Real-time referral tracking: SoFi's A/B test

The bottom line

SoFi showed users in real time how their referred friends moved through sign-up, and referrals grew 20x to 40% of all new users in three months. Making progress visible and earnings clear turns a rarely used referral program into a main growth channel.

Key takeaways

• Real-time tracking of referrals lifted referrals from a minor channel to the largest share of sign-ups. Users could now see what happened after they invited someone.
  • Referrals rose 20x within 3 months.
  • They went from 2% to 40% of all new user sign-ups.
• The old flow gave users no feedback until a reward arrived. That left the process opaque and gave little reason to keep inviting.
  • Users only learned a referral worked when they received a reward.
• The new flow showed each friend's progress through the sign-up stages. This made it easier to track and encourage successful referrals.
• Showing potential earnings clearly was meant to cut friction and raise motivation. Users could see what they stood to gain at each step.

The problem

Referrals made up only 2% of new users, and the process gave users little engagement or transparency.

• SoFi wanted to raise a low referral rate by making referrals more engaging and transparent.
  • Referrals were just 2% of new users.
  • Users saw nothing about a referral's outcome until a reward came in.

The test and result

A real-time view of friends' sign-up progress replaced the wait for a reward, and referrals soared.

• The new solution gave users live visibility into where each friend stood in sign-up.
  • Tracking made it easier to follow and encourage successful referrals.
  • Clear display of potential earnings aimed to reduce friction and boost motivation.
• Referrals grew 20x and reached 40% of all new user sign-ups in 3 months.
  • The full write-up is at insidergrowthhq.com, in a piece on creating a referral and rewards program.