How to Set Up a Referral Program on Blinko

Word of mouth is already your best marketing channel. You just have no way to track it, reward it, or turn it up. A Referral Program on Blinko changes that — existing customers share a personal link or QR code, their friend scans it and gets a discount, and the original customer earns a reward once that friend actually comes in and redeems. Two-sided. Automatic. No manual tracking. This guide walks you through the full setup.

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What is a Referral Program?

A Referral Program is a two-sided campaign. When you publish it, every existing customer in your Blinko directory receives a "Share & Earn" card in their app. They tap it, get a personal QR code and share link, and send it to a friend. Here's what happens next:

The friend (new customer):

• Scans the QR code or taps the link
• Automatically follows your business
• Receives Coupon A (the referee reward) in their Blinko wallet — instantly

The original customer (the referrer):

• Receives Coupon B (the referrer reward) — but only once their friend actually redeems Coupon A in-store

That second part is the key design choice. The referrer doesn't earn anything just for sharing. They earn it when their friend converts. That makes the reward meaningful and the economics predictable: you only pay out for actual new customers who came in.

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When to use it

A Referral Program works best when:

• You already have a warm base of happy customers — referrals only flow from people who like you enough to tell a friend
• You want to grow your customer base, not just retain existing ones
• Your average visit value is high enough that a two-coupon payout stays profitable (think: salons, gyms, spas, specialty food businesses)
• You've already saturated your existing followers with retention campaigns and want to reach new audiences without paid ads
• You're happy giving a strong welcome offer to net-new customers — Coupon A should be compelling enough to pull someone in for the first time

It pairs naturally with a Stamp Card and Welcome Offer. The referral brings them in. The welcome offer gives them a reason to return. The stamp card builds the long-term habit.

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What you'll get

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How to set it up

Option 1: Web Portal

Time to complete: ~5 minutes

Step 1 — Go to Campaigns in the left sidebar

Log in at local.blinko.ai and click Campaigns in the left navigation.

Step 2 — Click New Campaign → Refer-a-Friend

Click the New Campaign button (top right). Select Refer-a-Friend from the campaign type list.

Step 3 — Name your campaign

Under Campaign Name, enter what you want to call it — this is your internal label for the dashboard. The placeholder gives you a starting point: "Bring a friend, both save."

Add a short description that customers will see in their wallet: "Share your code — your friend gets a welcome discount, and you get a reward when they redeem." Edit it to match your voice.

Step 4 — Configure Referee Reward (Coupon A)

This is what the new customer gets when they claim the referral. Under Referee Reward — Coupon A:

• Reward type: Choose Percent (e.g. 15% off) or Fixed amount (e.g. $10 off). Percent works well for predictable-ticket businesses like cafés. Fixed amounts feel more concrete for high-ticket or variable-price services like salons.
• Reward value: Enter the percentage or dollar amount. Default is 15%.
• Coupon expires after: How many days from issue before Coupon A expires. Default is 30 days. Shorter windows increase urgency and lift redemption rates — 30 days is a good starting point.
• Description (optional): A line that appears on the coupon in the customer's app. Something like "Welcome! 15% off your first visit — from a friend's recommendation."

Step 5 — Configure Referrer Reward (Coupon B)

This is what the existing customer earns once their friend redeems Coupon A. Under Referrer Reward — Coupon B:

• Reward type: Same options — Percent or Fixed amount.
• Reward value: Make this slightly lower than Coupon A. The new customer's welcome offer should be the headline. Default is 10%.
• Coupon expires after: How many days before Coupon B expires. Default is 60 days — the referrer should have time to come back in after their friend redeems.
• Description (optional): "Thanks for the referral — 10% off your next visit."

Step 6 — Set Guardrails

Under Guardrails, two optional caps protect you from a small number of customers gaming the system:

• Max referrals per customer: How many Coupon Bs a single customer can earn from this campaign. Default is 10. For a first campaign, start with 5 to test the economics before scaling.
• Total Coupon A budget: A campaign-wide ceiling on how many new customers can claim. Leave this Unlimited unless you have a hard marketing budget you need to respect.

Step 7 — Click Publish

Click Publish at the bottom. The campaign activates immediately. Every customer in your Blinko directory will see the "Share & Earn" card in their wallet the next time they open the app — or right away via push notification.

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Option 2: Mobile App

Time to complete: ~5 minutes

Step 1 — Open the Campaigns tab

In the bottom navigation bar, tap Campaigns.

Step 2 — Tap + → Refer-a-Friend

Tap the + icon in the top-right corner. Select Refer-a-Friend from the campaign type picker.

Step 3 — Fill in your rewards

The mobile composer mirrors the web portal layout — Campaign Name, Coupon A (referee reward), Coupon B (referrer reward), and Guardrails. Follow the same steps above for each field.

Step 4 — Tap Publish

Tap Publish to activate. The campaign goes live immediately.

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Option 3: AI Copilot

The AI Copilot can draft a Referral Program from a single prompt. Try:

"Create a referral program where new customers get 15% off and the person who referred them gets $5 off when the friend redeems."

"Set up a refer-a-friend campaign — 20% welcome discount for the friend, free add-on for the referrer."

"Create a referral program for my nail salon — make it generous for new customers."

The Copilot builds the campaign — including both reward blocks and a description — for your review. Make any adjustments, then tap Activate.

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How sharing works (customer side)

Once your Referral Program is live, every existing customer sees a "Share & Earn" card in their Blinko wallet — an indigo card with a "REFER & EARN" badge. They tap it, which opens a personal share sheet with:

• Their unique QR code
• A shareable link
• A coupon image with their QR code embedded — ready to send over WhatsApp, text message, or Instagram

They send it to whoever they want to refer. The link and the QR code both point to the same place — the friend gets the same experience either way.

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How claiming works (friend side)

When the friend receives the share:

• If they tap the link: The Blinko app opens (or they're prompted to download it) and they land on a referral claim screen with the business details, the offer, and a one-tap Claim button.
• If they scan the QR code: Same result — the app opens to the same referral claim screen.

On claim, the friend automatically follows your business and receives Coupon A in their wallet. They're now in your customer directory.

When the friend visits in-store and redeems Coupon A (staff scan their QR code in the Blinko Business app), Coupon B is automatically issued to the original referrer. No staff involvement needed on the referral side — just the normal redemption flow for the coupon.

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What your staff need to do

Almost nothing. Staff only touch the referral campaign at the standard redemption step:

1. Customer (the friend) shows their Coupon A in the Blinko app
2. Staff open the Blinko Business app → tap Redeem
3. Staff scan the customer's in-app QR code — redemption confirmed
4. Staff honour the discount at the register

That's it. Coupon B issues to the referrer automatically — no staff action needed there.

Brief your team: "When someone shows a coupon in their Blinko app, scan their QR code in the business app before giving the discount. Everything else is automatic."

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Tips for better results

Make Coupon A the headline offer

The new customer has never been in before. They need a reason to bother. A 10% welcome discount won't move most people. 15–20% off, or a free item, changes the calculation. The referee reward is your acquisition offer — make it count.

Coupon B is a thank-you, not a primary motivator

Most customers who share your referral do it because they like your business, not because they're grinding for a reward. Coupon B should feel like a genuine thank-you — 10% off or $5 off is appropriate. Making it too generous relative to Coupon A looks odd.

Start with a cap of 5 per referrer

Before you know your referral economics, cap at 5 referrals per customer. Once you have data — what % of friends actually claim, what % redeem — you can raise it. Most businesses find the honest answer is a few people are responsible for most referrals, and a cap of 5 is rarely hit.

Only one active referral campaign at a time

Blinko enforces this. If you try to publish a second one, you'll see: "You already have an active referral program — end it first." Archive or end the current campaign before creating a new version.

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Frequently asked questions

Does a friend need a Blinko account to claim the referral? They need to download the free Blinko Spots app if they don't already have it — but the process is one tap from the referral link. Existing Blinko users connect instantly. No separate account creation required.

What if the friend already follows my business? The claim is rejected with a "you already follow this business" message. Coupon A is only issued to net-new followers — someone who wasn't in your directory before the scan.

When does the referrer get Coupon B? Only after their friend redeems Coupon A in-store. Not at the moment of sharing, not at the moment the friend claims — only on actual in-store redemption. This ties the referrer's reward to a real converted customer.

Can a customer refer themselves with a second phone? Self-referral is blocked server-side. The system checks that the referrer and referee are different accounts before issuing any coupon.

What happens to outstanding coupons if I end the campaign? Coupons already issued keep their own expiry windows. A Coupon A issued 10 days ago with a 30-day expiry will still be valid for 20 more days, even after the campaign ends. No new referrals can be accepted once you end the campaign.

Can I change the rewards after publishing? Yes — pause the campaign, make your edits, and republish. Already-issued coupons keep their original terms. New shares and claims after republishing use the updated reward values.