- beehiiv Blog
- Posts
- The Top 7 Referral Emails To Grow Your Brand
The Top 7 Referral Emails To Grow Your Brand
Acquire New Customers and Boost Brand Loyalty
Nicola Vaughan
April 11, 2025
Did you know that turning to your existing customers can be one of the most successful ways of acquiring new customers?
Referral programs hit two birds with one stone by rewarding your loyal subscriber base for referring their friends and family to your brand.
Not only does this provide you with a new set of customers to engage with, but it also proves to your existing customers that you value them and want to reward them for their loyalty.
You may be wondering how to write a referral email that performs, giving your subscribers the right messaging to encourage them to refer a friend.
I’ve looked at the top referral email examples from brands such as CloudBoost, The Body Shop, and AO to narrow down the key points of a powerful email template, making it easy to craft a successful referral email for your brand.
This help guide will explain why referral emails are so important, providing some of the best referral email templates I’ve seen in my experience of email marketing, my personal favorite templates, and how to write a referral email that actually yields results.
I’ll also give you some details on beehiiv’s intuitive referral program and how it allows you to scale your audience and measure the outcome.
Table of Contents
Why Referral Emails Are an Absolute Must
Referral emails are integral to showing your customers how much you value them.
Referral emails are a super personal way of telling your audience that you want to reward them for recommending your brand, essentially transforming them into official brand ambassadors!
92% of customers trust recommendations from friends and family over any other advertising method (Firework). This is a huge statistic that tells us just how powerful referral emails can be when done right.
Let’s explore some case studies from top brands that show how referral emails drive business growth, and I’ll discuss my experience with what worked and what didn’t with testing referral emails.
How Referral Emails Drive Business Growth
Two brands that have had ongoing success with referral emails are The Brink, a leading AI newsletter, and Milk Road, a daily crypto newsletter/website.
The Brink
The Brink is a great example of how referral emails can drive large numbers of new subscribers.
Using the beehiiv referral program and a highly focused referral email template, The Brink achieved 14,000 new subscribers just one month after launch.
Marcus Ramsey, founder of The Brink, explained that referrals earned his brand “a ton of new subscribers” and recommended beehiiv’s referral program as it is “built in automatically”’ within the beehiiv newsletter system, making it simple and cost-effective.
Check out the full case study here over on the beehiiv blog.
Milk Road
Another great case study that shows how successful referrals can be in building subscriber numbers is Milk Road.
Milk Road was keen to offer their subscribers an exclusive PDF on popular crypto topics for any subscriber who refers a friend.
Milk Road used the beehiiv Referral Program to do this, creating an automated referral email that gives subscribers a unique referral URL that they can send to their friends directly.
Subscribers could then view their rewards via their unique referral hub on Milk Road’s website, plus possible rewards that they could earn by referring more friends.
These referral emails resulted in over 18,000 referred readers, with an average of 2.7 referrals from each subscriber.
For more numbers and info on this case study, check out this link.
My Experience Testing Referral Emails
I’ve tested many different referral email templates in my ten years in digital marketing.
You quickly find out what works and what doesn’t when testing templates for different brands. Here’s the low-down on what to try and what to avoid when testing referral emails.
What Worked
Audience Segmentation: Focusing on your happiest customers/subscribers is key to a successful referral program. They’re more likely to recommend your brand to their friends, so I’d recommend segmenting your audience by activity to target the most engaged subscribers with your referral campaign.
Personalized Subject Lines: Using personalization such as a subject line with a subscriber’s first name has been successful in my referral campaigns, as it has increased open rates and encouraged users to interact with my referral strategies.
Strong CTAs: A strong call to action (CTA) is a must for any successful email template, but especially in my referral emails. You want to make it as easy as possible for your subscribers to refer a friend, so a strong CTA that is easy to share is crucial to these campaigns.
What Didn’t
Complex Information: I found that referral emails that were overly text-heavy and complicated were far less likely to yield positive results. Keep your referral emails short and sweet. They should be easy for your subscriber to understand, allowing them to refer a friend quickly and easily.
The Wrong Incentives: Establishing the right incentives was something I quickly realized was key to a successful referral campaign. Think about what type of rewards your subscribers would like -- a discount code may work for some brands, whereas a resource/PDF may work for others.
Focusing Solely on Your Brand: It’s important for referral emails to focus more on your customer than your brand. Tell customers why you value their referral -- it’s likely they already know your brand, so focus on subscribers and what they’ll receive for their referral.
The Best Referral Email Examples I’ve Seen
Let’s take a look at some real-life brand examples of referral emails.
This should give you some inspiration and ideas on how different types of referral emails can work.
A Simple Yet Effective Referral Email
Here’s a referral email I received recently from AO, a well-known brand, famous for selling electrical goods in the UK.
This template is simple and effective, with a clear CTA at the top of the page indicating that I can get £20 off my next order if I refer a friend.
The CTA is in a contrasting color to the background of the email, making it stand out and being the first thing I noticed on the page.
I also like how it goes on to explain how the referral program works, from initially registering, to sharing with a friend, and ultimately collecting my reward.
A Personalized Referral Email That Converts
As mentioned above, segmentation and personalization are super important in creating a successful referral campaign.
Here’s an example of an email template from Digit, an automated finance app that includes a section at the top of the page that shows how much money the subscriber has earned via their referral program so far.
By segmenting their lists, Digit has targeted subscribers individually to give their referral emails a personal touch, increasing the likelihood of a subscriber recommending more friends to their brand.
A Limited-Time Offer Referral Email
Creating urgency and scarcity can significantly increase the chances of your subscribers referring a friend.
Here’s a great example from online jewelry retailer Rocksbox.
This referral email incentivizes subscribers with $25 worth of credit and the chance of winning $250 worth of credit if they invite their friends to join Rocksbox, but only if they refer a friend this month.
By limiting the offer to a small timescale, Rocksbox is creating urgency and increasing the chances of subscribers referring a friend, so they don't miss out on the potential incentives.
A Referral Email With a Two-Way Incentive
Incentives that reward both the referrer and referee can be very powerful, enabling both parties to win with your referral scheme.
U.S.-based soft drink company Olipop does this well. Their slogan “Get What You Give” encourages subscribers to recommend Olipop to friends, providing both the subscriber and their friend with a $5 credit.
This slogan taps into the idea that everybody wins, with the brand rewarding everyone involved in the referral process.
My Favorite Referral Email Templates
I’ve come across many different types of referral email templates over the years. Some are basic but successful, and some focus on the brand’s industry.
Here are my top three referral email templates, including a simple template, a template for SaaS businesses, and a template for E-commerce brands.
Basic Referral Email Template
My favorite basic referral email template is by the pet wellness brand Front Of The Pack.
This template simplifies the referral offering, with the CTA “Give $20, Get $20 Now” making it easy to understand what the incentive is and how to get it.
The imagery is eye-catching and relevant to the brand. Plus, a sense of community is created in this email by encouraging subscribers to “Share the Savings With Other Dog Parents.”
Overall, this is a simple referral email template that encourages subscribers to earn a reward by recommending the brand’s products to like-minded people.
SaaS Referral Email Template
If you have a SaaS business, this referral template is perfect for inspiration.
TicketTailor is an online ticketing platform that allows users to sell tickets online for their next event, and their referral email template stands out among other SaaS business email templates I’ve seen.
This template is personalized with the subscriber’s first name, instantly creating a personal feel, and explains the referral scheme clearly and informally.
My favorite element of this template is the testimonial from an existing customer. This review shows the success of their referral program from the point of view of another TicketTailor user, showing how it has helped generate additional income without impacting fees for their clients.
The template goes on to explain the referrals in three easy steps, from showing where to find a unique referral link to generating free ticket credits.
Why Listen to Me? I have been working in the digital marketing space for nearly 10 years, predominantly helping brands with their email marketing and online presence. I now specialize in creating great content for beehiiv to help people nail their email strategies!
E-Commerce Referral Email Template
Referral programs are particularly important for E-commerce businesses, where new customer email addresses are everything for growing their business.
My favorite referral template for E-commerce businesses is this one from the online razor subscription brand Harry’s.
I love how Harry’s has focused on the customer from the very start, with the emotive language of “You mean a lot to us” at the top of the email.
This instantly makes the customer feel valued, making them more likely to refer a friend later in the email.
Harry’s has gone on to produce a two-way referral incentive, with both the existing customer and the referred friend receiving a reward in return for the referral.
This template beautifully combines a compelling incentive with customer focus, tying it all together with eye-catching imagery and strong CTAs.
How To Write a Referral Email That Actually Works
Now that you have some rocking templates to inspire you, let’s discuss how the elements of writing a referral email produces real results.
Crafting a Compelling Subject Line
Your subject line is one of the most important aspects of your referral email campaign.
It indicates what your email is going to be about and can be the main influence in whether your email gets opened or not.
Here are my top tips for crafting a compelling subject line”:
Personalization: Including a subscriber’s first name can significantly improve your open rate, while making your email stand out in a crowded inbox.
Leak Some Details: Drip-feeding some of the most exciting parts of your referral scheme in your subject line can entice your subscribers into opening your email. Think about dropping a potential discount figure into your subject line or even the amount of money your subscriber could earn.
A/B Testing: Trying out a few different subject lines to test results can be highly successful with referral emails. Use A/B testing to see which subject lines yield the best results and stick with those.
Keeping the Email Short and Clear
Referral emails that are short and sweet, clearly explaining what the referral scheme is, are more likely to produce better results than emails that are long-winded and complex.
Think about your referral offering and the best way of explaining it. Ideally, you want to be able to wrap this up in a few short sentences, answering the following questions:
What your subscriber needs to do
What your subscriber will get in return
Adding a Strong Call-to-Action
You may have noticed that all of the email templates I’ve shown you today have one key element in common: a strong Call-to-Action.
A compelling CTA is what will drive your subscribers to refer a friend.
You should think about the text, using persuasive language with a clear action you want your subscriber to complete.
It’s also worth thinking about the design of your CTA. You could use a different text color to the background color of your CTA button to ensure that it stands out or a contrasting background color to the main body color of your email template.
Whichever design you choose, make sure that your CTA stands out and drives your subscribers to complete the desired outcome.
How To Get More Referrals With Email
Hopefully, you’re buzzing with inspiration for your referral campaign and can’t wait to get started with your own referral email template!
To summarize:
Revisit the brand examples and templates in this guide to understand what performs best and why.
Decide on your referral incentive and create compelling content around it.
Pair your email with a personalized subject line to draw attention and consider A/B testing to determine a successful subject line.
Always use a strong CTA to drive conversions.
My final tip is to check out the beehiiv referral system. With a program that can be set up in minutes without code or integrations, you can create milestones for your subscribers to complete in return for custom rewards they can earn.
You can then drop the referral section easily into your newsletter in one click and measure results via the beehiiv analytics platform.
Simply watch your subscribers do the work as you see your audience grow!
Get a free, 30-day trial with beehiiv today to try out their referral program for yourself!
Google’s People Also Ask Questions
How do I write a referral email?
To write a referral email, think about the incentive you want to offer your subscribers and what they need to do to earn it. It’s best to use a personalized, clear subject line, a compelling incentive, and a strong CTA to drive your referral program.
What is an example of a referral message?
Here is an example of a referral message:
“Hi [first name],
As a valued customer, we want to invite you to join our referral program! Simply refer a friend, and you’ll both receive 10% off your next order.
Refer a Friend Now! (CTA)”
What is an example of a referral statement?
Here is an example of a referral statement:
“Hi [first name],
[friend’s name] has recommended [company name] to you, and you have an introductory offer of 10% off your next order!
Claim Offer Here! (CTA)”
How do you announce a referral program?
The best way to announce a referral program is via an email that is sent out to your subscribers, highlighting the following points:
What benefits the referrer and referee will receive
What the referrer and referee need to do to receive a reward/benefit
A reminder of your brand ethos and product offering
Reply