# Referral viral loops Human Guide

## What This Is For
Word-of-mouth referral programs are one of the lowest-cost customer acquisition channels — referred customers have 37% higher retention rates and 25% higher LTV than non-referred customers. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for social content: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Referral viral loops agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for referral viral loops.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Referral viral loops guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- When CAC is high and word-of-mouth is underutilized
- When existing customers frequently refer friends informally but there is no structured program to track and reward it
- When needing to scale a referral program that has been running manually
- When wanting to calculate K-factor and optimize the program's viral coefficient
- Referrer reward: $10 store credit for every successful referral (paid after refund window)
- Referee reward (new customer): 15% off first order, no minimum
- Referrer reward only: $15 store credit
- Go to **ReferralCandy → Program → Rewards** and configure:
- Referrer reward: "$10 store credit" (or cash via PayPal)
- Referee reward: "15% off first order" (ReferralCandy creates a unique discount code per referral link)
- Go to **ReferralCandy → Program → Fraud Settings** and enable:
- Flag same-IP conversions for review

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Overview, When to Use This Skill, Core Instructions, Step 1: Choose the right referral platform, Step 2: Design your referral program structure, Step 3: Set up your referral program, Shopify with ReferralCandy, Shopify with Smile.io Referrals, WooCommerce with AffiliateWP, BigCommerce with ReferralCandy.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- If you must build custom, the core components are:
- | Referred customers do not convert | Increase the referee incentive — 15% off typically outperforms 10% off for first-order conversion |

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Referral viral loops human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the finsilabs/awesome-ecommerce-skills skill entry for `referral-viral-loops`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Referral Viral Loops

## Overview

Word-of-mouth referral programs are one of the lowest-cost customer acquisition channels — referred customers have 37% higher retention rates and 25% higher LTV than non-referred customers. A dual-sided referral (reward both the referrer and the new customer) typically outperforms one-sided rewards by 2–3×. Dedicated referral apps (ReferralCandy, Friendbuy, Yotpo Loyalty) handle link generation, reward fulfillment, and fraud controls without custom code.

## When to Use This Skill

- When CAC is high and word-of-mouth is underutilized
- When existing customers frequently refer friends informally but there is no structured program to track and reward it
- When needing to scale a referral program that has been running manually
- When wanting to calculate K-factor and optimize the program's viral coefficient

## Core Instructions

### Step 1: Choose the right referral platform

| Platform | Best For | Shopify | WooCommerce | BigCommerce | Price |
|----------|---------|---------|-------------|-------------|-------|
| **ReferralCandy** | Simple setup, all major platforms | App Store | Plugin | App Marketplace | $59+/mo |
| **Friendbuy** | Mid-market DTC, A/B testing rewards | App Store | Via JS | Via JS | $249+/mo |
| **Yotpo Loyalty** | Brands already using Yotpo | App Store | Limited | App Marketplace | $199+/mo |
| **Smile.io Referrals** | Already using Smile.io for loyalty | App Store | Plugin | App Marketplace | Included in $49/mo plan |
| **Rewardful** | SaaS + ecommerce via Stripe | Via Stripe | Via Stripe | Via Stripe | $49+/mo |
| **AffiliateWP** | WooCommerce-native | — | Plugin | — | $149/yr |

**Recommendation:** Use **ReferralCandy** for most stores — quick setup, dual-sided rewards built in, fraud detection included, and competitive pricing. If you are already using Smile.io for loyalty, add their referral module instead of a separate app.

### Step 2: Design your referral program structure

Before installing anything, define the reward structure:

**Dual-sided reward (recommended):**
- Referrer reward: $10 store credit for every successful referral (paid after refund window)
- Referee reward (new customer): 15% off first order, no minimum

**Single-sided reward (simpler but lower share rate):**
- Referrer reward only: $15 store credit

**Minimum order for referral to qualify:** $30 (prevents micro-order gaming)

**Refund window:** Wait 7–14 days after the referee's order before granting the referrer reward — this prevents rewards on returned orders.

### Step 3: Set up your referral program

---

#### Shopify with ReferralCandy

1. Install **ReferralCandy** from the Shopify App Store
2. Go to **ReferralCandy → Program → Rewards** and configure:
   - Referrer reward: "$10 store credit" (or cash via PayPal)
   - Referee reward: "15% off first order" (ReferralCandy creates a unique discount code per referral link)
   - Minimum order: $30
3. Go to **ReferralCandy → Program → Fraud Settings** and enable:
   - Block self-referrals
   - Flag same-IP conversions for review
   - Set maximum referrals per customer per month (10)
4. Go to **ReferralCandy → Integrations** and connect Klaviyo — this allows referral events to trigger Klaviyo flows
5. ReferralCandy automatically:
   - Generates a unique referral link per customer (e.g., `yourstore.com/?via=sarah123`)
   - Displays the referral widget on the post-purchase page
   - Sends referral invitation emails to new customers after purchase
   - Tracks clicks, signups, and conversions per referrer
6. Go to **ReferralCandy → Promote** and add the referral widget to your account dashboard and post-purchase confirmation page

---

#### Shopify with Smile.io Referrals

1. Go to **Smile.io → Programs → Referrals**
2. Enable the referral program and configure:
   - Referrer reward: points or store credit
   - Referee reward: discount code sent automatically when they click the referral link
3. Go to **Smile.io → Rewards Panel** to customize how the referral link appears in the loyalty widget

---

#### WooCommerce with AffiliateWP