Top 10 Referral Programs to Make Money in 2024

Best referral marketing programs have emerged as lucrative opportunities for individuals to earn extra income. As we step into 2024, the realm of referral marketing continues to evolve, providing diverse avenues for users to capitalize on their online presence.

This article delves into the best referral marketing programs to make money in 2024 that promise substantial returns and outlines strategies to maximize your earnings in the referral space.

What is a Referral Program?

A referral program is a strategy where platforms incentivize existing marketers to refer new users to their services. This is typically done through a structured program that rewards the marketers for each successful referral they make. As a result, online referral programs become one of the ways to make money on the Internet in 2024.

How Does a Referral Program Work?

The best referral marketing campaigns generally encompass the following points:

• Generating a Referral Link: To get referrals, a platform must provide affiliates with unique referral links that they can share with others;
  
• Sharing the Referral Link: Affiliates share their unique links with their friends, colleagues, and and anyone interested in affiliate marketing;
  
• Referral Tracking: When a new customer clicks on the referral link or uses the code to make a purchase or sign up for the service, the system tracks this as a successful referral;
  
• Reward System: Once a successful referral is made, the existing customer or affiliate who made the referral becomes eligible for a reward. Rewards can vary and may include cash incentives, discounts, free products/services, credits, or other perks.

Overall, referral programs are a win-win for everyone involved: the platform gets new partners, affiliates get rewarded, and new affiliates join a trusted network.

Why Use Referral Programs?

Numerous studies have consistently shown that consumers trust word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and colleagues more than any other form of advertising. Because of this approach, referrals acquired through referral programs tend to be of higher quality than customers acquired through alternative marketing channels.

Referral Marketing Program VS Affiliate Program

Here is a table outlining the differences between referral programs and affiliate programs based on the provided text:

What to choose? It all depends on your goals and preferences. For example, if you don’t want to bother creating a campaign to promote an offer to a wide audience, choose a referral program. This way, you will only earn money by joining your friends and acquaintances to the platfrom. If you are ready to dive into a more labor-intensive sphere, choose an affiliate program.

Are you looking for a list of the best CPA affiliate programs? Read our article and join in with descriptions and detailed features of the platforms.

Top 10 High Paying Referral Programs in 2024

Here is a list of referral programs:

1. ShareASale
2. Fiverr
3. Crowdfire
4. GetResponse
5. ClickUp
6. Acorns
7. SoFi
8. Swagbucks
9. Venmo
10. Coinbase

Let’s have a look at referral program examples and their main characteristics.

1. ShareASale

First and foremost, ShareASale is an affiliate network. But the company attracts new partners — both advertisers and affiliates — by suggesting rewards for referring new users through a referral program.

You can earn up to $150 for each successful referral. The goal is simply to make a connection. If you know an affiliate or advertiser who is looking to make money by promoting offers, it can be a mutually beneficial proposition.

You will need a ShareASale account in order to promote the offers. Fortunately, creating these accounts is free, which removes any real barriers to entry.

• Referral fee: $150

2. Fiverr

Fiverr is a platform that provides services to freelancers and covers a wide range of areas from web development to graphic design and content creation.

As a referral program, Fiverr offers 10% of the purchase amount per referral, up to a maximum of $100 in Fiverr credits. Members can accumulate up to $500 credits through the program, which equates to a limit of five referrals.

In addition, new customers referred through the program receive a 10% discount on their first purchase, up to a maximum of $100.

Potential participants should note that the program is only available to registered Fiverr users.

• Referral fee: $100

3. Crowdfire

Crowdfire is a social management platform that helps to schedule content effectively on various social platforms at optimal times. It enables users to publish content across a wide array of significant social networks and share content from an extensive range of blogging platforms, eCommerce websites, and video platforms like YouTube and Twitch. This is achieved through an intuitive interface that simplifies the process of sharing a single post across all chosen social networks.

Also, this platform has a referral campaign. Crowdfire allows you to invite users and receive up to $420 for each referred customer. When you invite someone to join Crowdfire, you will earn 35% of all the payments they make during their first year.

• Referral fee: $420

4. GetResponse

GetResponse is a platform that offers tools such as website builders, landing pages, e-commerce marketing tools, conversion funnels, webinars, live chat support and more. Businesses use GetResponse to attract leads, increase sales, and attract new customers.

GetResponse partners have several opportunities to attract referrals. For example, this program is available through the GetResponse mobile app and provides a $30 credit to both the customer themselves and their referral.

For more substantial incentives, GetResponse offers affiliate programs. These programs are designed for both existing customers and non-customers interested in creating a recurring revenue stream by supporting the platform. Members can choose either a 33% recurring program or a one-time commission of $100 for new sales.

• Referral fee: $30

5. ClickUp

ClickUp is a project management tool. This provider offers a comprehensive set of collaboration and data tools that serve as a viable alternative to the complex array of applications typically used in the workplace.

Joining ClickUp, you can receive up to $24 for each new activated workspace referral that signs up for free. The commission amount varies depending on the geographic location of the signup.

Sharing your referral link, remember that users who click on your link will have 30 days to register for you to earn a commission.

• Referral fee: $24

6. Acorns

Acorns is an investment platform. The name comes from an old English proverb: “…from little acorns grow mighty oaks”, implying that small investments can grow significantly over time. This concept is at the heart of what Acorns offers: a method of automatically investing your change.

Their referral program works like this: when you refer someone, you earn $5, which Acorns invests on your behalf. This means that you can’t withdraw that $5 into your bank account, but you are creating a long-term investment asset.

It’s important to note that the person you refer must be approved and invest at least $5 dollars before you receive your referral bonus.

• Referral fee: $5

7. SoFi

SoFi is a platform that is used for student, personal, and even mortgage loans. The company’s main goal is not to penalize people for taking out loans from them; rather, they aim to help people get out of debt while building their financial management skills.

Their services include a referral program. SoFi rewards you with cash incentives when your referrals sign up and fund any of the following accounts:

• SoFi Money Account;
• Investment account;
• Student loan refinancing;
• Personal Loans.

For example, if a referral opens a SoFi Money account and deposits $500, you will receive a $50 bonus. However, there is a cap on the referral’s potential earnings of $10,000 per year.

• Referral fee: $50

8. Swagbucks

Swagbucks offers the opportunity to earn rewards for completing routine tasks such as surveys. The company has piqued users’ interest by giving away 7,000 gift cards every day, providing a close alternative to cash rewards. The platform also provides complete anonymity for its users.

As for the customers referral program, for each user you refer, you will receive 10% of their earnings, as well as an additional 100 Swagbucks credited to your account. The more referrals you make, the more you will earn in gift card rewards.

• Referral fee: 10%

9. Venmo

Venmo refers to banking and financial platforms. It enables users to conveniently transfer funds among friends, family, and authorized businesses through a mobile application. Whether you need to divide a dining tab, cover your rent, or send money to a friend, Venmo facilitates swift transactions. Noteworthy for its interactive feature resembling social media, users can engage in shared transactions by adding personalized emojis and messages.

Through the Venmo referral initiative, you have the opportunity to earn $50 for each person referred (subject to specific qualifications), with a potential to successfully refer up to 10 individuals.

• Referral fee: $50

10. Coinbase

Coinbase is a well-known cryptocurrency exchange platform that has been serving its customers since 2012. Essentially, the company offers a user-friendly interface for trading cryptocurrencies. You can use traditional FIAT currency such as credit or debit cards for this purpose, which is especially convenient for beginners.

Coinbase’s successful referral program works according to a simple scheme. To participate in it, you first register an account. Then you can share your personalized “Refer a Friend” link with people you know.

Once your referral makes a $100 cryptocurrency transaction, you will both receive a $10 bonus credited to your accounts within 180 days of the respective transaction. This bonus can be used to further explore and invest in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, Stellar Lumens and others.

• Referral fee: $10
  

How to Choose Referral Programs to Make Money?

The first and most important thing you need to focus on is the interests of your audience. If your friends, acquaintances, colleagues are not interested in eCommerce, it is unlikely that people will want to join any platform of this type.

So do a research, evaluate what you can offer people, how many referrals you will be able to bring in. And only after that start promoting your referral link.

How to Promote Your Referral Link?

There are several methods to promote a referral link. Let’s have a look at the most popular ones.

Email

Depending on how often you send out emails to share a referral link, you can use email marketing platforms. Setting up your emails correctly depends on your target audience, whether they are people you know or people you don’t know very well. If you are addressing the latter group, it’s important to comply with email marketing regulations and anti-spam laws that prioritize recipients’ rights, including aspects such as consent, privacy and data protection.

For example, if you plan to send monthly emails to a small circle of old acquaintances, a basic email service will suffice. Conversely, if you run a public Facebook group and want to encourage its members to subscribe to your monthly newsletter, an email marketing tool would be appropriate.

Social Media

Chances are you have accounts on various social media platforms. Take advantage of this opportunity by discreetly mentioning a referral program you like in your posts, tweets and other content.

Share your referral link on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Facebook provides various features such as your profile, pages and groups. Along with your link, include enticing text explaining the purpose of your post to encourage clicks. A stand-alone link may not get attention and may appear spammy.

If you periodically upload videos to YouTube, include your link in the description.

Blogs

While there are many free third-party websites and blogging platforms available, having a website under your complete control offers unparalleled benefits. If you don’t have your own website, you can create one yourself using any website builder. They provide a wide range of templates and a user-friendly editor. The best part is that you won’t need coding knowledge.

Having a website will allow you to create a customized page that showcases your preferred businesses and integrates your referral code or link. By referring your friends to this page through social media or email, you can increase your visibility.

Forums

The form is also a good place to put a referral link. However, you need to be careful. Since on forms people usually share their real experiences and give honest feedback, your referral link should look natural. Otherwise, your post will be seen as an advertisement and even deleted.

Veranika Minina

Veranika Minina is a fan of affiliate marketing. Veranika's articles are carefully crafted to simplify complex concepts, making them accessible to beginners while also offering fresh perspectives about CPA-networks for experienced marketers. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned marketer, Veranika's writings are sure to inspire, educate, and motivate, guiding you towards a profitable affiliate marketing journey.