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<p>Creators always ask, “how do I grow my audience?”</p>
<p>While the answer is different for everyone, when you’re an emerging creator with a tight budget, <a href="https://kit.com/resources/blog/newsletter-referral-program" target="_blank" rel="noopener">referral programs</a> are a great way to expand without burning revenue. And not only expand, but find subscribers who are more likely to engage.</p>
<p>As we continue moving away from open rates as our main metric, referral programs are a great step toward increased engagement. Luckily, where there’s a will, there’s an app. Tools like SparkLoop smooth out the logistics and make tracking your referral progress fun and easy.</p>
<p>In this episode, Alyssa and Melissa discuss the benefits of a referral program, the steps to referral success, and examples of creators who are doing it right.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-38878 lazy" data-src="https://media.kit.com/post/eAAJjpBw-referral-program-benefits.jpg?fm=pjpg" alt="referral program benefits" width="1500" height="2432" srcset="https://media.kit.com/post/eAAJjpBw-referral-program-benefits.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=600&amp;w=370 370w, https://media.kit.com/post/eAAJjpBw-referral-program-benefits.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=1024&amp;w=632 632w, https://media.kit.com/post/eAAJjpBw-referral-program-benefits.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=1245&amp;w=768 768w, https://media.kit.com/post/eAAJjpBw-referral-program-benefits.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=1536&amp;w=947 947w, https://media.kit.com/post/eAAJjpBw-referral-program-benefits.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=2048&amp;w=1263 1263w, https://media.kit.com/post/eAAJjpBw-referral-program-benefits.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=957&amp;w=590 590w, https://media.kit.com/post/eAAJjpBw-referral-program-benefits.jpg?fit=scale&amp;fm=pjpg&amp;h=240&amp;w=148 148w, https://media.kit.com/post/eAAJjpBw-referral-program-benefits.jpg?fm=pjpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></p>
<h2>Key Takeaways</h2>
<ul>
<li>[07:09] &#8211; Referral programs are a great way to grow your audience in a way that’s relatively “hands-off”.</li>
<li>[08:39] &#8211; Tools like SparkLoop help you automate your referral program. Automation is especially useful if you’re a small creator.</li>
<li>[14:24] &#8211; People trust referrals from friends more than anything else. A referred subscriber has built-in trust with you that otherwise, you would have to spend time, money, and energy to establish.</li>
<li>[16:11] &#8211; Referral programs reward subscriber engagement.</li>
<li>[16:47] &#8211; Using incentives not only drives traffic to your newsletter but also the content outside of your newsletter.</li>
<li>[19:22] &#8211; Referral programs lower the cost of subscriber acquisition and get people excited about your upcoming content.</li>
<li>[22:18] &#8211; Before launching a referral program, you need a newsletter with measurable subscriber value rather than a brand new newsletter with no built-in audience.</li>
<li>[24:08] &#8211; You also need a clear explanation of how your referral program works so it’s obvious to your subscribers what they have to do.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Quotes</h2>
<p>[12:12] &#8211; <em>“Referral programs are a great way to find new subscribers for your list. Your existing subscribers are clearly the perfect fit for your email list, and they likely know other people who also would love your content.”</em> ~ <a href="https://x.com/alyssa_dulin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@alyssa_dulin</a></p>
<h2>Links</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://kit.com/features/deliverability" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Contact Us!</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.morningbrew.com/daily" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Morning Brew</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.theskimm.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">theSkimm</a></li>
<li><a href="http://sparkloop.app" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SparkLoop</a></li>
<li><a href="https://kit.com/pricing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kit Creator Pro account</a></li>
<li><a href="https://x.com/manuel_frigerio" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Manuel Frigerio</a></li>
<li><a href="https://x.com/louisnicholls_" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Louis Nicholls</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.codiesanchez.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Codie Sanchez</a></li>
<li><a href="https://nathanbarry.com/newsletter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nathan Barry’s newsletter</a></li>
<li><a href="https://sparkloop.app/growth-calculator" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SparkLoop’s growth calculator</a></li>
<li><a href="https://sparkloop.app/rewards-examples" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SparkLoop rewards library</a></li>
<li><a href="https://jamesclear.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">James Clear</a></li>
<li><a href="https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The 3-2-1 Newsletter</a></li>
<li><a href="https://jamesclear.com/great-speeches" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Great Talks Most People Have Never Heard</a></li>
<li><a href="https://nathanbarry.com/025-louis-nicholls-explode-list-growth-referral-program/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nathan Barry’s podcast</a></li>
<li><a href="https://x.com/brennandunn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brennan Dunn</a></li>
<li><a href="https://createandsell.co" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Create &amp; Sell</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/isaadney" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Isa at Kit</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>Connect with our hosts</h2>
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://x.com/alyssa_dulin" target="_blank">Alyssa Dulin</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://x.com/mel_lambert_" target="_blank">Melissa Lambert</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>Stay in touch</h2>
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deliverability-defined/id1515377286" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple Podcasts</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/1ElZx2zrhvllOkbPzSfGxX" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spotify</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://x.com/kit" target="_blank">X/Twitter</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/kit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facebook</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/kit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Instagram</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://kit.com/features/deliverability" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Deliverability Defined Website</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>Try Kit&#8217;s deliverability in action</h2>
<p>It&#8217;s now free to use Kit with an audience of 10,000 subscribers or less! Start building your audience and reaching their inboxes: <a href="https://kit.com/pricing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">kit.com/pricing</a>.</p>
<p>To receive email notifications when new episodes of Deliverability Defined are available, or to submit topic suggestions, <a href="https://deliverability-defined.ck.page/d1d644385c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sign up to our email list</a>.</p>


Growing your email list with a referral program

Own the relationship with your audience

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How YouTuber Nick True uses dedicated lead magnets and automations to grow his email list to over 10,000 subscribers