Getting Started

This guide walks you through launching your first referral program: from Square signup to a live viral loop.

What You'll Need

Before you start, make sure you have:

• A Square account with at least one business location
• Payment processing turned on in your Square account

That's it. Creating a draft program is free. You pay when you activate and go live.

Step 1: Sign Up with Square

Merchant signup is Square-only. On the sign-up page, click Continue with Square, approve the connection, and ViralRef creates your user, organization, and Square link in one step.

You land on a single onboarding screen: Confirm your business.

1. Confirm your business name (pulled from Square)
2. Choose your subdomain slug (e.g., acme gives you acme.viralref.com) -- live preview shows {slug}.{domain}
3. Submit to finish onboarding

You are then taken to the program builder.

Step 2: Create a Draft Program

Program creation is a single screen. Pick a template, name the program, and set two reward amounts.

1. Navigate to Programs (or land there after onboarding)
2. Click Create Program
3. Choose a template:
   • Gift card, both sides -- welcome gift card for new customers; gift card for the referrer when they pay
   • Discount at the register -- auto-apply coupons for both sides
   • Cash payout for partners -- gift card for new customers; manual cash payout for influencers/agencies
4. Set the program name and the two reward amounts
5. Optionally open Customize for commission type, scope, and other advanced fields
6. Save -- the program is created as DRAFT

No paywall at creation. Square coupon provisioning (when needed) waits until activation.

For a full walkthrough, see Creating a Program.

Step 3: Activate to Go Live

DRAFT programs are editable and shareable as a branded "coming soon" page, but they do not issue rewards, send OTP for live referrals, or attribute payments until activation.

1. Open the program detail page
2. Click Activate
3. If you already have a plan (or are whitelisted), activation is one click
4. Otherwise, pick a plan and complete Stripe checkout -- you return to the program and it flips LIVE

That activation step is the paywall. Browse and build for free; pay when you launch.

Step 4: Add Referrers (or Rely on the Viral Loop)

Manual Addition

1. Go to Affiliates in the sidebar
2. Click Add Affiliate
3. Enter their name, phone (email optional), and role (Client, Influencer, or Agency)
4. Assign them to a program
5. They receive a unique referral link on /ref/{code}

Viral Loop (Automatic)

Turn on the viral loop in your program settings so every referred customer becomes a referrer too. See Viral Loop.

Step 5: Share Referral Links

Each referrer gets a unique short link like:

https://acme.viralref.com/r/sarah-abc123

That redirects to their /ref/{code} screen. Friends verify with phone OTP, claim the welcome reward (when configured), and can start sharing their own link.

Share through:

• Text messages
• Social posts
• In-store QR / wallet passes / printable cards
• Receipt inserts

What Happens Next

Once your program is LIVE:

1. Clicks are tracked when people visit referral links
2. Signups are recorded when referred customers verify via phone OTP
3. Purchases are detected automatically when referred customers pay at your Square business
4. Rewards are issued based on your program rules (gift card top-ups, coupons, loyalty points, or tracked manual payouts)
5. Referrers manage everything on their /ref screen -- share, wallet pass, history

Your merchant dashboard shows KPIs, revenue, team performance, and recent conversions once traffic starts.

Next Steps

Connecting Square

Manage locations and reconnect if needed.

Creating a Program

Templates, draft status, activation, and reward rules.

Managing Affiliates

Add referrers, organize groups, and set commission tiers.