When most people think about Referral Marketing, they imagine customers sharing after they have bought something. But referrals do not need to wait until then. One of the most powerful opportunities lies before purchase, when potential customers are browsing, researching, or simply aspiring to buy.
Pre-Purchase referrals allow these visitors to advocate for your brand even before they convert. Instead of walking away without action, they can share with friends, generating awareness, driving new sales, and deepening their own connection to your brand.
Why Pre-Purchase Matters
Not every site visitor is ready to buy today. Some are comparing options, waiting for the right moment, or simply exploring. Traditionally, these browsers would be lost until they were ready to return. Pre-Purchase referrals change that.
By giving people the chance to share your brand early, you keep them engaged and part of your growth story from the start. They can be advocates immediately, knowing they will still benefit when they do decide to purchase later.
Key benefits of Pre-Purchase placement include:
- Builds advocacy early: Aspirational customers can become champions of your brand before their first transaction.
- Increases purchase intent: Advocacy creates stronger commitment and gives browsers a reason to come back and buy.
- Expands reach organically: Referrals spread your brand into trusted networks without relying on paid campaigns.
From Aspiration to Action
Consider the aspirational shopper who loves your brand but is not ready to buy today. Without Pre-Purchase referral opportunities, their interest might fade. With it, they can immediately share your products with friends, generating new traffic and sales.
This shift transforms a passive browser into an active participant. They build value for your brand while keeping themselves engaged, making it far more likely that their eventual purchase will follow.
How It Works On-Site
Pre-Purchase referrals can be placed across key digital touchpoints, ensuring they are visible where potential customers engage most:
- Account management page
- Product/ category pages
- Image galleries
- Home page
These placements turn browsing into advocacy. Visitors can generate referral links, share through social or direct messaging, and stay connected to your brand, even if their first purchase is weeks or months away.
The Performance Impact
At Soreto, we see the results of Pre-Purchase referrals first-hand. They are not just a supportive add-on, they are a significant revenue driver. In fact, Pre-Purchase placements account for 26% of all sales generated through our multi-touchpoint referral technology.
This proves that browsers, even those not yet ready to buy, can deliver real commercial value when given the opportunity to advocate.
Why Pre-Purchase Referrals Work
The success of Pre-Purchase referrals is rooted in behaviour and timing:
- Advocacy builds belonging: Sharing a brand creates emotional investment, making browsers more likely to return and buy.
- Trust accelerates conversions: Friends of browsers arrive through recommendations rather than ads, entering with higher intent.
- Visibility drives action: By making referrals easy to find before purchase, brands normalise advocacy as part of the journey.
Turning Browsers Into Advocates With Soreto
With Soreto, brands can unlock the often-overlooked potential of browsers by turning their curiosity into meaningful advocacy. Our platform connects these early interactions to measurable outcomes, capturing value that traditional marketing leaves behind. By making advocacy part of the browsing experience, we help brands grow their customer base, build stronger loyalty, and create a sustainable channel for long-term performance.
Final Thought
Your most valuable advocates are not always your current customers. Sometimes they are the people who admire your brand, want to support it, and share it with others before they buy for themselves. Pre-Purchase referrals unlock that potential, turning browsers into loyal advocates and laying the foundation for future growth.
Want to see how Pre-Purchase referrals can fuel your acquisition and retention? Book a demo with Soreto here.
