> 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

Not every customer makes an equally good advocate. The trade-off is reach versus quality: open the program to everyone and you maximize the number of potential referrers; restrict it to proven buyers or hand-picked fans and each referral carries more trust — but you reach fewer people. The best setting depends on what you are optimizing for right now.

In Bloop, the target audience is the eligibility rule that decides who can become a referrer. You set it in the **Target audience** section of the Campaign tab, under "Who can refer." Whenever a customer interacts with the referral widget, Bloop checks them against this rule before creating a referrer record — the gate is enforced automatically.

> **Best practice:** When you launch, open the program wide (All customers or prior buyers) to gather data on who actually refers. Once you can see your real advocates, tighten the audience — for example to a VIP tag — only if quality or fraud becomes a concern. Starting narrow before you have data usually just starves the program of shares.

### The five audience options

Choose one option for who can become a referrer.

| Option                                      | Who qualifies                         | Login required |
| ------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | -------------- |
| All customers                               | Everyone, including guests            | No             |
| Members                                     | Logged-in customers only              | Yes            |
| Specific customers                          | Only the Shopify customers you select | Yes            |
| Customer tags                               | Customers carrying tags you choose    | No             |
| Customers with at least one completed order | Customers with prior purchase history | No             |

* **All customers** — the widest reach. Anyone can refer without signing in.
* **Members** — restricts referring to logged-in customers, useful when you only want known accounts sharing.
* **Specific customers** — you add named customers, for example a hand-picked group of advocates. These customers must log in.
* **Customer tags** — anyone whose Shopify customer tags match the tags you add. Good for segments like VIPs or wholesale.
* **Customers with at least one completed order** — only customers who have already bought from you, so referrals come from proven buyers.

> If you choose Specific customers, you must add at least one customer before the rule can be saved. The same applies to Customer tags — you must add at least one tag, or Bloop flags the field and blocks the save.

#### Which option to choose, and why

Each option sits at a different point on the reach-versus-trust line.

| Choose                                          | When your goal is                                                  | Trade-off                                                                          |
| ----------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **All customers**                               | Maximum reach — launch, growth pushes, viral-friendly products     | Widest funnel, but includes people who have never bought; lean on fraud protection |
| **Customers with at least one completed order** | Credible referrals at near-full reach                              | The sweet spot for most stores: proven buyers, almost no reach lost                |
| **Customer tags**                               | Concentrating the program on a known segment (VIPs, repeat buyers) | High trust per referral, but only as good as how well you tag customers            |
| **Members**                                     | Only logged-in, identifiable accounts sharing                      | Cleaner data and attribution; the login step costs you some guest shares           |
| **Specific customers**                          | A curated ambassador or wholesale group                            | Total control, minimum reach — for closed programs, not growth                     |

For most Shopify stores, **Customers with at least one completed order** is the strongest default: it keeps almost all your reach while ensuring every referrer has actually experienced the product, which is what makes a recommendation believable.

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

The referrer's credibility *is* the value of the channel. A recommendation only works because the friend trusts the source — and that trust is enormous. Nielsen's global survey of 28,000+ people found **92%** trust recommendations from friends and family above all other advertising, and McKinsey estimates word-of-mouth drives **20–50%** of all purchasing decisions. A referral from someone who has actually used your product carries that trust; a referral from a stranger gaming a discount carries none of it — and may cost you a payout for nothing. Your audience rule is the dial between those two extremes.

Referred customers are also measurably better: Wharton's study of roughly 10,000 accounts found they churn **18% less** and carry **16% higher lifetime value** (Schmitt, Skiera & Van den Bulte, *Journal of Marketing*, 2011). That premium comes from genuine recommendations, not farmed ones. Setting the gate to proven buyers is how you protect it.

### Recommended audiences by industry

Use this as a starting point and adjust as you learn who refers.

| Industry                  | Recommended audience                        | Why                                                            |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Fashion & apparel         | All customers                               | Maximum reach matters for fast-moving, social products         |
| Subscription              | Customers with at least one completed order | Active subscribers make credible, retention-positive advocates |
| Beauty & cosmetics        | Customer tags (VIP / repeat buyers)         | Loyal fans give recommendations real weight                    |
| Electronics & high-ticket | Customers with at least one completed order | Buyers who own the product give trusted, informed referrals    |
| Wholesale / B2B           | Specific customers or Customer tags         | Curate a known set of accounts and keep the program controlled |

### Set your audience

1. Open the **Campaign** tab and go to the **Target audience** section.
2. Under "Who can refer," choose one of the five options.
3. For Specific customers, search and add the customers you want. For Customer tags, add the tags to match.
4. Save.

### When to tighten the gate

Most stores should *loosen* the audience at launch and tighten only when there is a reason. These are the signals that it is time to narrow:

* **You see fraud or self-referral attempts.** If people are creating accounts purely to refer themselves, restrict to prior buyers or a tag so only real customers qualify. Bloop already blocks obvious self-referrals — see [self-referral and abuse](https://bloop.plus/blog/self-referral/) — but a tighter gate adds a second layer.
* **Referral quality is poor.** If referred customers convert badly or churn fast, move to **Customers with at least one completed order** so every referrer has used the product.
* **You want a controlled ambassador program.** Switch to **Customer tags** or **Specific customers** and treat the program as a closed group rather than open growth.
* **Your data needs to be clean.** If accurate attribution per account matters more than raw reach, **Members** ensures every referrer is logged in and identifiable.

The mistake is tightening *before* any of these signals appear. A narrow gate set on day one suppresses the shares you needed to learn who your real advocates are — open first, then narrow with evidence.

### A worked example

A skincare brand launches a referral program. *This is an illustrative scenario, not measured data.*

1. **Launch wide.** They start with **Customers with at least one completed order** — broad reach, but every referrer has actually used the products, so recommendations are credible from day one.
2. **Watch who refers.** After a month, [analytics](/referral-program/analytics/analytics.md) show a small group of repeat buyers driving most successful referrals, while a thin trickle of low-quality referrals comes from one-off discount hunters.
3. **Tighten with evidence.** They tag their best advocates `VIP` and switch the audience to **Customer tags (VIP)** for a higher-reward ambassador tier, while keeping the broad program running. Now their strongest customers get the richest offer, and reach stays high.
4. **Keep the referee side honest.** Throughout, the referee gate stays fixed to first-time customers (below), so the discount only ever pulls in new buyers.

### Who can be referred

The referee side is fixed: only **first-time customers** can be referred and receive the referral discount. This keeps the referee discount focused on bringing in new buyers rather than rewarding existing ones twice. Bloop also blocks self-referrals and other abuse automatically — see how this works in your fraud protection settings, and read [referral fraud prevention](https://bloop.plus/blog/referral-fraud/) for the wider picture.

### Common mistakes to avoid

* **Starting narrow.** A tight audience on day one starves the program of shares and hides who your real advocates are. Open wide, then tighten with data.
* **Restricting to Members without a reason.** The login requirement quietly drops guest shares. Only require it when clean, account-level data genuinely matters more than reach.
* **Forgetting Specific customers must log in.** That option requires a login and at least one named customer before it saves — fine for a closed ambassador group, wrong for open growth.
* **Tightening to fight fraud you do not have.** Bloop blocks self-referrals automatically. Narrow the gate when you see real abuse, not pre-emptively at the cost of reach.

### 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).
* See which customers actually refer in [Referral analytics](/referral-program/analytics/analytics.md).
* Keep the program clean with [best practices: preventing fraud](/best-practices/preventing-fraud.md).
* See the full setup flow in [Getting started with referrals](/referral-program/getting-started.md).


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