Question

Topic: E-Marketing

Refer-a-friend Vs. Forward-to-a-friend

Posted by MarcMacalua on 2/28/2007 at 1:43 AM ET 250 Points
Hi, Im Christine and we're planning to launch a new feature to our email campaigns. However, we are having a dilemma if it should be a refer-a-friend vs. a forward-to-a-friend.

According to some research, refer-a-friend is more traditional and effective in terms of introducing to the public our company. On the other hand, there are more campaigns using forward-to-a-friend plus the fact that it is easier to design and implement.

Please give us any insights as to which among the two is a better start-up for our added feature. We might be overlooking some of the pros and cons of the two. From your own experience, which has worked better in terms of increasing brand awareness and campaign conversions?
To continue reading this question and the solution, sign up ... it's free!
SUBSCRIBE
Or, SIGN IN

RESPONSES

  • Posted on 2/28/2007 at 4:21 AM Member
    Hi Christine,

    Refer-a friend should be the choice. Though I don't have any personal experience of e-mail campaigns, I believe that when you use forward-to-a-friend you might get more people to see your content but most of them would not be serious viewers as it was just forwarded by their friends. It may be one among many forwards they send. On the other hand refer-a friend may not get you many viewers but whoever gets it, will have more interest in that and may evoke response. But the downside (or positive side) is that the person may think before forwarding to friends like who might be interested in such a mail, thus reducing the number of recipients.
    somashekhar paple
  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 2/28/2007 at 8:40 AM Member
    Because it is different, it catches your attention. Forward to a friend is my choice. Its one click and doesn't commit the forwarder to the referral or the thinking he's giving a testimonial. Its easy, light and I like it.

    Carol
    Sell Well and Prosper tm
  • Posted on 2/28/2007 at 9:34 AM Member
    We use FTAF on our site articles and soon on all 200+ of our newsletters. I read a study somewhere recently that indicated use of the word "forward" was most successful.
  • Posted by Phoenix ONE on 2/28/2007 at 3:10 PM Member
    Hi Christine,

    I think Kathy hit the nail on the head, and confirmed it with some nice snapshots.

    You could also use more informality (consumer):

    Share the news with a friend.... then show this tag:

    "Thought you might enjoy this!"

    "I thought you would really like this."

    "Take a Look"

    "Have you seen this?"

    Good Luck & Happy Marketing ~
  • Posted by whimziequiltz on 3/2/2007 at 4:16 PM Member
    I read all the marketing responses posted here, but I'd like to comment as a 'friend' who gets referred or forwarded to. I absolutely HATE refer-a-friend programs where somebody signs me up for crap in return for something they get. It infuriates me that some 'friend' would give out my name like that so that suddenly I'm being inundated with e-mails that I never expressed an interest in. On the other had, I love to get forward-to-a-friend. It makes me think my friend was thinking of me and what I might be interested in, but I get to make the decision of whether to follow up or not.
  • Posted by Clive Fernandes on 3/5/2007 at 9:53 AM Member
    Dear Christine,

    I have to agree with the responses that recommend forward to a friend. Since yours is an email newsletter it makes sense to use the forward feature rather than refer.

    In 'refer' the receiver will be getting the email from you and that will make conversions a lot less because of the amount of spam that your legitimate email will be competing with. Whereas in 'forward' it is someone known that is forwarding the email and so the chances of it being opened and read are much more.

    Of course the best way to go about this is to first determine your final goal. Then use split testing and depending on the conversion stats you will have an answer that none of us here can better.

    Hope this helps.

    Clive Fernandes
    Clive Fernandes Consulting
BACK TO TOP

Post a Comment

Related Discussions

Community Info

Top 25 Experts
(E-Marketing)