Understanding Referral Intelligence Benchmarks

A/B testing is one of the most effective ways to improve the performance of your referral programme. Strategic, ongoing testing can significantly increase new customer acquisition - some programmes see up to 4x growth in new customers within the first six months. This article explains how to use the Referral Intelligence benchmarking feature in the Mention Me platform to compare your metrics with industry peers, identify areas for improvement, and prioritise what to test. It also covers targeted test ideas for each stage of the referral journey, from increasing impressions and enrolments through to boosting shares, conversions, and purchases.

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Comparing Your Performance to Industry Benchmarks

Referral Intelligence, found in the Benchmark tab under Performance, compares your referral metrics against the industry average across every stage of the funnel. Use it to spot where your programme is under-performing against peers and prioritise tests accordingly.

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Funnel Metrics and Test Ideas

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Impressions per Order

The ratio of offer impressions to the number of orders. For every order tracked by Mention Me, how often is referral shown?

• This metric should be above 100%, indicating referral visibility outside the post-purchase overlay.

Recommendation: promote the referral programme more widely.

• Do you have a homepage promotion live? This can drive up to 60% of referral acquisitions.
• Download a report of customers who enrolled but haven’t shared, and remind them to share.

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Enrolment Rate

The percentage of customers who enrolled in the referral programme compared to total impressions.

• Customers can only enrol once per offer. Multiple impressions do not equal multiple enrolments.

Recommendation: promote referral beyond post-purchase overlays.

• Send regular email promotions to keep the programme top-of-mind for customers.

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Share Rate

The percentage of eligible customers who share the referral offer. Recommendation: focus on referrer incentives and sharing methods.

• Test increasing the incentive, lowering the minimum spend, or adding a bonus (e.g. a chance to win). Request a test setup.
• Reorder or trial different sharing options (e.g. native share vs. name share).

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Shares per Sharer

A measure of how frequently the average sharer shares with others. Recommendation: encourage sharing with more than one friend.

• Test copy that uses plural language, such as “Share with friends”.
• Launch competitions, such as a chance to win a gift card, for those who share with multiple friends. See example ideas.

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Responses per Share

Compares how many share responses (e.g. link clicks, name searches) are generated per share. Recommendation: encourage more referee interaction.

• Allow customers to personalise the message they send when sharing the offer to increase engagement.

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Incented per Response

Out of the customers who responded to a share, how many entered their email and received an incentive? Recommendation: build trust and reinforce value at the point of registration.

• Add social proof, such as Trustpilot scores and reviews, to increase trust and motivation.
• Test CTA variations, for example “Get 10% off” vs. “Get 10% off our award-winning furniture”.
• Add USPs to the registration page, such as “100-day free returns”, “5-star Trustpilot rating”, or awards won.

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Purchases per Incented

How many incentivised referees go on to purchase? Recommendation: reinforce your brand’s value at the point of fulfilment.

• Reinforce your brand’s value on the fulfil or promise page by highlighting service guarantees or other benefits.

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Purchase Rate

The percentage of shares that result in qualified new customer purchases. Recommendation: optimise the referee experience.

• Test shorter incentive validity periods, for example 14 days vs. 7 days, to drive urgency.

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Video: Introducing Benchmarking Intelligence