Papier Refer-a-Friend Strategy
Papier is a design-led stationery and personalised gifting brand known for premium paper, custom designs and emotionally meaningful products. Its core customers purchase frequently for celebrations, life events and creative projects, making them natural advocates. The Papier refer a friend strategy was created to activate this loyal base and turn organic enthusiasm into a scalable acquisition channel.
Before launching its referral initiative, Papier faced several challenges that limited profitable growth:
• Many customers made a single purchase but didn’t progress into repeat buying behaviour.
• Paid acquisition channels were becoming increasingly expensive and less efficient.
• Papier’s engaged community lacked a structured way to share the brand with friends.
• The team had limited insight into their true high-value advocates.
• A more margin-friendly, scalable acquisition engine was needed to support long-term growth.
Papier partnered with Mention Me to develop a referral strategy that fit its premium brand identity and deep customer loyalty. This collaboration included referral planning, segmentation and UX optimisation delivered through the Mention Me referral platform.
Key components included:
• Strategic planning and customer segmentation
• Implementation of name-sharing and link-sharing journeys
• Integrated referral experiences across the site, post-purchase pages and CRM
• Continuous testing of incentives, creative styles and behavioural triggers
To ensure the Papier refer a friend experience delivered high-quality performance, Mention Me implemented a series of optimised solutions:
• Personalised referral journeys tailored to customer behaviour
• A/B testing of incentives, messaging and CTA design
• Streamlined mobile sharing flows to reduce friction for advocates
• Trigger-based referral prompts at high-intent moments such as order confirmation
• Robust analytics tracking share rate, conversion and LTV uplift of referred customers
The Papier refer a friend programme quickly demonstrated strong and measurable impact on acquisition quality and revenue growth.
Key outcomes include:
• 21% share rate in peak months, supported by personalised messaging
• 20% improvement in share rate since launch through continuous testing
• Over 25% of referrals generated via Name Share
• Referred customers make 25% more repeat orders than non-referred customers
• Referred cohorts generated over £18K in additional repeat order value
• Lower CAC and stronger efficiency than paid social channels
• Establishment of a sustainable, advocacy-led growth loop
Papier’s experience shows that personalised referral journeys perform far better than generic ones, especially when presented at high-intent moments such as right after purchase. Relevant incentives also proved more effective than simply increasing reward size, and ongoing testing was key to keeping results improving.
Overall, referred customers consistently showed higher loyalty and lifetime value, highlighting referral as a powerful quality-led acquisition channel.
Papier plans to expand its referral approach by extending personalised journeys to more customer segments and weaving referral insights deeper into CRM and loyalty activity. The brand will also explore seasonal referral campaigns, support international growth with tailored advocacy journeys, and continue testing creative variations to keep share rates and conversions rising.
“Referral is a multiplier for all our other marketing activities and has grown along with our business. A CPA model means we were able to turn on the channel early with low risk”
CEO & Founder - Papier
