Referral programs are a powerful tool for acquiring new customers, but they also present a unique challenge: fraud. Marketers often worry about individuals gaming the system, creating fake referrals, or exploiting loopholes to claim rewards. This not only inflates costs but also dilutes the value of genuine customer advocacy. Effectively mitigating these risks is crucial for maintaining the integrity and ROI of your referral program.
The core concerns are:
Self-referrals and Fake Accounts: Customers creating multiple accounts to earn rewards for self-referrals. This artificially inflates referral numbers and drains resources.
Difficulty in Tracking and Identifying Fraud: Manually tracking and identifying fraudulent activity can be time-consuming and inefficient, especially as programs scale.
How the Gather's Platform can help:
Automated Fraud Scoring: Platforms like Gather include fraud detection mechanisms that analyse various data points (IP address, email addresses) to assign a risk score to each referral, flagging potentially fraudulent activity. This automated scoring provides a first line of defence, efficiently identifying suspicious behaviour.
Implementing a Fraud Detection Features: Gather allows marketers to set specific rules based on their business needs. Such as implementing fraud detection for a referral program and setting the number of referrals required to receive a reward. These customisation features empower users to tailor fraud prevention measures to their unique requirements.
Manual Review Capabilities: Gather’s fraud detection feature that allows administrators to manually review flagged referrals, providing an extra layer of scrutiny and control. This ensures that legitimate referrals aren't accidentally rejected.
Verification Processes: Gather uses verification processes such as double opt-in for referred customers, to ensure legitimacy. Gather recommends the use of double opt-in for a lead-generation campaign.
By using the Gather platform, marketers can significantly reduce the risk of fraud and abuse, ensuring that their referral programs deliver genuine customer acquisition and growth. This allows for a focus on genuine customer relationships and the promotion of real advocacy.