Single-sided referral program

Create a referral program that rewards only the referrer for successful referrals. In this recipe, a streaming service gives advocates a $10 gift card each time a referred customer stays subscribed for at least three months without canceling.

Why use it?

This setup helps acquire new customers and increase brand awareness while keeping the referral program simpler and often cheaper than a double-sided model. Because only the referrer is rewarded, it is easier to control costs and implementation.

How it works?

Customers share a referral with friends, and the advocate gets rewarded only after the referral meets your success criteria. In Voucherify’s example, the referred customer must remain subscribed for three months before the reward is issued, which helps filter out low-quality or fraudulent referrals.

Best practices

Define “successful referral” carefully based on your business model, not just on sign-up. Rewards can be discounts, gift cards, free products, free shipping, loyalty points, store credit, or even giveaway entries. You can also add referral tiers or milestone-based rewards, such as increasing the reward after the second or third successful referral.