How to Create a Referral Program in WordPress (Step-by-Step)

Are you looking to create a referral program for your business on WordPress?

Referral programs effectively encourage your existing users to promote your products or services to their network. By offering incentives such as commissions or discounts, you can motivate people to refer new customers to your website, helping you expand your reach and boost sales.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to quickly set up a referral program in WordPress, even if you have no prior experience.

Let’s get started!

What’s The Difference Between a Referral Program and an Affiliate Program

When businesses look for ways to grow, they often come across two popular strategies: referral programs and affiliate programs.

Though they might seem similar, but they have some key differences.

Referral programs encourage existing customers to bring in new customers. It’s like when someone tells a friend about a great product they love. The business might offer a small reward to the referring customer, such as a discount, a free product, or even cash.

Affiliate programs work differently. They’re more like having a team of independent salespeople. Affiliates are often bloggers, influencers, or people with large networks.

They promote a business’s product or service to their audience. When someone buys through their unique link, the affiliate earns a commission.

The main difference is that referral programs tap into existing customer networks, while affiliate programs reach out to broader audiences.

Benefits of Creating a Referral Program for Your Business

One of the biggest benefits of creating a referral program is the trust factor.

When a friend recommends a product or service, people are more likely to give it a try. This word-of-mouth marketing is incredibly valuable and can lead to higher-quality leads.

Referral programs also tend to be cost-effective. Instead of spending big bucks on advertising, you’re rewarding existing customers for bringing in new ones.

This can often result in a better return on investment compared to traditional marketing methods.

Here are a few more key benefits:

• Increased customer loyalty: Customers who refer others often feel more connected to your brand.
• Higher customer lifetime value: Referred customers tend to stick around longer and spend more.
• Easier tracking: With the right tools like AffiliateWP, you can easily measure the success of your referral efforts.
• Scalability: As your customer base grows, so does your potential for referrals.

A referral program helps you leverage the community aspect that makes WordPress great.

It turns your satisfied customers into your marketing team, helping you grow authentically and community-driven.

Steps to Start a Referral Program on WordPress

Starting a referral program for your business on WordPress is easier than you think with the help of AffiliateWP.

Just follow the below steps:

Step 1. Install AffiliateWP

AffiliateWP is the top choice for managing WordPress referral programs.

It’s designed to make setting up and running your referral program a breeze, even if you’re not tech-savvy.

The plugin seamlessly integrates with a wide range of WordPress plugins, this means you can get your referral program up and running without any complicated setup.

To get started, visit our pricing page and select the plan that fits your business needs. After purchase, you can easily install AffiliateWP by navigating to the Plugins tab in your WordPress dashboard.

If you need any help along the way, we’ve got a detailed step-by-step guide to walk you through the process.

Step 2: Complete the Setup Wizard

With AffiliateWP installed, it’s time to set up your referral program.

First, enter your license key, which you can find in the confirmation email from your AffiliateWP purchase.

Copy and paste this key into the designated field and click Continue.

Next, choose the integrations that match the plugins or software your website uses to sell products or services.

Select the relevant options and click Continue.

The wizard will then ask about your preferred payout settings. You can pay your referrers directly through the AffiliateWP payout service, use PayPal, or manage payments manually.

Select the option that fits your needs.

You’ll then set your referral rate and type. Choose between a fixed rate and a percentage-based referral amount.

Don’t worry—you can adjust these settings later if needed.

After providing all the necessary information, click Finish and Exit Wizard.

You’ll see a confirmation page indicating the setup process is complete.

Step 3: Create a Referral Registration Form

When you launch your referral program with AffiliateWP, an Affiliate Area page is automatically created.

This page serves as both the signup and login area for your referrers.

While you can use this default page, creating a custom Referral Page gives you better control and branding options.

To create a custom page, go to your WordPress dashboard and create a new page. Design it to fit your brand and include all necessary information about your referral program.

Once published, go to AffiliateWP » Settings. Next, in the Affiliate Registration Page dropdown, select your newly created page.

Step 4: Encourage People to Join Your Referral Program

If you’re using WooCommerce with an AffiliateWP Pro license, you can use Affiliate Signup Widget that helps encouraging your loyal customers to signup your referral program.

It displays a signup widget to encourage existing customers to become referrers.

To enable this, go to AffiliateWP » Settings » Affiliates. Enable the Allow Affiliate Registration and Convert customers into affiliates using the affiliate signup widget settings.

The Affiliate Signup Widget is intelligently designed to appear only for customers who have completed at least one order.

This ensures that your new referrers are genuine customers who have engaged with your store.

You can also encourage users by giving them signup bonuses using AffiliateWP’s SignUp Bonus addon.

Install the SignUp Bonus addon and enter the bonus amount by navigating to navigate to AffiliateWP » Settings and then click on the Integrations tab.

Step 4: Manage Affiliate Applications

After setting up your signup and registration page, you’ll start receiving applications for your referral program. AffiliateWP makes managing these applications straightforward and efficient.

To review pending applications, visit the AffiliateWP Affiliates screen in your WordPress dashboard and click the Pending tab at the top.

This displays all your pending applications, allowing you to review them in one place. When analyzing applications, pay attention to the details provided by potential referrers.

Look for indications that they understand your product or service and have the means to effectively promote it.

Additionaly, you can also increase your productivity by using the AI Affiliate Review feature to analyze the referral applications with the help of AI.

AffiliateWP allows you to quickly approve, reject or skip applications directly from this screen.

If you approve an application, the referrer will receive access to their affiliate dashboard to find their unique referral links and track their performance.

If you reject an application, you may want to provide feedback to the applicant about why they weren’t accepted, if appropriate.

Step 5: Monitor and Optimize

Once your referral program is up and running, it’s crucial to keep a close eye on its performance.

In the AffiliateWP dashboard, you’ll find detailed reports displaying key metrics on your referrers, referrals, campaigns, and payouts.

These reports offer immediate snapshots of your program’s performance, allowing you to quickly gauge its effectiveness.

For a more in-depth analysis, dive into these reports to identify trends, top performers, and areas for improvement.

Look at which referrers are bringing in the most traffic or sales, which products or services are being referred most often, and how different campaigns are performing.

AffiliateWP also allows you to set up automatic performance reports for your referrers. This feature keeps them informed about their progress, which can motivate them to continue their efforts or improve their strategies.

Step 6: Reward Your Referrals

The final step in setting up your referral program is establishing how you’ll reward your referrers.

This is a crucial element that can significantly impact the success of your program. AffiliateWP offers flexible options to suit various business models and preferences.

With AffiliateWP, you can reward referrers through commissions, which is the most common method. You can set these as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount per referral.

If you’re using WooCommerce or Easy Digital Downloads, you also have the option to offer store credit using our Store Credit addon or discount coupons as rewards.

AffiliateWP tracks all your referrers and their referrals automatically, simplifying the reward process. You only need to initiate the payments when you’re ready.

You can pay your referrals using multiple payments options like Stripe or PayPal.

Kickstart Your Business Growth Like Never Before

Setting up a referral program for your business is simpler than you might think.

With AffiliateWP, you can have a powerful, efficient program up and running in just minutes.

Are you ready to take your business to the next level? We have more resources to guide you on this journey:

• How to Improve Affiliate Engagement with Better Link Sharing (Guide)
• 14 Best Strategies To Recruit High-Performing Affiliates (Guide)
• What is an Affiliate Link Disclosure? (Examples + Guide)
• How to Create Affiliate Links in WordPress (Simple Guide)

With all these resources at your fingertips, there’s only one step left.

Don’t wait any longer!

Get AffiliateWP today and unlock a powerful new growth channel for your business with a referral program.