How to Use Referral Codes in Your Affiliate Marketing Program

Referral codes are crucial, as you probably already know if you manage an affiliate marketing business. It is possible to make sure that they are a reliable source of income for your company by becoming knowledgeable about best practices.

This is all the information you require to include referral codes into your Refersion affiliate marketing program plan.

How to Create a Referral Code for Your Program

generating a referral code for your program involves two steps: first, theoretically generating the code, and then, putting it to your affiliate marketing program.

Choose the kind of discount you want the code to be before anything else. Most businesses will provide a referral code along with a discount of 10% to 15%. The most popular format for these codes is the well-tried NAME10 or NAME15 technique.

It's best to adhere to the Refersion process guidance when adding the code to your affiliate marketing program. The coupon code must be created in Refersion, the corresponding affiliate must be chosen, and it must be configured in your online store. Refersion may send your promo codes to your store automatically if it is powered by Shopify or BigCommerce.

Implementing Referral Codes Into an Affiliate Program

You can implement referral codes either on a code-by-code basis or by uploading codes in bulk. That means it’s easy to create both a singular referral code that each affiliate uses regularly and limited-time codes and special affiliate codes.

Single code for each affiliate

If you want to create a single code that works for each affiliate, then follow the Refersion guide to allowing affiliates to suggest their own coupon codes. This guide allows potential affiliates to create their own coupon code when they apply to your affiliate program. When you approve them as an affiliate, the coupon will automatically populate within your Refersion account, and Shopify users can even have the coupon code populated automatically within the ecommerce store.

New codes and limited-time offers

If you’re looking to send out an email blast with a special limited-time offer for your affiliates, but you still want to track these limited-time referrals for each affiliate, then follow the guide to bulk-uploading conversion triggers. All you have to do is populate a spreadsheet with your affiliates and their unique limited-time codes. Upload that CSV file to create a massive number of referral codes at once. 

Best Practices for Using Referral Codes

Now that you know how to implement referral codes into your affiliate marketing program, how can you make sure you’re getting the best return on your investment? Here are four tips that can help you use referral codes more effectively.

Tailor your preferences for each affiliate

First of all, it’s best to make sure you’re using the right option for each individual affiliate. Some affiliates may have a better return with referral codes, while some might use referral links more effectively. Oftentimes, this has to do with the exact type of content they’re publishing. Keep an eye on what works best for different affiliates, then send out coupon codes and affiliate links as applicable.

Allow affiliates to personalize their coupon codes

Personalized coupon codes carry a special touch for each affiliate. Not only are personalized referral codes easier for your affiliates to remember, but they also remind each affiliate that you have an actual connection with them. It can help you develop a real relationship with your affiliates, which can be a critical component of building long-term affiliate relationships.

Always stay in touch with affiliates regarding coupon codes

The more you talk to your affiliates about their coupon codes, the more likely they’ll be to send them out to people. Remind affiliates about these codes in email newsletters, solicit active responses about your codes and how well they’re working, and always send out email information every time you release any limited-edition codes. Your affiliates may not use these codes if you don’t remind them to.

Give your affiliates a head start by suggesting code uses

Ultimately, just like in many other aspects of your affiliate program, you want to make it as simple as possible for your affiliates to participate. You may help your affiliates use codes more often by providing them with suggestions, which benefits both of you. Provide suggestions such as writing material where they're using your product, making social media postings with the referral link, or writing a "Pros and Cons" kind of piece. These are all excellent strategies to direct visitors toward you.

Using referral codes to generate new opportunities for your affiliate marketing business to expand through various forms of referral traffic can be a great strategy. You can easily monitor the traffic originating from both links and codes with Refersion.

You may also provide additional referral codes to affiliates that perform the best job of driving visitors to your website by using that tracking data. To more successfully establish this new opportunity, sign up now.