Are Your Athletes Using the Referral Feature?

Data doesn’t lie. And what it tells us is great news. It’s excellent, really. In fact, it’s awesome. It’s the race promotion strategy that’s a sure thing.

What our data tells us is that every paid registration dollar is actually worth $2.65

How, you ask? Through the Athlinks Services Referral Feature. Hands down, encouraging referrals is one of the most successful race promotion strategies you can use. When implemented, this strategy is practically foolproof. This means that every registrant who uses the Referral Feature generates an additional 1.65 registrations (not including their registration). Which equals more money in your pocket and more athletes toeing your start line.

The question is, how do we inspire more athletes to use the Referral Feature? Because we know it’s a profitable tool with a high-value return. With improved marketing, the feature can become a very powerful race pricing strategy. It’s virtually guaranteed to land more and more athletes on your start line. Imagine if even 10% of your registration dollars were multiplied by a factor of 2.65. What if you could boost that percentage to 20%? 30%? The return would be well worth the effort.

So, how do you get more athletes to refer their friends to your race? First, you need to look at the behavior of the athletes currently using the Referral Feature. Here’s where they use it:

• 80% via email
• 19% on Facebook
• < 1% on Twitter

This means that you should primarily target email referrals. These emails are personal and connect with an athlete’s most engaged friends who are more likely to join them to race.  Facebook referrals are also effective, but they are shared to a wider audience who may be less engaged. Make it a no-brainer for athletes to share their unique referral URL through these platforms. In ChronoTrack Live, it’s easy to create custom social promotions that encourage athletes to do so. This works in two ways:

Unique Share URL delivered in Confirmation Email:

After an athlete completes an online registration, they can share their personal referral URL with friends. The URL is automatically generated and delivered in the confirmation email. All referral registrations are associated to the URL.

How to Use the Referral Feature:

Through the Referral Feature, you can easily track referrals. Our reporting shows you the source of the referral, as well as the names of both the referrer and the referee. This makes it simple to incentivize referrals and reward athletes who encourage others to register. The better the promotion, the more successful referrals you will drive. The more referrals, the more athletes at your event. There’s no question that the Referral Feature is a race pricing strategy that increases revenue. Many other strategies can be built off of it. Multiple marketing campaigns can be built around it. How? Here are some ideas:

• Identify the influencers in your market
• Build campaigns around your ambassadors
• Create contests and reward programs for generating referrals, such as:
  • Give VIP access to the top 10 referrers
  • Reward top referrers with sponsor-provided prizes
  • Offer a discount to referrer’s for a future event
  • Showcase contest winners on your social pages
• Remind registered athletes to use their referral link:
  • When price increases are coming
  • When the event or certain categories are close to selling out
• Experiment with reminders at various intervals between the original registration and race day
  • Send email reminders at monthly intervals 1, 2, and 3 months prior to race day
• Enhance your confirmation emails with details of the benefits of using the Referral Feature
  • Also include contest details if applicable

Want more race pricing strategies? Download our free guide, Optimizing the Reg Path. And give us a call at 855-709-4555 if we can answer any questions!