Email growth essentials

Your Referral Reward

Cheatsheet
Follow this guide to create a newsletter referral program

that’ll explode your email-list growth, boost engagement

and drive new revenue.

Brought to you by:

30+ most effective

reward ideas inside!

Why Referrals?

We both know there has never been a more When you add a referral program to your

important time to own a direct relationship with newsletter, you can

your audience via email.

boost subscriber growth by 35% on averag

But building a large, engaged email audience today significantly reduce your CP

isn’t easy. Paid search and social acquisition costs partner with sponsors to drive new revenu

are spiralling rapidly out of control.

2x your subscriber engagement (or more)

Everyone — from authors and newsletter creators But there’s a catch — if you want amazing results,

to DTC and media brands — is looking for a more you need the right referral rewards!

effective, more affordable channel of email

acquisition. And the smartest marketers are That’s what this cheatsheet is for. You can use it to

turning to an email referral program.

come up with a referral reward strategy that’ll meet

— and beat — your subscriber growth goals.

At SparkLoop, we power thousands of newsletter

and email referral programs. Including seven of the Enjoy!

ten biggest in the world.

And it turns out there’s a reason why email experts

like Dan Oshinsky say adding one is “an absolute

Louis Nicholls

no-brainer for any email publisher...”

Cofounder, SparkLoop

How fast will my email-list grow?

10
At least On average Up to

20
faster with free

% 50
faster with a mix of
%

faster with the

x

digital rewards & digital & physical perfect storm of

coupons rewards rewards & giveaways

Will referrals work for me?

Think referrals only work for “classic”

newsletters like Morning Brew and The
Skimm?

Think again! At SparkLoop we see referrals

delivering game-changing growth for a
whole variety of email senders.

If you have over 10k subscribers who enjoy

opening your emails, it’ll work for you too.
Especially if you fit into one of the following
categories:

Sponsorship-Driven Newsletters
Like 1440, Morning Brew and Front Office Sports

Paid Newsletters
Like The Generalist and Voxe

Local Newsletters
Like Midway Minute and From Boise

Ecommerce Email-Marketing
Like Casper and Kettle & Fire

Authors & Info Products

Like James Clear and Brennan Dunn

Niche Newsletters
Like Stacked Marketer, SEOFOMO and The Dink

1
What rewards work best?

If there’s one thing we’ve learned at

SparkLoop from 1000+ successful referral

programs, it’s that the best referral rewards

are unique to your audience.

You can’t just slap your brand’s logo on

some socks and expect your email-list to

double overnight!

Luckily, every email publisher will have at

least a few viable, affordable rewards

that’ll have your audience sharing like

wildfire. Here’s where you’ll discover them:

Valuable content Exclusivity

Free, digital content like worksheets, Access to things nobody else can get.

videos, courses or paywalled articles Like an insider section, secret newsletter

or limited edition product range

Sponsored rewards Physical rewards

Collaborate with brand partners to have Turn fans into ambassadors with

them provide rewards for free — or even branded merchandise like mugs and t-

as a paid deal to boost revenue shirts. Or use your own product upsells

Monetary rewards Showstoppers

Easily automate coupons, free months Really get your subscribers’ attention
and gift vouchers — for your products or (and shares) with a “crazy” reward. Like
a partner — and boost revenue too a flight to New York or a Macbook

Referral giveaways Unique rewards

Take your growth to the next level with a Your audience loves your brand /
Where subscribers
referral giveaway. personality. So offer more of what

can win (sponsored) prizes for sharing makes you uni que

2
How do I structure my rewards?

The secret to referral growth is that not all sharers were created equal. Some subscribers will
struggle to make one referral — others will make thousands!

And — with > 90% of referrals coming from social sharing — you need to structure your
referral milestones in a way that’ll encourage everyone to start sharing and keep going...

1-3 referrals
Trigger Reward
This is the first reward — the one every subscriber thinks they’ll definitely achieve if
they share. So it should be compelling, automated and free — like a pdf or coupon

2-10
Momentum Builders
For great results you want 2-3 rewards in this range. The goal is to give “normal”
subscribers an attainable goal: something that’ll motivate them to share again

11-50
Aspirational Rewards
These are the rewards your subscribers really want. Often physical rewards. What
would encourage your biggest fans to keep spreading the word?

50+
Showstoppers
The rewards your subscribers mention to their friends. From hoodies to golf-retreats
& signed books — what’ll you offer that’ll get even influencers talking (and sharing)?

Giveaways
Inject a boost and encourage your best referrers to share again with regular referral
giveaways. Create a unique prize, or partner with a sponsor to boost revenue too

4
Newsletter Spotlight

Great rewards,

3x faster growth
SEOFOMO is one of the most popular niche B2B
marketing newsletters. Initial growth was slow —
the subscriber LTV couldn’t justify rising Facebook
ad prices. 



But Aleyda added a SparkLoop referral program

and subscriber growth increased by nearly 3x —
with a CPA of less than $0.20 per subscriber.

How? An unbeatable combination of the right

referral strategy and rewards...

shout-outs “normalise”
sharing behaviour

free, automated
trigger reward

easy to achieve
“momentum” building
reward

Va lu a b le a s p ir a t io n a l
rew a r d s t o e n c o u r a g e
repeat sharing

sponsored reward (by

Very valuable, expensive author) — low cost, high
“showstopper” rewards value
to encourage referrers

with a large audience

Top 5 rewards

Sponsorship-driven

Newsletters
Hoping to boost growth of a newsletter with a broad appeal and
sponsorship/ad revenue?

Increase growth and decrease your CPA with a referral program

inspired by these five most effective rewards:

1
An “insiders only” newsletter section
Create a section of your newsletter that only “insiders” can see. To
unlock it, your subscribers have to make 1-3 referrals. Everybody else
just sees a “locked” blurred-out section and a CTA to share.

2
Sponsored rewards
Talk to your sponsorship/sales team about approaching brands to
provide referral rewards. DTC brands work best and they’re happy to
provide coupons and product samples for free (or even pay).

3
Branded merchandise
“Swag” is nowhere near as important to a good referral program as
most people think. But 1-2 items of quality branded merch can do
really well. Try t-shirts, mugs, caps, or something totally unique!

4
A unique showstopper reward
A newsletter like yours has broad appeal. So subscribers with their
own large audiences can make a lot of referrals. Add a unique reward
for 500+ referrals that’ll take their breath away. Like a flight!

5
(Sponsored) giveaway
Work with a brand partner to provide a significant giveaway prize
that’s guaranteed to get your subscribers referring. And generate
some extra ad revenue (or close new deals) at the same time.

5
Top 5 rewards

Paid

Newsletters
Looking for an affordable, effective way to grow your paid
newsletter or subscription business?

Here are the top five referral rewards that’ll increase your growth,
boost subscription revenue/conversions, and decrease your CPAs:

1
Shout-outs/leaderboard
With a paid subscription, many subscribers like to feel like they’re on
the inside. Give back (and normalise sharing) with a weekly shout-out
to the top 10 referrers in your newsletter.

2
Free month
Discounts (eg on annual plans) don’t normally work well as referral
rewards. But a free month’s subscription can perform really well.
Especially if you only require 1-3 referrals

3
Group/team pricing deal
Add some intrinsic motivation to share by giving a special “team” (or
group) pricing deal which subscribers can unlock when they make
5-20 referrals. After all, shouldn’t they share with colleagues anyway?

4
A unique showstopper reward
A newsletter like yours has a niche but passionate (and well-paid)
audience. So create a unique reward that your biggest fans will work
towards. Like an NFT of the newsletter or avisit to meet the team.

5
(Sponsored) giveaway
Work with a brand partner to provide a significant giveaway prize
that’s guaranteed to get your subscribers referring. And generate
some extra ad revenue (or close new deals) at the same time.

6
Top 5 rewards

Local

Newsletters
Local media companies, publishers and newsletters can experience
rapid email-list growth with a referral program.

Here are the top five referral rewards that’ll increase your growth,
decrease your CPAs, and have the whole town reading your emails:

1
An “insiders only” newsletter section
Create a section of your newsletter that only “insiders” can see. To
unlock it, your subscribers have to make 1-3 referrals. Everybody else
just sees a “locked” blurred-out section and a CTA to share.

2
Sponsored rewards
Local businesses are eager to get in front of local readers. Partner up
with them to provide amazing rewards — like coffee coupons and
tickets to entertainment events — completely free.

3
Branded merchandise
“Swag” is an effective reward when the people who’ll wear it live next
to other potential readers. 1-2 items of quality branded merch can do
really well. Try t-shirts, mugs, caps, or something totally unique!

4
Team/group rewards
What group reward can your subscribers unlock when they share
with 5, 10, or 50 of their work colleagues or school friends? A
shoutout for their local business maybe?

5
(Sponsored) giveaway
Work with a local brand to provide a significant giveaway prize that’s
guaranteed to get your subscribers referring. And generate some
extra ad revenue (or close new deals) at the same time.

7
Top 5 rewards

Ecommerce

Email-Lists
The best DTC brands in the world use a referral program to grow
their audience and boost sales. You should too.

Here are the top five referral rewards that’ll increase your growth,
boost conversions to sales, and decrease your CPAs:

1
Coupon
Discounts make terrible referral rewards. But — as a first “trigger”
reward for ecommerce — nothing beats a coupon/gift card.
Automated, free, and boosts revenue. Just don’t call it a discount!

2
Insider club
Your most dedicated subscribers want to feel closer to your brand.
Let them unlock access to an “insiders” club for 3-10 referrals. Where
they’ll get early access/peeks at new product launches and sales.

3
Cross-promotion
Reach out to another (non-competing) brand your audience likes and
swap products as referral rewards. Free, effective and your brand
gets exposure to their email audience too.

4
Limited edition “drop”
Entice your biggest fans (and those with the largest audiences of
their own) to share and generate thousands of referrals with a limited
edition drop. Eg “first five to 100 referrals each get a one-off candle.”

5
G iveaways
Partner with a brand or use your own products for a significant
giveaway prize that’s guaranteed to get your subscribers referring
(and generate new purchases at the same time).

8
Top 5 rewards

Authors &

Info Products
For authors and info-product creators, nothing — literally nothing —
is more important than growing a large, engaged email audience.

Here are the top five referral rewards that’ll increase your growth,
boost subscription revenue/conversions, and decrease your CPAs:

1
Exclusive free chapter/lesson
Get subscribers sharing with an unlockable “exclusive” content
reward for 1-3 referrals. Ideally, add some mystery/story to it. Eg Tim
Ferriss’ “chapter of my book the publishers made me take out.”

2
Early Access
Often, the subscribers who are most likely to share would rather get
your products early than get them cheaper. Before a new launch,
reward them with early access for 2-3 referrals (and boost sales).

3
An “insiders only” newsletter section
Create a section of your newsletter that only “insiders” can see. To
unlock it, your subscribers have to make 1-3 referrals. Everybody else
just sees a “locked” blurred-out section and a CTA to share.

4
Team/group rewards
Rewards don’t always have to be all about the referrer. Try a reward
that benefits the referee too. For example, give your subscribers 3
discount codes for people they refer. Or unlock special team pricing.

5
Virtual coffee/coaching
Often, the thing your subscribers want most of all is you (-r time)! As
a reward for more referrals, let them unlock a free virtual coffee or
coaching call with you. Like NY T-bestselling author David Sinclair did.

9
Top 5 rewards

Niche Audience

Newsletters
Struggling to grow your email audience in a specific niche or
industry vertical?

Unlock new growth and decrease your CPA with a referral program
inspired by these five most effective rewards:

1
An “insiders only” newsletter section
Create a section of your newsletter that only “insiders” can see. To
unlock it, your subscribers have to make 1-3 referrals. Everybody else
just sees a “locked” blurred-out section and a CTA to share.

2
Shoutouts
As Aleyda Solis found out when she 3x’ed her niche SEO industry
newsletter growth with referrals, your audience wants to be given
recognition! Try giving a shoutout to top referrers in your newsletter.

3
Team/group rewards
WIth a niche newsletter, your subscribers likely all know people who
should read it too. Work colleagues maybe — or sports team-mates?
What group reward can they unlock for 5, 10, or 50 internal referrals?

4
Revenue-related rewards
When in doubt, turn to your sources of revenue for the most effective
reward ideas. Eg partner with sponsors or give coupons for products.

5
(Sponsored) giveaway
Work with a brand partner to provide a significant giveaway prize
that’s guaranteed to get your subscribers referring. And generate
some extra ad revenue (or close new deals) at the same time.

10
Ready to boost your

email growth?
Book a free strategy call with our team and see how easy it

is to grow your email-list faster with a referral program.

We’ll look at your newsletter, your rewards, and find a good

estimate for your referral growth potential.

Book a demo now