repeating the same referral program setup for every creator on their marketplace.
Referral Program Rewards
Pitch recognizes that the success of a referral program depends on providing effective incentives for the referrer. Properly designed incentives can create a ripple effect that drives exponential growth. That's why Pitch's referral program for Jesus Molina's campaign offers fans compelling rewards for referring their friends to his shows.
5% Off Ticket Price Upon Booking Confirmation for referring 5 friends
10% Off Ticket Price Upon Booking Confirmation for referring 10 friends
20% Off Ticket Price & Access to Meet & Greet Upon Booking Confirmation for referring 20 friends
The rewards offered through Pitch's referral program for Jesus' campaign can be analyzed in terms of several key business ratios, including CAC (customer acquisition cost) and LTV (customer lifetime value).
By incentivizing fans to refer their friends to Jesus' shows, Pitch is effectively lowering the CAC associated with acquiring new customers. Since the cost of acquiring new customers through word-of-mouth referrals is generally lower than through traditional marketing methods, such as paid advertising or cold calling, the referral program can help reduce the overall cost of acquiring new customers.
"Referrals essentially require no effort except for the cost of a discount ticket, but they also increase the sales of a ticket. So there's like an equation that says that the CAC of a referral is actually negative. It's benefiting more than it's costing in terms of net." -Greg Spero, Founder/CEO of Pitch
Moreover, by offering discounts and exclusive access to meet-and-greet sessions, Pitch is effectively increasing the LTV of Jesus' customers. By providing more value to customers, they are more likely to become repeat customers and continue to generate revenue for Jesus in the long run.
Referral Program Participant Flow
Pitch has prioritized a smooth and intuitive user experience for their referral program, ensuring that participants can easily navigate the process and reap the benefits. By making the signup process simple, Pitch reduces the likelihood of losing prospects at any stage of their marketing funnel. Becoming part of the referral program is a piece of cake, and users can start sharing their unique referral link with their friends in just a few clicks.
Step 1
Users visit the Jesus’s referral program landing page where they are greeted with a list of up to 100 locations to choose from. This allows users to vote for a location that is closest to them, making it more likely that they will attend the event and refer others to it. The list of locations is presented in a simple and easy-to-use format, making it easy for users to quickly find and select the location that is most convenient for them.
Step 2
After selecting a location, users are directed to a page with a message that provides more information about the referral program and the benefits they can receive by participating. At the bottom of the message, there is a call-to-action that prompts users to "submit my request" by entering their email address, to complete the signup process.
Step 3
After users submit their request, they will see a message saying "Request sent! Share with friends to receive perks like 20% off tickets & backstage access when this location is booked!" This message confirms that their request has been submitted successfully and encourages them to start referring friends to earn rewards.
Users are given their unique referral link on the page, which they can share with friends through various social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Messenger, and email. This makes it easy for users to spread the word and attract more referrals. The referral link is a personalized URL that tracks each referral made by the user, so they can earn rewards for each successful referral. Overall, Pitch's referral program has a smooth and user-friendly flow that makes it easy for users to participate and earn rewards.
Step 4
Users share their link on social platforms. This is how a share message looks on Whatsapp. Users can also edit the pre-populated message to personalize it and make it more compelling.
Step 5
The referred user clicks on the referral link shared by their referrer and is redirected to Jesus’ referral program landing page.
Step 6
The referrer gets credit every time a friend signs up, increasing their referral count by one.
Pitch's referral program has a smooth and user-friendly flow that makes it easy for users to participate and earn rewards. This participation flow is set up for every artist on the marketplace, creating a viral referral loop that can lead to exponential growth and revenue generation for both the company and the artist.
Pitch believes that providing clear and direct instructions and having the artist directly involved is crucial to running a successful referral campaign. From their experience, they have found that giving the artists a plan to execute is not as effective as sending them a text message with specific instructions. Therefore, clear communication and direct involvement are the most important aspects of running a successful referral campaign, according to Pitch.
Referral Program Launch
Pitch's referral program was unveiled on March 13, 2023 with an impressive promotional strategy. The company's ingenious approach involved leveraging their existing followers and tapping into one of their most substantial outlets - Instagram Stories. With an eye on making an impactful start, Pitch utilized Jesus’ massive Instagram following to promote the campaign. Without hesitation, all 100% of the traffic directed to the referral program launch was from Jesus' Instagram Stories, the biggest outlet available to the company.
“We're not actually spending any money on it in the first place. It's all in the time and cost of time. And we don't know what that time was worth in terms of like the artists posting on their Instagram.” -Greg Spero, Founder/CEO of Pitch
Once users signed up for the referral program, they received a personalized welcome email that contained their unique referral link. The email explained the details of the program, including the rewards and benefits available for each referral level.
The welcome email sent by Pitch for their referral program is highly effective because it includes all the critical elements of the program.
- Personalization: The email is addressed directly to the user who requested the performance in, for example, San Jose, creating a sense of personalization and making the user feel valued. This personalized approach is likely to increase the likelihood of the user engaging with the referral program
- Clear benefits: The email clearly outlines the benefits of participating in the referral program, which is presented in a concise and easy-to-read manner. This makes it clear what the user stands to gain from sharing their unique referral link with friends
- Social sharing options: The email provides clear instructions on how users can share their unique referral link on social media platforms. This makes it easy for users to spread the word about the referral program to their network of friends
- Call to action: The email ends with a clear call to action, encouraging users to start sharing their unique referral link and helping make the show a reality. This helps to create a sense of urgency and encourages users to take action immediately
Overall, the welcome email from Pitch includes all the critical elements of an effective referral program, which makes it highly effective in promoting user participation and driving growth for the company.
Referral Program Ongoing Promotion
ReferralHero Email automations
Pitch has a well-planned referral program that utilizes ReferralHero automation emails to maintain user engagement. ReferralHero automation emails are a set of automated emails triggered by user behavior to prompt users to take referral actions. These emails are designed to provide timely, relevant, and personalized information to users, and thereby, increase the likelihood of user engagement.
Pitch has integrated merge tags in the ReferralHero automation emails to personalize the user experience. Merge tags allow the automation email to display the user's referral link, the total number of referrals, and other relevant information unique to the user. This personalized approach not only makes the email more relevant to the user but also makes the user feel valued and recognized by the brand. This, in turn, can lead to increased user loyalty and higher engagement rates.
- Follow-up email
This email is sent 3 hours after the user signs up. It’s used to foster user engagement and remind them to share their referral link.
- First Referral Email
This is sent to the users when they refer their first friend.
- Referral Email
This is sent to the users for their subsequent referrals.
- Activation Email
This is sent to those who have not referred anybody for 5 days after they sign up.
- Milestone Email
This is sent when a subscriber refers 5 people.
- Reminder Email
This is sent to those who have not referred a friend in a while, i.e. 10 days after their last referral.
Referral Program Results
Pitch's referral program has been a success with a 25% increase in found engagement that essentially costs the company no time and very little money, as it only required a few discounts on tickets.
"Compared to other growth tactics, I see it as an augmented growth tactic. It's ancillary. I can't really compare it to having an artist do a shoutout on a different platform because that actually costs time, whereas this does not. It's essentially just adding found customers rather than effort-based customers." -Greg Spero, Founder/CEO of Pitch
On the day of the first announcement on Mar 13, 2023
- Number of subscribers: 20
- Number of referrals: 0
Results after one week on Mar 20, 2023
- Number of subscribers: 448
- Number of referrals: 142
- Referral rate: 2.9% (13 subscribers have referred more than 1 person/total 448 subscribers)
- Referral growth: 46.4% (142 referred subscribers/(448-142)organic subscribers)
Results after one month on Apr 13, 2023
- Number of subscribers: 707
- Number of referrals: 316
- Referral rate: 3.8%
- Referral growth: 80.8%
*80% growth rate is overstated as the artist, Jesus also used a referral link contributing ~55% of the referrals.
Their referral links were also shared more than 155 times, resulting in more brand awareness about the artist and marketplace.
By offering incentives for referrers to share upcoming shows with their friends, both creators and Pitch can reap the benefits of a mutually beneficial relationship. With each new friend referred to the marketplace, creators and Pitch can enjoy increased exposure, gain new followers, and attract potential customers. The referral program presents an excellent opportunity for creators to generate new sales through effective word-of-mouth marketing.
"If we can figure out how to make those few people really happy… and can 4x increase the effectiveness, then it turns into a viral campaign and that's when it goes crazy because you get a greater than 1.0 replication. So it actually grows organically." -Greg Spero, Founder/CEO of Pitch
Through this strategy, Pitch can assist Jesus and other creators in boosting their engagement and loyalty among fans, thereby propelling their music careers to greater heights.
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