(Lovefilm is a good one as
it has a 14 day free trial)
Step 4: Get your friends to do the same!
Once enough people have joined you get a free Gadget!
How it works...
The phenomenon of referral marketing has recently swept the U.S. by storm, allowing customers to receive highly sought
after free gifts, through what is essentially an advertising website (known as a referrals website). Customers are required
to encourage others to sign up to the referrals site in order to receive their free item, thus promoting the website and generating
advertising revenue. The system is relatively new to UK shores, but already it is starting to have a similar impact here,
with a steady influx of new UK referrals sites offering everything from Ipods to laptops.
Referrals websites are affiliated with a number of sponsor sites (Lovefim DVD rental, for example). Each of the sponsor
sites advertise offers on the referral site, and a credit is received in return for completing one of these offers.
Upon registering with the referrals website customers are required to complete one of these sponsored offers in order
to activate their account. Customers are then required to refer a number of other people to the site; those who sign up are
termed referrals. Referrals who go on to complete a sponsored offer gain the original customer a credit and once the customer
has gained enough credits in this way, they are sent their free item.
The key to the referrals system is that the referral website is paid by the sponsor for every customer who clicks on and
signs up for a trial offer with that sponsor. So if someone signs up for a Lovefilm free trial through PS3 giveaway, PS3 giveaway
will receive X amount of money from Lovefilm. When this person then goes on to refer 13 other people to PS3 giveaway (and
if each of the 13 people sign up for a free Lovefilm trial), then PS3 giveaway will receive payment from their sponsor for
each of these 13 people.
The result is that the referrals website receives sufficient funding to send the customer their free gift and to operate
the referral site. This system is a very clever and cost effective way of making money by directing traffic towards sponsors,
with the direct benefit that the customer receives a share of their advertising revenue in the form of a free gift.
