Branded merchandise can make an effective reward for 5+ referrals and up. Generic best performers include mugs, socks, and AirPod cases. For best results though, go the extra mile and choose a piece of branded merch that fits in with your audience. For example Madison at Your Weekly W(h)ine gives away a branded corkscrew to her wine-loving subscribers in return for 7 referrals.

Newsletter creators like James Clear reward their subscribers with access to a 'secret' extra edition of their newsletter for 1-3 referrals. This is a great, free reward - especially if your audience can't get enough of your content!

Want a reward that'll make your subscribers sit up and pay attention? Manu from StackedMarketer says that — if you make 1'000 referrals — he'll fly you out to visit him in Vienna and buy you a schnitzel for lunch!

Is there a brand or product your audience loves? Why not reach out to them and ask them to sponsor your referral giveaway with a free item as the reward? The added urgency of a giveaway is great for increasing referrals, and this is a super-effective (and free!) way build relationships with potential sponsors!

Have an interesting job? Reward subscribers who make a lot of referrals with an invite to meet your team and see your work first-hand. For example... Harvard professor and NYT-bestselling author David Sinclair rewards newsletter subscribers who make 95 referrals with a guided tour of his lab!

Branded stickers tend to underperform expectations as a referral reward. They're also a pain (and not free) to distribute. That said, people do love receiving physical rewards. Consider using stickers as a reward for 2-5 referrals if you have a strongly branded newsletter. Especially if it's meant more as a gesture of thanks (rather than an incentive).

Harness the power of exclusivity to incentivise your subscribers to share. Membership of an exclusive "insiders club" is an awesome (free) reward for 1-3 referrals. Just make sure there are some real benefits to being a member! (eg early or exclusive access to your content)

To shake things up, try running a time-limited referral giveaway with an exclusive reward. For example a signed copy of your book, a limited print run of branded t-shirts, or even a custom piece of artwork. The more personal, the better.

Hats, hoodies, t-shirts, flip-flops... if you've got a strong brand and your subscribers want to show it off in public, then branded clothing can be a great (but pricey) reward for higher referral tiers. It worked for Morning Brew!

Use a free month's membership of your paid newsletter/community to incentivise subscribers to share. Works best as a reward for making 1-2 referrals. As a bonus, you'll likely see conversions to your paid memberships jump by 10-50% too!

Want to give your subscribers an impressive reward without breaking the bank? Try asking potential sponsors (who are interested in reaching your audience) if they'll sponsor you with free examples of their product as referral rewards, in return for the extra exposure. For example if you run a newsletter about sales, ask the author of a popular sales book if they can sponsor you with a free ebook for 5 referrals.

Have a product launch coming up soon? Releasing new content? Give early access to subscribers who make 1-3 referrals. Not only is this reward completely free and easy, it's also a lot more effective than you'd expect. Normally performing 2-5x better than even significant discounts!

Would your subscribers like to get their names (or product) in front of your entire email audience? If so, then giving them a shout-out in your newsletter can be a great reward for making 5+ successful referrals!

Reward subscribers who make 3+ referrals with an invite to an exclusive coffee chat with you and the other winning subscribers. The more subscribers you have (or the more popular you are), the more referrals it should take to win an invite... Trevor McKendrick asks for 20!

What do a San Francisco billboard with your face on it, a flight to New York, and an all-expenses-paid trip to Vienna have in common? They're all examples of massive rewards used in SparkLoop referral programs (for 500-2000 referrals)! Now, do you expect anyone to win them? No. But they're great at catching your subscribers' attention and giving them a talking point when sharing. What crazy, awesome, probably-impossible reward could you offer your audience?

Have a paid product of some kind? A course or book? Or an ecommerce store? Discount coupons are a great way to get more referrals while also increasing your product's conversion rates. Tip: Be more generous than you think you need to, always use a dollar amount (not a %), and set the referral bar low: 1-3 referrals max.

Just like with lead magnets, a free ebook can perform well as a reward for 1-5 referrals if it is on a subject your audience is interested in.

Have a book, course, or other info-product? Reward subscribers who make A LOT of referrals (or who win a giveaway) with a featured spotlight in your product. For example, if you are writing a fiction book you could name a character after them. Or - if you run a course on marketing - you could feature the subscriber as a case study/teardown.