🔒 This feature is available to Kit customers and users with an existing Referral Program.
SparkLoop's best-in-class anti-fraud system ensures that only real, new subscribers count towards referral points.
But what about real people who sign up via a referral link… only to unsubscribe just hours (or minutes) later? SparkLoop makes it easy to "delay" counting a new subscriber as a valid referral until they've stayed subscribed for 1–30 days.
⚠️ Important: Delaying referrals like this can confuse your audience and — if you don't know what you're doing — hurt your referral performance. Read through this article carefully before adding a delay.
When to use this feature
If you're offering high-value or cash rewards
If you notice that a high % of referrals are unsubscribing soon after sign-up
Tip: If you do introduce a delay, set as short a time period as possible — ideally no more than a day.
How to add a time delay
The default setting in SparkLoop is for subscribers to get referral points each time someone they've referred joins your list. To change that:
In your SparkLoop account, go to Settings.
Click on Referral Conversion.
Turn the toggle switch to On.
Enter the number of days you want someone to remain subscribed before they count as a referral.
Hit the Save button.
What happens when you change your settings
Once you add a delay, the referral process looks like this:
Subscriber shares their referral link
Subscriber's friend signs up for your newsletter
In SparkLoop, this friend is marked as PENDING
SparkLoop waits the number of days you specified
Friend is marked as VERIFIED and counted as a referral
Verifying pending referrals
Go to Subscribers > Pending to view and manually verify or reject pending referrals.
Note: Your subscribers will not be able to see how many pending referrals they have.
Changing the verification window
If you reduce the time period, subscribers who have already been on the list longer than the new minimum will automatically be verified. If you increase it, all subscribers must meet the new timeline. Changes can take up to 24 hours to reflect.
Will this impact my giveaways?
Yes. Pending referrals do not count for points in a giveaway. We recommend either manually verifying any pending subscribers before drawing the winner, or waiting N+1 days after the giveaway ends.