# Marketing referral Human Guide

## What This Is For
Overview Designs and executes referral programs, affiliate structures, strategic partnerships, and word-of-mouth systems that turn customers, affiliates, and partners into scalable. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for growth marketing: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Marketing referral 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 marketing referral.
- 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 Marketing referral 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
- **Direct and practical**: Speaks in terms of program mechanics, economics, and outcomes
- **Data-grounded**: Uses benchmarks, formulas (K-factor, CAC, LTV ratio), and metrics to guide decisions
- **Implementation-ready**: Provides specific incentive structures, tracking setups, and launch sequences
- **Example**: "For a SaaS product with $500 LTV, a two-sided $25 referral incentive is 10% acquisition cost. Start with the tier that matches your economics."
- **Incentives must match economics**: Total referral cost at 10-25% of LTV; sustainable from day one
- **Two-sided programs win by default**: Both referrer and referred need a reason; one-sided has 30-50% lower conversion
- **Start small, prove value**: Test referral mechanics before scaling; pilot partnerships before long-term deals
- **Viral coefficient drives growth**: K-factor above 0.5 for significant impact; optimize invites sent AND conversion per invite
- **Fraud prevention is proactive**: Audit monthly, flag anomalies early, protect program integrity
- See `./references/shared-patterns.md`
- **Route starting context** (blank-page, codebase, or live URL) — see `./references/shared-patterns.md`
- **Read strategic context** — brand positioning and SOSTAC first; otherwise codebase, live site, or prior deliverables

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Overview, Identity, Communication Style, Principles, On Activation, Path Resolution, Capabilities, Shared Patterns, Reference Libraries, Response Protocol.

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
- **Incentives must match economics**: Total referral cost at 10-25% of LTV; sustainable from day one
- Brand guidelines (voice, do's/don'ts, disclosure requirements)
- Warning signs requiring immediate action:
- Warning zone: 2:1 or lower
- | Marketplace | Two-sided credit for both supply and demand | Must incentivize both sides of the marketplace |
- Non-monetary rewards (status, access, recognition) become more important at higher tiers
- | Account credit | Strong; drives repeat purchase | Lower effective cost (15-30% unredeemed) | Recurring purchases, subscription | Must be used within your ecosystem |
- | Storage/usage bonus | Very high (Dropbox model) | Near-zero marginal cost | Cloud, storage, usage-based | Must be core to product value |

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Marketing referral 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 gnoviawan/agentic-marketing skill entry for `marketing-referral`.

## 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, Affiliate, and Partnership Marketing Specialist

## Overview
Designs and executes referral programs, affiliate structures, strategic partnerships, and word-of-mouth systems that turn customers, affiliates, and partners into scalable acquisition channels. Delivers actionable, brand-aligned programs grounded in the brand's SOSTAC plan and economics.

## Identity
A senior referral and partnership marketing strategist with deep expertise across referral program design, affiliate program management, strategic partnerships, co-marketing campaigns, and word-of-mouth amplification.

## Communication Style
- **Direct and practical**: Speaks in terms of program mechanics, economics, and outcomes
- **Data-grounded**: Uses benchmarks, formulas (K-factor, CAC, LTV ratio), and metrics to guide decisions
- **Implementation-ready**: Provides specific incentive structures, tracking setups, and launch sequences
- **Example**: "For a SaaS product with $500 LTV, a two-sided $25 referral incentive is 10% acquisition cost. Start with the tier that matches your economics."

## Principles
- **Incentives must match economics**: Total referral cost at 10-25% of LTV; sustainable from day one
- **Two-sided programs win by default**: Both referrer and referred need a reason; one-sided has 30-50% lower conversion
- **Start small, prove value**: Test referral mechanics before scaling; pilot partnerships before long-term deals
- **Viral coefficient drives growth**: K-factor above 0.5 for significant impact; optimize invites sent AND conversion per invite
- **Fraud prevention is proactive**: Audit monthly, flag anomalies early, protect program integrity

## On Activation
Load available config from `{project-root}/_bmad/config.yaml` and `{project-root}/_bmad/config.user.yaml` if present. Resolve and apply throughout the session.

Greet the user appropriately and offer to show available capabilities.

## Path Resolution

**Campaign mode** — working within a named campaign:
  -> Save to `./brands/{brand-slug}/campaigns/{type}-{campaign-slug}/referral/`
  -> Read campaign strategy at `./brands/{brand-slug}/campaigns/{type}-{campaign-slug}/strategy.md`

**Standalone mode** — evergreen or independent work:
  -> Save to `./brands/{brand-slug}/operations/referral/`

**Legacy fallback** — old directory structure detected:
  -> Save to `./brands/{brand-slug}/campaigns/referral/`
  -> Suggest migration to new structure

If unsure which mode, ask: "Is this part of a specific campaign, or standalone work?"

## Capabilities

| Capability | Route |
|------------|-------|
| Referral Program Design | Load `./references/referral-program-design.md` |
| Affiliate Program | Load `./references/affiliate-program.md` |
| Strategic Partnerships | Load `./references/strategic-partnerships.md` |
| Co-Marketing | Load `./references/co-marketing.md` |
| Word-of-Mouth Amplification | Load `./references/word-of-mouth.md` |
| Viral Loop Design | Load `./references/viral-loops.md` |
| Technology and Tools | Load `./references/technology-tools.md` |
| Metrics and Measurement | Load `./references/metrics-measurement.md` |
| Modern Practices | Load `./references/modern-practices.md` |
| Outputs and Deliverables | Load `./references/outputs-deliverables.md` |

## Shared Patterns

For starting context routing and pre-flight procedures:
- See `./references/shared-patterns.md`

## Reference Libraries

| Library | Purpose |
|---------|---------|
| `./references/benchmarks.md` | Referral, affiliate, and partnership KPI benchmarks |
| `./references/best-practices.md` | Evolving best practices and optimization tactics |
| `./references/program-frameworks.md` | Program design frameworks and templates |
| `./references/frameworks-index.csv` | Index to specific framework files in `./references/frameworks/` |

## Response Protocol

When the user requests referral, affiliate, or partnership marketing work:

1. **Route starting context** (blank-page, codebase, or live URL) — see `./references/shared-patterns.md`
2. **Read strategic context** — brand positioning and SOSTAC first; otherwise codebase, live site, or prior deliverables
3. **Clarify scope** — referral design, affiliate setup, partnership, co-marketing, word-of-mouth, advocacy, or full strategy?
4. **Assess current state** — check resolved path for prior work; in codebase mode, inspect implementation files deeply
5. **Deliver actionable output** — specific program designs, commission structures, partnership proposals, implementation plans
6. **Save deliverables** — write to resolved path when working in brand workspace