RP
Referral Program Design
🔵 Stable🕐 updated 2026-06-24
🔷 SkillSpec L3
pm-growth
Design a referral or viral-loop program that actually drives growth. Use when asked to design a referral program, build a viral/invite loop, set referral incentives, or improve word-of-mouth growth. Produces a referral design — the loop mechanics, incentive structure (who gets what, when), the viral-math estimate (k-factor/cycle time), fraud guardrails, placement & messaging, and success metrics.
What to give it
▸Why users would share — the genuine reason (status, mutual benefit, the product is better with others).
▸Economics — the value of a new customer (so the incentive budget is grounded) and current organic word-of-mouth.
▸The moment of delight — when users are happiest (the best time to ask for a referral).
▸Goal — what the program must do (lower CAC, accelerate growth) and over what horizon.
✅ The bar it holds itself to
Every skill in this library self-verifies — these are this skill's own quality checks, straight from its definition.
✓The reward unlocks on the referred friend's **activation**, not just signup (aligns value, blocks fraud)
✓The viral math (k-factor + cycle time) is estimated honestly — including admitting when it's a CAC-reducer, not true virality
✓The ask is placed at a delight moment, not bolted onto signup
✓Fraud guardrails (self-referral, fake accounts, velocity limits) are specified
✓Referred-user retention is measured, not just signups (referred users can be low quality)
⚠️ What it refuses to do
Do not pay for signups instead of activations — you'll fund fraud and low-quality users
Do not claim virality from a k-factor below 1 — be honest that it's lowering CAC, which is still worth doing
Do not bolt the ask onto onboarding before the user has felt value — nobody refers a product they haven't experienced
Do not ignore the sharer's social risk — give them a reason that makes them look generous/smart, not spammy
Do not skip fraud guardrails — an ungated incentive is an arbitrage opportunity, not a growth loop
Install
npx pm-claude-skills add --agent claude # or codex · cursor · gemini · hermes
# or one-line MCP (every skill, any client):
claude mcp add pm-skills -- npx -y pm-claude-skills-mcpRelated skills
🔌 Embed this skill
Drop this on your blog, docs, or site — it renders a "Run this skill" card:
<div data-pm-skill="referral-program-design"></div>
<script src="https://mohitagw15856.github.io/pm-claude-skills/embed.js" async></script>💬 Discussion
Referral Program Design is one of 625 open-source professional AI agent skills — all SkillSpec L3.
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