The Two Referral Messages
The two emails a referral sends — one to the friend when their link works, one to the advocate when their reward is ready. Why they have no settings beyond a switch.
Two emails, two switches, nothing else to decide. They fire the moment each thing becomes true, which is the only moment either is worth reading.
Where: Settings → Automated messages → Referral messages
The two messages
| Switch | Who gets it | When |
|---|---|---|
| Tell the friend their referral link worked | The person who followed the link | When they claim the offer — carries the discount code it gave them |
| Tell the customer their referral reward is ready | The advocate who shared the link | When the referral pays out — carries the reward they’ve earned |
Both are on unless you turn them off.
Why they have no settings
These two behave differently from every other message, in three ways that all follow from one fact: a referral email is only worth sending at the moment it becomes true.
| Every other message | The referral messages |
|---|---|
| Sent on the nightly run | Sent as it happens |
| Has timing settings | No timing — there’s nothing to schedule |
| Counts toward your weekly limit | Doesn’t count, and isn’t capped by it |
“Your friend just ordered” a day later is worth nothing, and there’s no audience to narrow — it goes to the one person it concerns. So the switch is the whole setting.
They also only send while your referral programme is running. With no active referral rule there are no referrals to report, so nothing fires.
What you still have to do
As with every Reorbit message, Reorbit decides who to email and prepares what the email needs. Klaviyo sends it, and the flow is yours to build.
- Connect Klaviyo. (See Connecting Integrations.)
- Create at least one referral rule, or nothing will ever fire. (See Setting Up Referrals.)
- Build the Klaviyo flow for each message.
Tips
- Put the code in the friend’s email. It’s the only thing that email is for, and burying it below a paragraph of brand copy costs you the redemption.
- Make the advocate’s email feel like a thank-you, not a receipt. It’s the moment they find out that recommending you paid off, and it’s what makes them do it again.
- Leave both on. A referral programme where one side never hears anything is a referral programme people quietly stop using.
- Test with a real referral before launch — there’s no way to preview these from a schedule, since they only fire on a real event.
FAQ
Can I delay these?
No, and you wouldn’t want to. Both are only meaningful at the moment they’re sent.
Do they count toward my weekly message limit?
No. They’re event-driven rather than scheduled, so they’re neither capped by that limit nor counted against it.
Nothing is sending.
Check that at least one referral rule is Active, that Klaviyo is connected, and that you’ve built the flow. With no active referral rule there are no referral events to report.
Can I change the wording?
Yes — entirely. The email lives in your Klaviyo flow; Reorbit only supplies the trigger and the details.
Next steps
- Next: Setting Up Referrals — the rules these messages report on.
- Related: What are retention triggers? · Connecting Integrations
Common questions
- Can I delay these?
- No, and you wouldn't want to. Both are only meaningful at the moment they're sent.
- Do they count toward my weekly message limit?
- No. They're event-driven rather than scheduled, so they're neither capped by that limit nor counted against it.
- Nothing is sending.
- Check that at least one referral rule is Active, that Klaviyo is connected, and that you've built the flow. With no active referral rule there are no referral events to report.
- Can I change the wording?
- Yes — entirely. The email lives in your Klaviyo flow; Reorbit only supplies the trigger and the details.