Introducing New Referral Program To Sportsbook
Introducing New Referral Program To Sportsbook
Introducing New Referral Program To Sportsbook
I led the design of the Refer a Friend promotion - a new referral feature offered by theScore Bet and ESPN BET. The promotion aims to leverage the app’s existing users by offering rewards to referring friends and family.
User acquisition can be difficult with limited marketing ability in Canada and without spending an enormous amount of money on marketing campaigns. So a user-led source was initiated to capture market share.
Sportsbooks across the US and Canada leverage their user base to drive acquisition through referral programs. In Canada, a referral program will allow theScore Bet to continue to compete with its competition and continually grow their presence. It currently sits at the top spot in Ontario with 35% CAD market share. For the US, with the addition of the ESPN brand, there was no better time for the company to build such a system to allow its users to expand their growth at a minimal cost.
ESPN Bet had targets of at least 10% US market share and a referral program will help aid in reaching those targets. This is especially important within the first few months of ESPN's existence to establish the user base and will continue to prove useful into the NFL season for 2024.
We built a new referral program which leverages theScore Bet & ESPN Bet’s user base to drive acquisition. After our initial prototypes, we ran 2 rounds of concept and usability tests to finalized our designs:
Opportunity
Sportsbooks across the US and Canada leverage their user base to drive acquisition through referral programs. In Canada, a referral program will allow theScore Bet to continue to compete with its competition and continually grow their presence. For the US, with the addition of the ESPN brand, there was no better time for the company to build such a system to allow its users to expand their growth at a minimal cost.
ESPN Bet had targets of at least 10% US market share and a referral program will help aid in reaching those targets. This is especially important within the first few months of ESPN's existence to establish the user base and will continue to prove useful into the NFL season for 2024.
Solution
We built a new referral program which leverages theScore Bet & ESPN Bet’s user base to drive acquisition. After our initial prototypes, we ran 2 rounds of concept and usability tests to finalized our designs:
Research
In the early stages of the project we completed 20 interviews (10 CA, 10 US) to ask participants about their prior experience with referral programs. From our interviews, it was clear from our findings that:
In the early stages of the project we completed 20 interviews (10 CA, 10 US) to ask participants about their prior experience with referral programs. From our interviews, it was clear from our findings that:
Sportsbooks across the US and Canada leverage their user base to drive acquisition through referral programs. In Canada, a referral program will allow theScore Bet to continue to compete with its competition and continually grow their presence. It currently sits at the top spot in Ontario with 35% CAD market share. For the US, with the addition of the ESPN brand, there was no better time for the company to build such a system to allow its users to expand their growth at a minimal cost.
ESPN Bet has targets of at least 10% US market share and a referral program will help aid in reaching those targets. This is especially important within the first few months of ESPN's existence to establish the user base and will continue to prove useful into the NFL season for 2024.
Within the last year, many competitors have launched referral programs of their own
In the early stages of the project, our UX research team ran a moderated study for 3 weeks to gather insights on existing users and the competitive landscape. We completed 20 interviews (10 CA, 10 US) to ask participants about their prior experience with referral programs. From our interviews, it was clear from our findings that:
Referrals were almost a universally known concept
Referral programs are not a new concept. People have a general understanding of what referrals are for, regardless of what the product is.
Most people have participated in some sort of referral program
Every participant has either referred or been referred to some online service or product. Roughly half of the participants specifically participated in referrals for online sportsbooks/casinos
Some snapshots from our moderated study that our UX Research team conducted
Determining factors for participation
The referral promotion was easily discoverable as the first item in the promo carousel as participants naturally gravitated to the graphical elements of the promo section. Every participant felt that the flow was intuitive and made it efficient to share their invite. They preferred that it was an automated process and that it didn’t require any cumbersome input on their end.
Referral programs are heavily associated with incentives
If an online service or product offers a referral program, users will immediately assume that there will be incentives involved with it.
Referral processes must be easy & simple
The more automated the process, the better. Users want a system that requires minimal effort to both send out referrals and complete one that has been sent to them.
Restrictions & requirements are better known upfront
The spend/deposit amount, expiry, and bet restrictions are all details that are important for users to decide on. Users do not want to spend much effort in finding the details and expect it to be easily available.
Security & privacy
The app must feel reliable and quality for it to be trusted. Users feel a level of responsibility when it comes to referring people they know and want to make sure the platform can be trusted with their personal and financial information.
We built a new referral program which leverages theScore Bet & ESPN Bet’s user base to drive acquisition. After our initial prototypes, we ran 2 rounds of concept and usability tests to finalize our designs:
We introduced a notification badge to help users discover where the new feature lived within their account menu.
Progress steppers fit well with the mental models of users, as it encompasses all the steps they want to be informed of.
The "Complete your referral" card provides guidance around next steps yet still allows users to test out the app and its UI.
As users need to build confidence before committing to signing up, the interstitial confirms that the referral link worked and that a reward is eligible.
Navigation
The referral promotion was easily discoverable as the first item in the promo carousel as participants naturally gravitated to the graphical elements of the promo section. Every participant felt that the flow was intuitive and made it efficient to share their invite. They preferred that it was an automated process and that it didn’t require any cumbersome input on their end.
We introduced a notification badge to help users discover where the new feature lived within their account menu.
The referral promotion was easily discoverable as the first item in the promo carousel as participants naturally gravitated to the graphical elements of the promo section. Every participant felt that the flow was intuitive and made it efficient to share their invite. They preferred that it was an automated process and that it didn’t require any cumbersome input on their end.
New Badge
We introduced a notification badge to help users discover where the new feature lived within their account menu.
Progress Steppers
Progress steppers fit well with the mental models of users, as it encompasses all the steps they want to be informed of.
Interstitial
Users need to build confidence before committing to signing up. The interstitial confirms that the referral link worked and that a reward is eligible.
Progress steppers fit well with the mental models of users, as it encompasses all the steps they want to be informed of.
The "Complete your referral" card provides guidance around next steps yet still allows users to test out the app and its UI.
As users need to build confidence before committing to signing up, the interstitial confirms that the referral link worked and that a reward is eligible.
As we are currently launching the program for end of Q3 2024, we will collect feedback from users and see what we can improve for V2.
As we are currently launching this feature for the end of Q3 2024, we will collect feedback and data from CX and see what we can improve for V2. A special thanks to Ara An (UXM), Tristan Ho (UXR), Gabe Psellas (Lead PM), and everyone on the promotions feature team.
I led the design of the Refer a Friend promotion - a new referral feature offered by theScore Bet and ESPN BET. The promotion aims to leverage the app’s existing users by offering rewards to referring friends and family.
Problem
User acquisition can be difficult with limited marketing ability in Canada and without spending an enormous amount of money on marketing campaigns. So a user-led source was initiated to capture market share.
Determining factors for participation
Within the last year, many competitors have launched referral programs of their own
Within the last year, many competitors have launched referral programs of their own
Some snapshots from our moderated study that our UX Research team conducted
