Referral benchmark report 2021 

Unique referral insights based on 450+ brands

Based on working with fast-growing brands around the world, our first referral benchmarking report reveals unique insights into brand advocacy.

Download now to discover:

• Referral trends by sector and geography
• How to optimise referral funnel metrics
• The most popular sharing methods

Complete the form below to get your free report.

Discover referral marketing trends with The Annual Benchmark Report

Is your referral marketing working as well as it should? Benchmark your referral performance against the industry and geographic insights to optimise and get better results. By comparing to benchmarks, you’ll find areas to refine incentives, messaging and overall referral strategy for success. 

Below, find out how sector and geographic benchmarking can take your referral marketing to the next level.

Understanding referral marketing trends: Benefits for business

Identify strengths and weaknesses
Benchmarking your referral marketing against the industry helps you see where your campaign is working and where you can improve. By knowing these areas, you can focus on strategies that increase referral and conversion rates.

Tailor to sector
Referral trends vary by sector. What works for an e-commerce business might not work for a SaaS business, so, by understanding sector-specific trends, you can create a referral marketing strategy that matches your target audience’s behaviour and preferences and gets more engagement and higher participation.

Localise by geography
Consumer behaviour typically depends on the region, so your referral marketing strategy must reflect those differences in order to get the best results. Geographic benchmarking helps you adjust your referral programme to local customs, behaviour and expectations, making your campaign relevant to each target market.

Make data-driven decisions
Referral marketing benchmarking gives you valuable insights to make data-driven decisions. Whether it’s tweaking your incentives, refining your messaging or improving your overall referral process, you’ll have the data to optimise your strategy and get better results.

How referral marketing benchmarking helps to improve campaign performance

Optimise incentives
By benchmarking, you can see if your current referral incentives are competitive against industry benchmarks. This means you can adjust your rewards and incentives to attract new customers while keeping your referral program cost-effective. For example, if your competitors are offering exclusive discounts or early access to products, you may need to offer similar or better incentives to stay competitive.

Refine messaging by sector
Different industries respond to different types of messaging. In SaaS, clear and concise messaging focused on product benefits may work; in fashion retail emotional and visually engaging campaigns may drive more referrals. Benchmarking by sector lets you see what type of messaging works for your industry so you can fine-tune your content for maximum impact.

Performance across markets
Referral marketing benchmarking by geography gives you insights into how consumer behaviour varies by region. This means you can localise your referral programs by offering region-specific rewards and messaging to match local culture. This way, your campaigns will be more relevant and effective across global markets.

What’s in the Referral Marketing Benchmark Report?

• Referral marketing trends: See how referral marketing strategies differ by sector, such as e-commerce, SaaS, hospitality, fashion, and more. Find out what incentives and messaging work for your sector and how to tailor your campaign for the best results.
• Geographic trends: Discover how referral program preferences, rewards and engagement vary by region. Whether you’re launching in new markets or refining campaigns for existing ones, geographic trends give you insights into what your target audience values in different places.
• Incentive benchmarking: See which types of incentives (monetary vs non-monetary) work best across sectors and regions. From discounts and freebies to exclusive access and loyalty points, incentive benchmarking helps you find out what drives your audience to take action.
• Performance metrics: Benchmarking gives you clear performance metrics such as referral rates, conversion rates and customer lifetime value. These metrics let you measure your referral marketing campaigns over time. With this data, you can see trends, track improvements, and adjust your campaigns to get better results.