While a rewards program gets people interested there’s a right and wrong way to do it. Without the proper tools and management your rewards program will fail. These are ways you can guarantee to keep your rewards program alive.
If you’ve spent some time looking into the benefits of retention marketing, you’re probably very familiar with the success of customer loyalty programs. From points, to referrals, to VIP tiers, more and more brands are using rewards programs to build stronger customer relationships and the investment is paying off. Surveys have shown that up to 87% of customers are actively looking to engage with loyalty programs. In fact, only 16% of shoppers aren’t involved in any type of rewards program.
With so many digital experiences available at their fingertips, customers have grown accustomed to good design and responsive interfaces. That makes it completely unacceptable to run a program that looks like it hasn’t been made a priority. Broken links, ugly design, and other visual noise are surefire ways to lessen the appeal of your loyalty program and get your customers heading for the door.
Putting your brand front and center can be the difference between customers trusting your program or walking away from it. When they see a logo and colors they recognize attached to your program, they’ll automatically associate the good feelings they have for the rest of your brand with what you’re offering through your rewards program.
This makes it imperative that your program be properly branded from top to bottom. This includes logos, colors, and product photography – all of which you can see at work in epic matcha’s program above.
Have you ever heard of the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility? In case you’re not familiar, it basically states that the more people get of any one thing the less valuable it becomes. In the context of your loyalty program, this is most likely to happen with your rewards and special promotions. No matter how great your offers are, customers will eventually get bored. Rewards are only exciting when they still hold value.
The best way to inject a bit of excitement is with bonus points events. With no idea when to expect them, bonus points give you the chance to create truly memorable experiences for your rewards members.
If I asked you how many loyalty programs you’re enrolled in, would you be able to answer? Chances are you’re enrolled in more than you think – you’ve just stopped engaging. 53% of rewards program members stopped actively participating in at least one program over the past year, with only 7% officially opting out. This is most likely due to the fact that customers are engaged in too many programs to keep track of. As a result, customers forget they’re enrolled and start shopping your competitors in search of a better customer experience.
A simple way to remind people that they’re enrolled is to, well, remind them! Incorporating behavioral emails into your marketing strategy is the perfect way to meet shoppers at every stage in the customer journey.