Roku Boosts Revenue with Referral Marketing Program
As a leader in streaming entertainment devices for the television, Roku Inc. (www.roku.com) manages a robust online marketing portfolio comprised of search engine optimization and marketing, affiliate programs, online display advertising and public relations. But, until recently, its marketing plan was missing one important piece. With 25 percent of its customers buying a Roku player based on a referral from a friend, the company needed a better way to leverage existing happy customers to grow its customer base.
“We always knew referrals were important,” says Lomit Patel, senior director of direct marketing, Roku. “But we needed tools and strategies to increase the impact our customers were having across their networks with a more formalized program employing best practices. We also knew we wanted to leverage the power of social media in the mix.”
In response, Roku adopted Extole Inc.’s (www.extole.com) social engagement platform called Refer-A-Friend, which rewards customers for referring friends to the company through a variety of channels. The program provides Roku advocates ways to reach out to their networks via Facebook, Twitter, embedded links in e-mails and personalized URLs. In return, Roku provides its referrers with one free month of Netflix movies for every referral that makes a purchase through the Roku site.
“Over the course of six months, Roku attained 10,000 new customer referrals per month and increased customer-based referrals by 30 percent,” reports Patel. It also generated more than $250,000 revenue through the program, and more than 40,000 customers signed up for the program.
FAST FACTS
Company at a Glance
With more than 250 entertainment channels, Roku Inc., an Internet TV platform, delivers more than 100,000 movies and TV shows; live and on-demand sports; music; photo and video sharing; news and entertainment from countless sources — and soon, popular casual games like Angry Birds.
How Refer-A-Friend Works
When prospective customers click on a referral link from a friend, they’re directed to Roku’s site. Extole credits customers for referrals, provides reward fulfillment, and tracks the process to ensure campaign effectiveness.
A Friendly Following
A recent Facebook contest grew Roku’s fan base by 29 percent when it awarded a free year of Hulu Plus service and one Roku player to the winner. If an entrant referred a friend, they won another entry for themselves.
WORDS OF WISDOM
“We always knew referrals were important with 25 percent of our customers buying a Roku player based on a referral from a friend as stated in our ongoing customer research.”
— Lomit Patel, Senior Director, Direct Marketing, Roku Inc.