Refer-a–Friend programs can be incredibly beneficial, but it is important to do it correctly or run the risk of causing deliverability issues (and possible legal compliance issues as well). The key issues to manage are user and recipient consent, content transparency, and with referral incentives.

1. Referring users must feel comfortable during the process, which begins with consent practices. Never use the recipients’ email address with subsequent marketing campaigns unless they provide their own consent. For example, Victoria Secret offers referrers a clear statement that their friends’ email addresses will not be added to their email list during the referral.

 



In addition, it’s helpful to make the referred friend aware, upon receiving that message, that they are not being subscribed to any mailing by receiving this email. Such as with this example by Neiman Marcus.

 



2. If you want the recipient to be your friend too, then ensure transparency with your content. Here are some quick tips with managing content:
   • The friendly ‘from’ address can and should be the friend/referrer. It’s advised that the commercial sender is NOT included in the ‘from’ because the intent is still for the friend to be the referral, and otherwise it may appear to the recipient as an unsolicited commercial email and lead to a spam complaint.
   • Include some language in the email introduction about why the recipient is getting it and what information will and will not be collected.
   • Make sure the subject line is tied to the friend and not misleading. Successful campaigns such as the Saks Fifth Avenue example below put the friends name in the subject line leaving no confusion as to why the referee is receiving the mail.

 


3. Offering incentives is a great way to entice referrals ( Eg; through cash, coupons, discounts, awards or additional entries in a sweepstakes) However, in doing so, the sender must comply with the CAN-SPAM Act. In addition to including an opt-out option in the email the sender must run that referral friend’s email address against the senders’ suppression list to make sure the friend was not previously unsubscribed. Even if there is no incentive, it is still a best practice to apply prior suppressions and include an unsubscribe link in the email to help mitigate potential spam complaints.Since these RAF emails may be deploying off the same IPs as the senders’ bulk email messages, abuse complaints from RAF campaigns can lead to IP reputation issues at various ISPs and cause bulking/spam foldering issues in the future. Don’t give the ISPs any more reasons (abuse, spam traps, bad data, etc) to bulk or block mailings by skipping this step.

Following these points and best practices will not only help the senders IP reputation but can also lead to strong organic list growth and increased revenue.

Like many seasonal or anniversary oriented retailers, FTD has a Gift Reminder program, which they do a great job of promoting. (Side note: The name “FTD” originally stood for “Florists’ Telegraph Delivery” when the company was founded in 1910. Then, in 1914, the name was updated to “Florists’ Transworld Delivery.” Who knew?)

I recently purchased two flower arrangements from FTD.com and noticed some pretty nice features revolving around their email reminders. The first mention of their reminder program comes during the checkout process — after the delivery information and before the payment options.

FTD does a great job with:

• Being clear that this is an optional form. A customer does not need to fill this out in order to complete their transaction. As a consumer, I know that I am signing up to receive email notifications by completing this form.
• The offer is clear and generous.
• The rules are clear. I need to enter 5 reminders in order to receive 20% off my next order. This information is listed twice in a small space.
• The form is easy to understand and simple to navigate.
• Reminding customers about the gift reminder service again once the checkout process is complete. Since I did not enter 5 reminder email addresses and dates on my first attempt I was given the option to enter them again.

Do you have any examples of Gift Reminder services?  How have these performed for you?  Do you opt-in for these types of services? Share your experiences with us!

“Wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is doing it.”
~ David Starr Jordan, The Philosophy of Despair

Any reasonably responsible email marketer knows that he or she should, at the bare minimum, follow CAN-SPAM regulations when sending email marketing messages. But, as it turns out, following this and other best practices does pay off in the long run. MarketingSherpa recently published a report called “Email Performance Since 2001,” tracing the relationship between email marketing best practices and email success. In one form or another, MarketingSherpa has asked the basic question about how well email marketing has performed since their first survey in 2001.

This chart highlights performance trends when following Best Practices and when Deviating From Best Practices. The Y Axis shows the efficiency of the email marketing endeavor. The X Axis displays the year.

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