1. Differentiate your company. A great loyalty program with stellar rewards can set you apart from the competition, and it might even be the determining factor as to why you win a sale, if all other variables are equal.
2. Incentivize specific behaviors. You can offer points and rewards to incentivize customers to buy selected products, visit your business at specific times/days or try new beta products.
3. Create brand loyalty. Once your customers enroll in a program and begin earning points, they are less likely to spend their money with a competitor where their points do not grow.
4. Provide market research. Your loyalty program typically gathers a lot of valuable information about its members, which is an excellent opportunity to learn about your customers’ demographics, preferences and expectations.
5. Increase website/email/social interaction. Your database of interested and loyal customers will be more likely to return to your website, open email and interact with you socially – all contributing “sticky” (or recurring) online traffic.
6. Reward your best customers. A customer loyalty program can be customized to reward your very best customers with higher value points and awards which is a great way to say, “Thank you” to your best customers.
As these benefits demonstrate, growing your customer loyalty program rightly deserves to be a high priority. Yet, achieving this goal is not as simple as it sounds because your program needs to entice a certain number or sign-ups or participants in order to be successful. As we all know, getting people to spend time on your site and voluntarily surrender personal information is not an easy feat.
To meet this challenge, begin by exploring what features/benefits would make your rewards program outstanding and unique. If your business is a hotel, can you store customer preference information regarding the preferred floor or bedding arrangement, favorite amenities, etc.? Or create lower levels of point categories that include free breakfasts or room upgrades so members don’t have to rack up tens of thousands of points to experience a reward?
In addition to unique attributes, you need to be able to educate potential members about the benefits of your program in a quick and persuasive manner. As recently as 10-12 years ago, customer loyalty sign-ups occurred in person or over the phone, when a live person explained the benefits and rewards. These days, with so many transactions occurring online, if you aren’t making a compelling case for your customer loyalty program online, you’re likely missing a huge number of potential enrollees.
One way to convince people to sign up for your customer loyalty program is to bring it to life online by using a digital character. If a website visitor clicks on the customer awards/loyalty section of your website, a character can provide a program overview, most popular benefits and any fine print/details. This experience is much closer to having a live person explain the program, as opposed to asking viewers to read through several pages. By bringing a level of visual interest and interaction to the enrollment part of your loyalty program, you’ll be able to gain more sign ups and strengthen your customer loyalty – an outcome that we’re all looking to achieve.
Generating Interest in a Loyalty Program – Maximizing Online Outcomes Series
In our blog series, “Maximizing online outcomes,” we have discussed the concept that a website’s success is largely based upon whether it ultimately generates revenue or reduces costs – or both! One place where a website can have a powerful impact on revenue is if it engages and retains current customers.
To accomplish this goal of increased retention, your company may have established a customer loyalty program. According to the article, “Customer Loyalty Brings Long-Term Sales” published on May 12, 2010 by Entrepreneur, “Nearly 80 percent of marketers are committed to maintaining or growing their loyalty programs as primary customer retention and relationship building tactics.”
Why are almost 8 out of 10 marketers focusing on customer loyalty programs? More than just encouraging repeat business, a customer loyalty program can:
1. Differentiate your company. A great loyalty program with stellar rewards can set you apart from the competition, and it might even be the determining factor as to why you win a sale, if all other variables are equal.
2. Incentivize specific behaviors. You can offer points and rewards to incentivize customers to buy selected products, visit your business at specific times/days or try new beta products.
3. Create brand loyalty. Once your customers enroll in a program and begin earning points, they are less likely to spend their money with a competitor where their points do not grow.
4. Provide market research. Your loyalty program typically gathers a lot of valuable information about its members, which is an excellent opportunity to learn about your customers’ demographics, preferences and expectations.
5. Increase website/email/social interaction. Your database of interested and loyal customers will be more likely to return to your website, open email and interact with you socially – all contributing “sticky” (or recurring) online traffic.
6. Reward your best customers. A customer loyalty program can be customized to reward your very best customers with higher value points and awards which is a great way to say, “Thank you” to your best customers.
As these benefits demonstrate, growing your customer loyalty program rightly deserves to be a high priority. Yet, achieving this goal is not as simple as it sounds because your program needs to entice a certain number or sign-ups or participants in order to be successful. As we all know, getting people to spend time on your site and voluntarily surrender personal information is not an easy feat.
To meet this challenge, begin by exploring what features/benefits would make your rewards program outstanding and unique. If your business is a hotel, can you store customer preference information regarding the preferred floor or bedding arrangement, favorite amenities, etc.? Or create lower levels of point categories that include free breakfasts or room upgrades so members don’t have to rack up tens of thousands of points to experience a reward?
In addition to unique attributes, you need to be able to educate potential members about the benefits of your program in a quick and persuasive manner. As recently as 10-12 years ago, customer loyalty sign-ups occurred in person or over the phone, when a live person explained the benefits and rewards. These days, with so many transactions occurring online, if you aren’t making a compelling case for your customer loyalty program online, you’re likely missing a huge number of potential enrollees.
One way to convince people to sign up for your customer loyalty program is to bring it to life online by using a digital character. If a website visitor clicks on the customer awards/loyalty section of your website, a character can provide a program overview, most popular benefits and any fine print/details. This experience is much closer to having a live person explain the program, as opposed to asking viewers to read through several pages. By bringing a level of visual interest and interaction to the enrollment part of your loyalty program, you’ll be able to gain more sign ups and strengthen your customer loyalty – an outcome that we’re all looking to achieve.
1. Differentiate your company. A great loyalty program with stellar rewards can set you apart from the competition, and it might even be the determining factor as to why you win a sale, if all other variables are equal.
2. Incentivize specific behaviors. You can offer points and rewards to incentivize customers to buy selected products, visit your business at specific times/days or try new beta products.
3. Create brand loyalty. Once your customers enroll in a program and begin earning points, they are less likely to spend their money with a competitor where their points do not grow.
4. Provide market research. Your loyalty program typically gathers a lot of valuable information about its members, which is an excellent opportunity to learn about your customers’ demographics, preferences and expectations.
5. Increase website/email/social interaction. Your database of interested and loyal customers will be more likely to return to your website, open email and interact with you socially – all contributing “sticky” (or recurring) online traffic.
6. Reward your best customers. A customer loyalty program can be customized to reward your very best customers with higher value points and awards which is a great way to say, “Thank you” to your best customers.
As these benefits demonstrate, growing your customer loyalty program rightly deserves to be a high priority. Yet, achieving this goal is not as simple as it sounds because your program needs to entice a certain number or sign-ups or participants in order to be successful. As we all know, getting people to spend time on your site and voluntarily surrender personal information is not an easy feat.
To meet this challenge, begin by exploring what features/benefits would make your rewards program outstanding and unique. If your business is a hotel, can you store customer preference information regarding the preferred floor or bedding arrangement, favorite amenities, etc.? Or create lower levels of point categories that include free breakfasts or room upgrades so members don’t have to rack up tens of thousands of points to experience a reward?
In addition to unique attributes, you need to be able to educate potential members about the benefits of your program in a quick and persuasive manner. As recently as 10-12 years ago, customer loyalty sign-ups occurred in person or over the phone, when a live person explained the benefits and rewards. These days, with so many transactions occurring online, if you aren’t making a compelling case for your customer loyalty program online, you’re likely missing a huge number of potential enrollees.
One way to convince people to sign up for your customer loyalty program is to bring it to life online by using a digital character. If a website visitor clicks on the customer awards/loyalty section of your website, a character can provide a program overview, most popular benefits and any fine print/details. This experience is much closer to having a live person explain the program, as opposed to asking viewers to read through several pages. By bringing a level of visual interest and interaction to the enrollment part of your loyalty program, you’ll be able to gain more sign ups and strengthen your customer loyalty – an outcome that we’re all looking to achieve.
