Overview
Rivo Referrals integrates seamlessly with leading email and SMS marketing platforms to supercharge your referral program with automated marketing campaigns. These integrations enable you to create sophisticated referral marketing workflows by automatically syncing customer referral data, tracking referral events, and triggering personalized campaigns based on referral activities.
✨To view all integrations available, visit your dashboard →
Key Benefits:
Automated Referral Campaigns: Trigger email and SMS campaigns when customers complete referrals, invite friends, or become advocates
Real-time Data Sync: Keep customer referral data up-to-date across all your marketing platforms
Personalized Messaging: Use referral-specific data like reward codes, friend emails, and referral URLs in your campaigns
Advanced Segmentation: Create targeted campaigns based on referral status, advocate activity, and campaign participation
Referral Events & Automation
Rivo automatically sends referral events to your connected marketing platforms, enabling you to create automated workflows and campaigns. Here are the key referral events that trigger integrations:
Referral Completed
Triggered when a referred friend makes their first purchase, completing the referral process. This event includes the friend’s email address and can be used to send thank-you messages to advocates or follow-up campaigns to new customers.
Referral Friend Claim
Triggered when a referred friend claims their discount or reward. This event includes reward details like the reward name, discount code, and terms of service, perfect for creating welcome campaigns for new referred customers.
Referral Invite Friend
Triggered when an advocate sends referral invitations to friends. This event includes the advocate’s name, friend’s email, and reward information, ideal for creating follow-up campaigns to track invitation success.
Advocate Signup
Triggered when a customer becomes a referral advocate. This event includes the customer’s unique referral link and can be used to send welcome campaigns with sharing instructions and tips for successful referrals.
💡 Pro Tip: Use these events to create automated email sequences that guide advocates through the referral process and celebrate successful referrals with both advocates and their friends.
Klaviyo integration
Klaviyo integration provides comprehensive referral event tracking and customer profile syncing. Perfect for creating advanced referral marketing flows and segmentation.
Data Synced
Description
Use Cases
Rivo Points Balance
Customer’s current points balance
Segment high-value advocates, create point-based campaigns
Rivo Loyalty Status
Customer’s loyalty program status and VIP tier
Target VIP advocates, create tier-specific referral campaigns
Rivo Referral URL
Customer’s unique referral link with fraud protection
Include in email campaigns, social sharing templates
Referral Events
Real-time referral completion, friend claims, invitations
Automated thank-you emails, celebration campaigns
Reward Information
Discount codes, reward names, terms of service
Personalized reward notifications, expiry reminders
Postscript
Postscript integration enables SMS marketing automation for referral programs. Ideal for time-sensitive referral promotions and mobile-first referral sharing.
Data Synced
Description
Use Cases
Rivo Points Balance
Customer’s current points balance
SMS alerts for point milestones, referral rewards
Rivo Loyalty Status
Customer’s loyalty program status
VIP referral program announcements via SMS
Rivo Referral URL
Customer’s unique referral link
SMS referral sharing, quick mobile sharing
Referral Events
Referral completions, friend signups, invitations
Instant SMS notifications, celebration messages
Drip
Drip integration focuses on customer profile synchronization for referral-based segmentation and personalized email marketing.
Data Synced
Description
Use Cases
Rivo Points Balance
Customer’s current points balance
Create segments based on referral activity
Rivo Loyalty Status
Customer’s loyalty program status
Target loyal customers for referral campaigns
Rivo Referral URL
Customer’s unique referral link
Personalized referral email campaigns
Rivo VIP Tier Name
Customer’s VIP tier status
VIP-specific referral program benefits
Mailchimp
Mailchimp integration provides customer data synchronization for referral program marketing and audience segmentation.
Data Synced
Description
Use Cases
Rivo Points Balance
Customer’s current points balance
Audience segmentation by referral engagement
Rivo Loyalty Status
Customer’s loyalty program status
Create referral campaigns for different customer tiers
Rivo Referral URL
Customer’s unique referral link
Include referral links in newsletters and campaigns
Rivo VIP Tier Name
Customer’s VIP tier status
Tier-based referral program communications
Attentive
Attentive integration combines SMS and email marketing with comprehensive referral event tracking for omnichannel referral campaigns.
Data Synced
Description
Use Cases
Rivo Points Balance
Customer’s current points balance
Cross-channel referral reward notifications
Rivo Loyalty Status
Customer’s loyalty program status
VIP referral program communications
Rivo Referral URL
Customer’s unique referral link
Multi-channel referral sharing campaigns
Referral Events
Complete referral event tracking
Automated SMS and email referral workflows
Shopify Flow
Shopify Flow integration enables native Shopify automation workflows triggered by referral events. Perfect for creating custom business logic and connecting referral activities to other Shopify apps.
Trigger
Description
Automation Ideas
Customer Moves Up a Tier
Triggered when a customer advances to a higher VIP tier
Send VIP referral program invitations, unlock exclusive rewards
Customer Birthday
Triggered on a customer’s birthday
Birthday referral bonuses, special sharing incentives
Referral Completed
Triggered when a referral is successfully completed
Tag customers, update metafields, trigger other app actions
Customer Tier Downgrade
Triggered when a customer moves to a lower tier
Re-engagement campaigns, referral incentives to regain status
Post-Purchase Referral Integration
Rivo’s post-purchase referral extension automatically appears on your thank-you page, encouraging customers to share their referral link immediately after making a purchase. This integration works seamlessly with your marketing platforms to track sharing activities.
Social Sharing Integration
The post-purchase extension includes built-in social sharing buttons that integrate with your referral tracking:
Facebook: Share referral links directly to Facebook with automatic URL tracking
WhatsApp: Send personalized referral messages via WhatsApp with custom messaging
Twitter/X: Tweet referral links with customizable messages and hashtags
SMS: Send referral links via text message with personalized content
Email: Share via email with pre-filled subject lines and referral messaging
All social sharing activities are tracked and can trigger events in your connected marketing platforms, enabling you to create follow-up campaigns based on sharing behavior.
💡 Pro Tip: Enable preview mode in your post-purchase referral settings to test the integration with specific email addresses before going live.
Referral Smart Links Integration
Rivo’s referral smart links are the foundation of all referral integrations. These unique, fraud-protected URLs automatically sync to your marketing platforms and enable sophisticated tracking across all channels.
Smart Links Features
Automatic Generation: Every customer gets a unique referral code that works across all integrations
Custom Domain Support: Uses your Shopify custom domain for branded referral experiences
Fraud Protection: Built-in fraud detection prevents abuse and ensures legitimate referrals
Campaign Tracking: Links can be tagged with specific campaign IDs for detailed analytics
Cross-Platform Sync: Referral URLs automatically sync to all connected marketing platforms
For detailed information about referral smart links, see our Referral Smart Links guide.
Referral Campaign Rules & Integration
Referral campaigns include advocate rules and friend rules that determine eligibility and rewards. These rules affect what data is sent to your marketing integrations and when events are triggered.
Advocate Rules
Advocate rules determine who can participate in your referral program and what rewards they receive. These rules influence:
Which customers receive advocate signup events in your marketing platforms
When referral completion events are triggered
What reward information is included in integration data
Customer segmentation based on advocate eligibility
Friend Rules
Friend rules determine the requirements for referred customers and their rewards. These rules affect:
When friend claim events are sent to marketing platforms
What discount codes and reward details are included in integration data
Eligibility criteria for referral completion events
Segmentation of referred customers in your marketing platforms
📋 Note: Campaign rules are configured in your referral campaign settings and automatically apply to all integration data and events.
Troubleshooting Integration Issues
Common issues and solutions for referral program integrations:
Referral URL Not Appearing in Email Campaigns
Verify the integration is properly installed and active
Check that customer profiles have been synced (this may take up to 24 hours initially)
Ensure customers are eligible for the referral program based on your campaign rules
Confirm the referral URL field is correctly mapped in your email template
Referral Events Not Triggering in Marketing Platforms
Verify that event tracking is enabled in your integration settings
Check that the specific referral events you want are enabled for your integration
Ensure referrals meet your campaign rules and eligibility requirements
Allow up to 15 minutes for events to appear in your marketing platform
Headless Storefront: When to Complete a Referral
If you’re running a headless storefront and your advocate reward timing is set to Order Placed, complete the referral after the friend’s qualifying Shopify order is created and marked as paid.
Use this sequence:
Friend claims the referral first (this moves the referral from Unclaimed to Pending).
Keep the same visitor token from referral click through checkout.
Complete the referral once you have:
Order ID (the qualifying Shopify order)
Visitor token (the same token tied to that referral visit)
Make sure the checkout includes the friend’s customer email so fraud checks and attribution can evaluate the referral correctly.
When completed successfully, the referral moves to Completed.
For timing settings:
Order Placed: Complete the referral right after the qualifying paid order is available so completion-based automations can run immediately.
Order Fulfilled: Completion-based automations may wait until fulfillment/reward-send stages, depending on your campaign setup.
💡 Tip: If your headless checkout writes Rivo referral metadata to the order, many stores can rely on automatic referral attribution after order sync instead of manually completing each referral.
See also:
Post-Purchase Referral Sharing Not Working
Check that the post-purchase referral extension is enabled in your checkout settings
Verify that social sharing buttons are enabled if you want those options
Ensure customers aren’t tagged as “Rivo Advocate” (which hides the extension)
Test with preview mode enabled using specific email addresses
Campaign-Specific Integration Issues
Verify that your referral campaign is active and not expired
Check that advocate and friend rules are properly configured
Ensure reward settings are complete for both advocates and friends
Confirm that campaign-specific data is being sent to your marketing platform
⚠️ Need Help? If you're still experiencing issues, contact our support team with specific details about your integration setup and the problems you're encountering.
Custom Integrations with Rivo API
For advanced use cases and custom solutions, you can use the Rivo API to build your own referral integrations. The API provides access to all referral data and events that power our built-in integrations.
API Capabilities for Referral Programs
Customer Referral Data: Access referral URLs, advocate status, and referral history
Referral Events: Receive webhooks for all referral activities and completions
Campaign Information: Retrieve referral campaign settings, rules, and rewards
Reward Management: Access discount codes, reward details, and redemption status
Analytics Data: Pull referral performance metrics and conversion data
Common API Use Cases
Building custom referral dashboards and reporting tools
Integrating referral data with CRM systems and customer service platforms
Creating custom referral sharing experiences and landing pages
Connecting referral events to business intelligence and analytics tools
Building automated referral reward fulfillment systems
💡 Pro Tip: Use the API in combination with our built-in integrations to create hybrid solutions that leverage both automated marketing workflows and custom business logic.