> 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/target-audience.md).

# Target Audience

Decide who can refer, trading reach against trust per referral.

Not every customer makes an equally good advocate. Opening the program to everyone maximizes reach; restricting it to proven buyers or hand-picked fans raises trust per referral but reaches fewer people. Set this in the **Target audience** section of the Campaign tab, under "Who can refer" — Bloop checks every widget interaction against this rule automatically.

> **Best practice:** Open wide at launch (All customers) to gather data on who actually refers. Tighten only once quality or fraud becomes a real concern — starting narrow usually just starves the program of shares.

### The three audience options

| Option            | Who qualifies                              | Login required |
| ----------------- | ------------------------------------------ | -------------- |
| All customers     | Everyone, including guests                 | No             |
| Members           | Logged-in customers only                   | Yes            |
| Customer segments | Customers in the Shopify segments you pick | Yes            |

Anything more specific than "everyone" or "logged in" is expressed as a **Shopify customer segment**, built in Shopify admin under **Customers → Segments**. Segments are more expressive than a fixed list of options and they stay live — a customer who meets the condition tomorrow joins the audience tomorrow, with nothing to re-import.

| What you want                      | Shopify segment to build       |
| ---------------------------------- | ------------------------------ |
| Customers who have actually bought | `number_of_orders >= 1`        |
| A VIP or ambassador group          | `customer_tags CONTAINS 'VIP'` |
| High spenders                      | `amount_spent >= 500`          |
| A named, curated list              | `customer_id IN (...)`         |

Choose **Customer segments** and pick at least one segment under **Only these segments**. If the picker is empty, you have no segments yet — create one in Shopify first.

#### Which to choose

| Choose                                   | When your goal is                     | Trade-off                                              |
| ---------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------ |
| **All customers**                        | Maximum reach — launch, growth pushes | Widest funnel, but includes people who've never bought |
| **Customer segments** (prior buyers)     | Credible referrals at near-full reach | The sweet spot for most stores                         |
| **Customer segments** (VIP tag or spend) | A curated ambassador group            | High trust, minimum reach                              |
| **Members**                              | Only logged-in, identifiable accounts | Cleaner data, but costs some guest shares              |

For most stores, a segment of **customers with at least one completed order** is the strongest default — near-full reach, and every referrer has actually used the product.

### Exclude specific segments

**Except these segments** is an optional second list. Customers in it can never join the campaign, even when they match the audience above. Use it to keep groups out of a program rather than to define who belongs in it:

* Wholesale or B2B accounts that shouldn't be handed consumer discounts.
* Staff and test accounts.
* A segment already covered by a different, richer campaign.

A segment can't be on both lists — targeted and excluded at once admits nobody, so Bloop blocks the save.

### What happens when you change the audience

Changing the audience — or the exclusion list — doesn't only affect new joiners. Bloop reconciles the existing referrer list against the new rule:

* Referrers who no longer qualify are **deactivated**. Their link and code stop working; nothing already earned is taken away.
* Customers who now qualify are **activated**, so a widened audience picks up your existing customer base without an import.

Expect this to take a few minutes on a large customer base. Widen and narrow deliberately — flipping the audience back and forth churns referrer status each time.

### Why the referrer's trust is the whole point

The referrer's credibility *is* the value of the channel — a referral from someone who's actually used your product carries real trust; one from a stranger gaming a discount carries none, and may cost you a payout for nothing. Referred customers are also measurably better: they churn less and carry higher lifetime value than customers acquired any other way ([Schmitt, Skiera & Van den Bulte, *Journal of Marketing*, 2011](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2476354)). Your audience rule is the dial between reach and that trust.

### Recommended audiences by industry

| Industry                  | Recommended audience               | Why                                                |
| ------------------------- | ---------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| Fashion & apparel         | All customers                      | Maximum reach for fast-moving, social products     |
| Subscription              | Segment: active subscribers        | Active subscribers make credible advocates         |
| Beauty & cosmetics        | Segment: VIP tag or repeat buyers  | Loyal fans give recommendations real weight        |
| Electronics & high-ticket | Segment: `number_of_orders >= 1`   | Buyers who own the product give informed referrals |
| Wholesale / B2B           | Segment of the accounts you choose | A known, controlled set of accounts                |

### Set your audience

1. Build the segment you need in Shopify admin under **Customers → Segments**, if you're not using All customers or Members.
2. Open **Campaign → Target audience**.
3. Choose one of the three options under "Who can refer."
4. For **Customer segments**, add at least one segment under **Only these segments**.
5. Optionally add segments under **Except these segments**.
6. Save.

### When to tighten the gate

Tighten only when a signal appears — not pre-emptively:

* **Fraud or self-referral attempts** → move to a segment of prior buyers.
* **Referral quality is poor** → require at least one completed order.
* **You want a controlled ambassador program** → point the audience at a VIP segment.
* **Clean, account-level attribution matters more than reach** → use Members.

### A worked example

*Illustrative, not measured data.* A skincare brand launches with a **Customer segments** audience of `number_of_orders >= 1`. A month later, [analytics](/referral-program/analytics.md) show a small group of repeat buyers driving most referrals, so they build a `VIP` segment in Shopify, [duplicate the campaign](/referral-program/campaign.md) onto it with a richer reward, and add that VIP segment to **Except these segments** on the original campaign so nobody sits in both.

### Who can be referred

The referee side is fixed: only **first-time customers** can be referred and receive the discount, so the incentive always targets new buyers. Bloop blocks self-referrals and other abuse automatically.

### Common mistakes to avoid

* **Starting narrow.** A tight audience on day one hides who your real advocates are. Open wide, then tighten with data.
* **Building the segment as a static customer list.** A condition-based segment keeps admitting new qualifiers; a hand-picked list goes stale the day you save it.
* **Restricting to Members without a reason.** The login requirement quietly drops guest shares.
* **Using exclusions to define the audience.** Exclusions are a fence around an audience, not a substitute for choosing one.
* **Tightening to fight fraud you don't have.** Bloop already blocks self-referrals — narrow the gate only when you see real abuse.

### Next steps

* Decide what referrers and referees earn in [Referrer and referee rewards](/referral-program/rewards.md).
* Choose how customers share in [Referral methods](/referral-program/referral-methods.md).


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