> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.bloop.plus/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.bloop.plus/referral-program/campaign.md).

# Campaign Setup

Your campaign is the strategy behind your referral program, written as rules. It answers four questions: who can refer, what each side earns, how people share, and when a reward lands. In Bloop, all of this lives in one place — one campaign record per store, applied to every referral. Edit it from the **Campaign** tab in the dashboard.

> **Best practice:** Decide your reward economics *before* you open the campaign editor. Work out what a referred customer is worth to you, then set the combined referee + referrer reward below that number so every successful referral is still profitable. The configuration only takes minutes once the math is settled — see [referral program best practices](https://bloop.plus/blog/referral-program-best-practices/).

### What a campaign controls

A campaign brings four decisions together. Each has its own doc, but they live under the same campaign:

* **Who can refer** — the eligibility rule for becoming a referrer. See [Target audience](/referral-program/target-audience.md).
* **What both sides earn** — the referrer reward and the referee reward. See [Referrer and referee rewards](/referral-program/rewards.md).
* **How referrers share** — referral link, referral code, or both. See [Referral methods](/referral-program/referral-methods.md).
* **When rewards are issued** — minimum requirements, a review period, and code expiry, all configured inside the rewards sections.

#### The four decisions, side by side

The four levers pull against each other. Widening the audience grows reach but can dilute trust; richer rewards lift sharing but cost margin; tighter timing rules protect you but add friction.

| Decision             | The lever                       | Wider / more generous     | Tighter / leaner                        |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------- | ------------------------- | --------------------------------------- |
| Who can refer        | Target audience rule            | More reach, more shares   | Higher-trust referrals, less fraud risk |
| What each side earns | Referrer + referee rewards      | More motivation to share  | Better margin per referral              |
| How they share       | Link, code, or both             | Reaches more channels     | Simpler, but suppresses some shares     |
| When rewards land    | Review period, minimums, expiry | Fast, frictionless payout | More control, fewer bad payouts         |

At launch, lean toward the generous side of every lever to gather data; tighten selectively once you can see where the program leaks margin or trust. See [referral program best practices](https://bloop.plus/blog/referral-program-best-practices/) for how to sequence those decisions.

### Why these four rules carry the whole program

These four rules are the economic engine of a channel that consistently outperforms paid acquisition. Referred customers churn **18% less** and carry **16% higher lifetime value** than customers acquired by other means (Schmitt, Skiera & Van den Bulte, *Journal of Marketing*, 2011). And the channel runs on trust money cannot buy — **92%** of people trust recommendations from friends and family above all other advertising (Nielsen, global survey of 28,000+ respondents). Your campaign rules turn that trust into tracked, profitable orders. Spend the few minutes to set them deliberately.

### Set up your campaign

1. Open the **Campaign** tab in the Bloop dashboard.
2. Open **Target audience** and choose who can join as a referrer — All customers, Members, Specific customers, Customer tags, or Customers with at least one completed order.
3. Open **Referrer reward** and set what an existing customer earns for a successful referral.
4. Open **Referee reward** and set the discount a referred friend receives.
5. Open **Referral method** and turn on a referral link, a referral code, or both.
6. Save the campaign.

### What triggers a reward

1. A **referrer** shares their link or code.
2. A **referee** uses it and receives a discount on their order.
3. When the referee completes a qualifying purchase, Bloop processes the order from Shopify's `orders/paid` event.
4. If the order passes your minimum requirements and fraud checks, the **referrer reward** is created.

> A referrer reward is only created after the referee actually buys. Sharing a link alone never issues a reward — the referee's purchase is what counts.

Because rewards key off a real paid order rather than a click or sign-up, you only ever pay for referrals that became revenue. No purchase means no reward, by design.

### When a reward is issued

Two settings inside the referrer reward control timing:

* **Reward review period** — a delay (in hours) before a reward is approved. Enter `0` for instant approval. This gives you a window to catch problems before a reward goes out.
* **Minimum requirements** — a referral can require a minimum purchase amount, a minimum quantity of items, or a minimum number of referees before the reward is issued. See [Referrer and referee rewards](/referral-program/rewards.md) for how each option behaves.

Orders that look suspicious are placed on a mandatory hold and reviewed before any reward is created, separate from the review period above.

### A worked example

Here is a complete first campaign for a subscription coffee store, decision by decision. *All numbers below are illustrative — they show how to reason, not measured Bloop results.*

1. **Who can refer.** Set **Customers with at least one completed order** — active subscribers make credible referrers without opening the gates to guests who have never tasted the product.
2. **What each side earns.** A first month is $40 at roughly 50% margin, so each referred subscriber earns about $20 of profit. Give the **referee 25% off their first month** (\~$10) and the **referrer $10 in store credit** toward their next box. Combined $20 against $20 of profit on the first cycle — and a subscriber stays for months, so lifetime value covers it comfortably.
3. **How they share.** Turn on the **referral link** (which captures the friend's email for onboarding) and leave the code on for occasional in-person mentions.
4. **When rewards land.** Set the **review period to 0** for an instant thank-you, add **no minimum** so nothing blocks a first share, and give codes a **30-day expiry** to nudge redemption.
5. **Save and watch.** Track results in [Referral analytics](/referral-program/analytics/analytics.md) and refine the reward with an [A/B test](/referral-program/ab-testing.md) once shares are flowing.

### Common mistakes to avoid

* **Configuring rewards before knowing your numbers.** Set values without working out the profit on a referred order first and you are guessing at the most expensive lever. Do the margin math, then open the editor.
* **Starting narrow to "play it safe."** A tight audience or heavy minimums at launch starves the program of the data you need. Open wide first; tighten later with evidence.
* **Forgetting it is one campaign per store.** Every change applies program-wide. Use the [A/B test](/referral-program/ab-testing.md) tool to isolate experiments instead.
* **Turning off both sharing methods.** Disabling both the link and the code stops the program entirely. At least one must stay on. See [Referral methods](/referral-program/referral-methods.md).
* **Treating launch settings as final.** The first campaign is a starting hypothesis. Read your analytics and test changes rather than assuming the initial guess was right.

### Next steps

* Configure the two-sided rewards in [Referrer and referee rewards](/referral-program/rewards.md).
* Decide how customers share in [Referral methods](/referral-program/referral-methods.md).
* Set who can refer in [Target audience](/referral-program/target-audience.md).
* Prove which setup wins with [A/B test your referral rewards](/referral-program/ab-testing.md).
* New to referrals? Start with [Getting started with referrals](/referral-program/getting-started.md).


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