Referral programs used to be extremely straightforward. A customer would send their friend to a business. That new customer would mention that they were referred, and the business would do their best to keep both the referred and referrer happy in the hopes that the process would repeat itself. With the internet, the fundamentals are the same but the execution differs. To have an effective referral program online, a business needs the help of computer programming and web designers. Because those are skills outside the range of most businesses, it’s necessary to hire a service to provide the backend support. Even if your business will be using a service for your referral programs, it’s critical to understand the underlying principles of referral reward software.

1. How Ambassador Works: In
Layman’s Terms
A Whitepaper

2. Table of Contents
Introduction……………………...……………4
Link Tracking………………..………………..5
Rewards…………………………………........7
Applying Links…………………...……….....8
Beyond Clicks………...………………………9
The Information Advantage….…………..10
Conclusion……………………………………..11

3. How Ambassador Works: In Layman’s Terms
Definitions
Link, URL: When referring to a link or URL, we simply mean the string
of characters that take you to a place on the web (ex: google.com). The
personalized URLs that Ambassador uses look like http://mbsy.co/m8M
but can be customized.
Brand Ambassador: A brand ambassador is someone who advocates
for your brand to their networks. Typically a customer or someone who
has a relationship with your brand, their forms of advocacy vary widely.
Referred Customer: Referred customers are those who come to a
business as a result of a relationship with a brand ambassador who
referred them.
Referral Program: The marketing strategy in which your businesses
rewards a brand ambassador or referred customer or both for an
agreed-upon action or set of actions.
Referral Software, Platform: The technology to implement a referral
program using online resources and information to track, manage, and
reward brand ambassadors and referred customers.
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4. How Ambassador Works: In Layman’s Terms
Introduction
Referral programs used to be extremely straightforward. A customer
would send their friend to a business. That new customer would
mention that they were referred, and the business would do their best
to keep both the referred and referrer happy in the hopes that the
process would repeat itself.
With the internet, the fundamentals are the same but the execution
differs. To have an effective referral program online, a business needs
the help of computer programming and web designers. Because those
are skills outside the range of most businesses, it’s necessary to hire a
service to provide the backend support.
Even if your business will be using a service for your referral programs,
it’s critical to understand the underlying principles of referral reward
software.
Page 4

5. How Ambassador Works: In Layman’s Terms
Link Tracking
Referral software relies on two things: links and the clicks that they
facilitate.
The key to a referral program is that a business can accurately
attribute a referred customer to the customer who referred them.
Before the internet, a business would rely on that new customer
mentioning that they had been referred or having the referrer
introduce the business to the new customer directly.
With online referral programs, a business does not have to rely on
these activities to maintain an accurate reward system. Instead, a
business can discretely track the way that a new customer arrives and
whether it was as a result of a customer’s referral.
This is how it works: your referral program software gives every brand
ambassador a unique URL. You can designate where that URL takes
someone who clicks on it (perhaps a landing page for referred
customers or your home page). Regardless of where the link goes, the
critical element is that the link provides a customized and traceable
entry point to your site.
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6. How Ambassador Works: In Layman’s Terms
The personalized URLs are like unique doorways into your business. As
new people enter your business through a doorway associated with
one of your brand ambassadors, you can immediately tell who is
responsible for their arrival without asking.
Brand
ambassadors
issued
personalized
URLs
Brand
ambassadors
distribute
links
to
their
networks
Members
of
their
networks
click
on
link,
entering
your
site
As
they
navigate
your
site
and
eventually
purchase,
they
are
automa@cally
associated
with
their
referrer
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7. How Ambassador Works: In Layman’s Terms
Rewards
With a system in place for each brand ambassador to have a personal
URL, the reward system can work. To reward an existing customer for
referring a new one, your referral program need only see which link a
new customer used to arrive at your site. Then it compares the URL to
the brand ambassador to whom it was issued and distributes rewards
accordingly. It’s up to you what action you choose to reward, whether
it’s simply the click into your site or the completion of a purchase.
If there is a reward due for the referred customer, the entrance
through a brand ambassador’s URL makes them automatically eligible
for the reward you have stipulated. Whether a discount or cash reward,
the new customer maintains his or her identity as a referred customer
because of their entrance with a URL.
For example, by clicking through an ambassador’s link into an online
store, the new customer maintains the tag from the URL through the
checkout process, ensuring the proper discount or reward even if
they’ve navigated through many parts of your site.
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8. How Ambassador Works: In Layman’s Terms
Applying Links
Referral programs depend on trackable links, but they also depend on
those links being sent to potential customers. In many ways, the
personalized URLs are the vessel, not the substance, of the referral
program. The success of a brand ambassador depends on his or her
ability to get that URL to their friends and make the case for them to
click on it.
Luckily, URLs are extremely versatile. They can be incorporated into
myriad means of communication. A personalized URL-based referral
program can allow your brand ambassadors to get referrals through
email, facebook, Twitter, linkedin, and any number of social sites. The
only function needed is the ability to include a URL in a piece of
communication.
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9. How Ambassador Works: In Layman’s Terms
Beyond Clicks
The basic properties of URLs can be applied in ways beyond simply
presenting a link and having someone click on it to take them to your
website. You can use the technology to track and reward for
individuals “liking”, “sharing”, or “+1ing” a site, brand, or product of
your choice. You can also present links as photos or other website
elements, so that your ambassadors can make their referral activity
more artistic or personalized.
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10. How Ambassador Works: In Layman’s Terms
The Information Advantage
The link-based referral structure allows for much more than the basic
mechanics of a referral program. As brand ambassadors and new
customers use your links to engage with your brand, you get more
information about who your target customer base is and how they
communicate.
With link tracking, you can get data on where your ambassadors are
sharing their links, where they are getting the most clicks, and which
social networking sites get the highest-quality leads. Measuring the
amount of revenue generated by ambassadors, for example, becomes
easy.
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11. How Ambassador Works: In Layman’s Terms
Conclusion
Whether you’re a marketing professional or an executive,
understanding the basics behind referral software will help you
leverage it to your business’ benefit. The technology running in the
background may be extremely complex, but the principles of
operation, as you’ve seen, are straightforward.
Hopefully after exploring this whitepaper you have a better grasping of
your referral program and how to better leverage the many strengths
of a link-based referral platform for your continued success.
Ambassador has resources to take further steps in your understanding
and optimization of your referral program. Check out our whitepapers
and recorded webinars at getambassador.com
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12. Ambassador enables any company to easily track, manage &
reward their advocates for referring customers and driving
conversions. Receive actionable channel-specific metrics;
including shares, clicks, conversions, revenue and clicks per
share. Ambassador can be fully integrated into your
website, maintaining your look & feel while providing a
frictionless experience for your advocates.
Check us out at getambassador.com and try a free 14-day trial!