Would you like to thank the customers who send their friends to your store? An advocate reward is what an existing customer, the advocate, earns when a friend they referred completes a purchase.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through adding an advocate reward, choosing its type, and setting it up. All you need is RewardsWP and a WooCommerce or Easy Digital Downloads store.
Requirements: Applying an advocate reward to Specific items requires a Plus license level or higher.
- Adding an Advocate Reward
- Choosing a Reward Type
- Configuring the Reward Settings
- When Are Advocate Rewards Issued?
- FAQ
Before you get started, make sure RewardsWP is installed and activated on your WordPress site.
Adding an Advocate Reward
To get started, we’ll add an advocate reward to your referral program.
From your WordPress admin sidebar, go to RewardsWP » Settings and click the Referrals tab.
Next, scroll down to the Referral Rewards section. In the Advocate Reward card, click Add reward.
If your store already has an advocate reward, the card shows it instead. To change its settings, click Edit.
For a new reward, the drawer that opens after you click Add reward lists the reward types. From that list, choose the type you want. We cover each type in the next section.
After you pick a type, fill in its settings, which we cover below. The summary at the bottom of the drawer shows the reward as you set it up. When it looks right, click Add advocate reward at the bottom of the drawer. For a reward you’re editing, this button says Save.
After that, click Save Changes in the bar with the settings tabs. The drawer only updates the page. Save Changes saves the reward to your settings.
Your advocate reward is now saved. Next, we’ll look at which reward type fits your store.
Choosing a Reward Type
RewardsWP offers five advocate reward types. The right choice depends on your store’s margins, how often your customers buy, and how you want to present the referral incentive.
Amount Discount
An amount discount gives the advocate a set amount off their next order, such as $10 off. When the referral completes, RewardsWP creates a unique coupon code tied to the advocate’s account. The advocate applies it at checkout like any other coupon.
This type works well when you want a predictable cost per referral. Every successful referral costs the same amount. That makes your referral program easy to plan. It also reads clearly to advocates, since “$10 off” needs no math.
Percentage Off
A percentage off reward gives the advocate a percentage off their next order, such as 15% off. RewardsWP creates a unique coupon code for it too. The difference is that the savings grow with the order. With a 15% coupon, an advocate spending $50 saves $7.50, and one spending $200 saves $30.
This type fits stores with a wide range of order values, because the incentive scales without extra reward tiers. In return, your cost per referral is less predictable.
Free Shipping
Free shipping removes the shipping charges from the advocate’s next order. For stores where shipping is a large part of the total, this is one of the most appealing incentives you can offer.
Free shipping rewards are available with WooCommerce. The coupon RewardsWP creates works with your existing WooCommerce shipping zones and rules.
Free Product
A free product reward gives the advocate a product you choose at no cost. It works well for introducing customers to a new product, offering branded merchandise, or sending a sample size of a popular item. Receiving a real product often feels more personal than a discount.
On WooCommerce, RewardsWP watches the product’s stock for you. If the product goes out of stock, RewardsWP turns off the referral program, so advocates don’t earn a reward you can’t fulfill. When the product is back in stock, RewardsWP turns the program back on.
Points
A points reward adds a set number of points to the advocate’s balance when their referral completes. Instead of a coupon, the advocate collects points to redeem later for any reward in your points program.
This is the best option when you run the referral and points programs together, because referrals then feed your loyalty program directly. For example, 500 points from a referral plus 300 points from purchases can unlock a reward the advocate wasn’t able to reach before. Each program then gives customers a reason to use the other.
To compare these types with the rewards in your points program, read Choosing reward types.
Configuring the Reward Settings
The settings in the drawer depend on the reward type you chose:
- Amount discount and Percentage off: the reward amount, Minimum spend, Reward expiry, and Applies to.
- Free shipping: Minimum spend and Reward expiry.
- Free product: Free product selection, Custom product name, Minimum spend, and Reward expiry.
- Points: the points amount only.
Reward Amount
In the amount field, enter the value of the reward. The field’s label follows the reward type:
- Discount amount: the amount off. A value of 10 gives $10 off.
- Discount percentage: the percentage off. A value of 15 gives 15% off. It can’t be more than 100.
- Points amount: the number of points the advocate earns.
When you choose the amount, compare it with your average order. A $5 coupon feels small on a $100 average order, but generous on a $15 one. The reward needs to motivate sharing without cutting too deeply into your margins.
Free Product Selection
For a free product reward, search for and pick the product to give in Free product selection. Good choices include products that introduce customers to a new line, or that feel valuable but cost you little. A consumable that leads to repeat purchases works well too.
If the product’s title is long, enter a shorter one in Custom product name. Customers see that name instead of the product title.
Minimum Spend
In Minimum spend, set how much the advocate’s cart needs before the reward applies. It starts at 0, so the reward works on any order until you set a minimum.
RewardsWP measures the minimum against the cart subtotal. For a free product reward, the subtotal doesn’t count the free product. On Easy Digital Downloads, the minimum carries over to the discount code.
A minimum spend protects your margins on small orders and encourages advocates to add more to their cart. For example, a $10 off coupon with a $50 minimum saves the advocate 20% once their cart reaches $50. Choose a minimum that feels reachable for your store’s typical order.
Reward Expiry
In Reward expiry, choose how long the advocate has to use their reward. A new reward starts at Never expires. The options are:
- Never expires: no time limit. Choose this if your customers buy rarely but spend a lot.
- 30 days or 3 months: a short window. Choose this to bring advocates back for their next purchase sooner.
- 6 months, 1 year, or 2 years: a longer window. Choose this to be generous, with less urgency.
Applies To
For Amount discount and Percentage off rewards, Applies to sets which items in the advocate’s order get the discount. With Entire order selected, every item gets it.
To keep items such as gift cards out of the reward, click Exclude items. Then pick the products, categories, tags, or, on WooCommerce, brands to leave out.
To discount only the items you pick, choose Specific items instead. Then add those items under Include. Exclude items works here too. An excluded item never gets the discount, even when it also matches Include.
At checkout, only the matching items get the discount. If the advocate’s cart has no matching item, a message tells them why.
On WooCommerce, the Exclude sale items toggle starts off, so sale items get the discount like every other item. Turn it on to let items already on sale keep their sale price. The rest of the cart still gets the discount.
For how the rules match and what your customers see at checkout, read Excluding products from rewards and points.
When Are Advocate Rewards Issued?
RewardsWP issues advocate rewards automatically. Here’s how it works:
- A friend clicks the advocate’s referral link and makes a purchase.
- RewardsWP creates the referral with a Pending status.
- Once the purchase is verified, the referral moves to Completed.
- RewardsWP then issues the advocate reward.
Each completed referral earns one reward. RewardsWP checks the friend’s email address and user account, so the same friend can’t earn an advocate more than one reward. There’s nothing for you to approve or send by hand.
That’s it! Your customers now earn a reward each time a friend they refer completes a purchase. Next, to choose what the referred friend receives, read Setting up friend rewards.
FAQ
Below, we’ve answered some of the most common questions about advocate rewards.
What’s the difference between an advocate reward and a friend reward?
An advocate reward goes to the existing customer who shared the referral link. A friend reward goes to the new customer who clicked the link and made a purchase. You set up each one separately. They can be different reward types.
Which reward types can a friend reward use?
A friend reward can be an amount discount, a percentage off, free shipping, or a free product. The Points type is for advocate rewards.
Do I need both an advocate reward and a friend reward?
Referrals don’t pay out until the program has an advocate reward, so that one comes first. A friend reward is optional. It gives referred friends a reason to make their first purchase.
Which advocate rewards can apply to specific items?
Amount discount and Percentage off rewards have the Applies to section, where you choose which items get the discount. To control which items a reward covers, choose one of these two types.