8 Tips for Increasing the Value of Loyalty Programs
Customers enjoy loyalty programs by getting points, freebies, and discounts. However, many businesses are still trying to understand how they can increase the value of their loyalty programs. This article will provide 8 tips to ensure your company is heading in the right direction regarding your own loyalty program and its impact on revenues.
1. Establish your brand personality
Customers want to feel like they’re getting something special when they opt for a loyalty program. They want to know what makes your brand unique and what makes them want to come back again and again. They’ll be more likely to participate in your program if their experience aligns with who you are as a company or business owner. That means taking some time upfront to decide how you want your brand portrayed in every aspect of your business — from social media posts, email marketing campaigns and more — so that when customers sign up for your loyalty program, they’re aligned with who you are as an individual and company owner. Professionals like brand strategists, graphic designers, content marketers, and Austin social media experts can assist in portraying your brand consistently across various aspects of your business, including loyalty programs. Their expertise ensures your brand’s unique personality and messaging resonate with your audience, fostering customer loyalty. And when you use email as a medium for your loyalty program, prioritize email security, and use the DKIM generator to avoid threats like phishing and spamming.
2. Use data to understand your customers better
Once you know who your customers are, use that knowledge to deepen your understanding of them. Loyalty programs can be used as an opportunity to collect more information about members’ needs and preferences by asking questions directly or providing opportunities for them to volunteer information through social media sites like Facebook or Twitter. Asking these questions early can help ensure that new members will benefit from their membership right away instead of having to wait until they’ve been a member for a while before they start seeing value from their membership — which may cause them to lose interest in participating altogether!
3. Strengthen loyalty by leveraging other affiliations
Loyalty is a commitment, so it’s important to strengthen the bond between customers and brands. One way to do this is by leveraging customer affiliations beyond the core product or service. You can do this with other offers, promotions or services from other companies that may be complementary to yours. For example, if you’re in the travel business, offer exclusive discounts on hotels booked through third-party websites like Expedia or Priceline. Make sure these offers are relevant and timely — offering them in conjunction with seasonal events such as Thanksgiving or Spring Break will encourage more spending and build stronger relationships with customers.
4. Empower your customers
Customers who feel empowered have higher levels of satisfaction with their experience, whether they’re buying from you or another company. They also tend to spend more money overall, because they feel like they’re getting a better deal when they shop with you instead of somewhere else. This can be especially important for smaller companies or those who don’t offer many products or services yet but want to build up their customer base as quickly as possible so they don’t fall behind when they start offering more products and services down the road (which is something we always recommend).
5. Build a stronger community
Your customers will be more inclined to participate in your loyalty program if they feel like they belong to something bigger than themselves. Using Discord is one of the best ways to create a strong community and make your audience feel as if they are part of something unique. Even if you cannot moderate all engagement there, you can outsource this task to a reliable Discord management agency that will manage and grow a strong community there.
Make sure your loyalty program includes opportunities for members to share their experiences with other members and give back to the community through volunteer opportunities. This can be as simple as sending out an email newsletter or posting on your website once a month. Another good technique is to work closely with home phone service providers, integrate a phone system for your business, and provide seamless customer communication. When it comes time for your customers to redeem their points, provide incentives like discounts or free shipping so they feel like they’re getting something valuable in return for their participation in the community.
6. Integrate into real life
The key to making a loyalty program successful is integrating it into real life. Customers want to be able to earn points for doing something they would do anyway: buying products or services from you. They also want to be able to redeem those points in places that are relevant to them, such as restaurants or stores near their homes or offices.
You can accomplish this by offering deals on things like food orders at restaurants, movie tickets at local cinemas, and other items that can help customers save money while still being useful in everyday life.
7. Focus on technology and social media
Mobile phones are an essential part of our lives, so it makes sense that you should use them to connect with your customers. Mobile apps allow you to offer coupons, discounts, offers and other incentives directly to your customer’s phone. Also consider using SMS alerts so that you can send out special deals or exclusive offers only if they opt-in first.
Use social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to reach out to your most loyal customers and offer them special deals or rewards just for being part of your community. This can be done through simple messages posted on your page, but it’s even better if you have a dedicated application such as Twitter’s Offer Wall or Facebook’s Offers application where you can display all kinds of offers at once.
You can also use Veed to create informative and fun videos. The best part is that all of your videos are hosted on YouTube, so they’re easily shared across social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Veed also has video conversion capabilities so if you’re using an Apple or MOV format, it can be converted to a more commonly used format (MOV to MP4 or MOV to GIF). You can also use Veed’s built-in analytics tools to track how many people have viewed your videos and from where they’re coming from so you can see if there are any trends.
8. Stay current with loyalty trends and innovations
In the past few years, we’ve seen an explosion of loyalty programs that offer more than just discounts in the form of points or miles. These programs provide additional value through things like travel benefits and access to exclusive events. For example, many airlines now allow members who have reached a certain level in their frequent flyer program access to airport lounges when traveling on business or vacation. Some credit card companies will waive foreign transaction fees for members who reach a certain level in their rewards program.
If you’re thinking about adding new features or benefits to your loyalty program, it might be time to evaluate what other companies are doing and how they can benefit your brand image.
Final Say
Although there will always be a certain number of customers who will remain loyal to your brand regardless of what type of rewards you offer, it’s a good idea to at least consider ways you can improve your loyalty program. By implementing these eight tips, you can significantly increase the value of your loyalty program, which will in turn increase customer satisfaction and loyalty – something that any business owner would love to have.