4 Successfully SaaS-y Businesses that are Using Referral Programs

•  Referral  programs  spread  the  word  and  grow  your  business  inexpensively  

•  Referral  programs  obtain  high  customer  acquisi;ons  by  capitalizing  on  the  trust  of  already  formed  rela;onships

•  Referral  programs  avoid  high  churn  rates  by  obtaining  quality  customers  from  referrals

Why SaaS businesses rely on referral programs for success?

4 Successful SaaS Businesses with Referral Programs

Why Uber’s Referral Program Succeeded

•  Uber  understood  the  frustra;on  the  public  had  with  inadequate  taxi  services

•  Uber  got  their  first  customers  through  sponsorship  of  events  by  providing  free  rides  to  a?endees  with  the  inten;on  of  capitalizing  on  the  happy  customer’s  experience

•  Uber  offered  double  incen;ves  with  $20  for  making  a  referral  and  $20  to  the  referral

•  95%  of  all  users  heard  about  Uber  through  a  referral

•  The  San  Francisco  division  

con;nues  to  grow  3x  per  year •  The  New  York  division  con;nues  

to  grow  4x  per  year •  The  London  division  con;nue  to  

grow  5X  –  6X  per  year

Uber’s Results

Why Dropbox didn’t use traditional marketing

•  The  consumer  environment  was  hos;le  with  a  great  number  of  compe;tors

•  Adver;sing  was  too  expensive  and  ineffec;ve

Why Dropbox’s Referral Program Succeeded

•  Dropbox  offered  double  incen;ves  to  advocates  and  referrals

•  500mb  was  given  upon  a  successful  referral  signup

•  Referring  was  made  easy  through  email,  social  media,  and  URLs  

Dropbox’s Results •  Signups  grew  from  100  thousand  

to  4  million  in  just  15  months  from  the  referral  program

•  The  increase  in  referrals  equals  a  3900%  growth

•  The  referral  program  permanently  increased  signup  by  60%  

Why Airbnb’s Referral Program Succeeded

•  Airbnb  offers  double  incen;ves  with  $25  travel  credit  to  the  advocate  and  referral  upon  comple;on  of  the  referrals  first  trip.

•  Hosts  also  have  a  chance  to  par;cipate  with  double  incen;ves  of  $75  travel  credit  for  the  advocate  and  the  referral  upon  comple;on  of  hos;ng  their  first  visitor

•  Airbnb  made  it  easier  for  advocates  to  refer  with  social  sharing  and  personalized  URLs

•  Airbnb  acknowledge  the  necessity  of  referral  tracking  and  a/b  tes;ng  to  op;mize  the  referral  program

Airbnb’s Results

•  Signups  and  bookings  increased  by  300%  per  day

•  Referrals  delivered  900%  year-­‐on-­‐year  growth  for  1st  ;me  bookings

Why FreeAgent’s Referral Program Succeeded

•  Free  Agent  offers  double  incen;ves  with  10%  off  the  monthly  subscrip;on  perpetually  for  advocates  and  referrals

•  10%  con;nues  to  be  taken  off  perpetually  for  advocates  with  each  referral  as  long  as  the  subscrip;on  lasts

  •  If  the  advocate  refers  10  las;ng  referral  subscrip;on  they  can  achieve  100%  off  their  subscrip;on

  •  Sharing  methods  were  made  easy   •  The  referral  program  naturally  created  virality  

FreeAgent’s Results

•  FreeAgent  saw  a  60-­‐70%  increase  in  conversions  for  trialists  that  are  referred  

•  They  saw  a  great  increase  in  people’s  willingness  to  share

•  FreeAgent  was  successful  when  star;ng  out  but  a  referral  program  increased  their  numbers  drama;cally

Take Away One  of  the  surest  ways  to  succeed  in  demand  genera;on  is  to  never  become  complacent  with  your  results.  These  four  SaaS  companies  prove  that  whether  tradi;onal  methods  of  marke;ng  are  failing  you  or  you’re  looking  to  increase  your  already  growing  customer  base,  referral  programs  deliver  amazing  results.  By  honing  in  on  your  happy  customers  and  capitalizing  on  their  previously  formed  rela;onships  you’ll  capture  not  only  a  greater  quan;ty  of  quality  leads,  but  also  bypass  the  main  challenges  SaaS  companies  are  up  against.  

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