If you haven’t yet developed a loyalty program to retain your client base, this list will help you understand just what you’re missing out on.
When it comes to retaining your existing customers, implementing a strategy aimed at building customer loyalty is crucial. It’s how you build your tribe and keep them following you. Loyalty programs are marketing strategies designed to reward a customer’s purchasing behaviour, thereby increasing their likelihood of remaining loyal to the company.
The incentives often vary; some programs offer exclusive privileges; others deliver discounts or special merch, but they all share the same objective of attracting and retaining a customer’s devotion to a brand. They’re usually effective, because they appeal to the customer’s desire to be first, to be exclusive, to be treated as special, and to get a great deal out of being faithful to your business. If you haven’t yet developed one for your client base, the following seven reasons should help you understand just what you’re missing out on.
1. Increase Your Sales
Customers enjoy loyalty programs because they often provide attractive incentives for making a purchase. Rewards often increase linearly – the more a customer spends, the more points they accumulate, and the greater the payout. Triggering your customers’ interest in building up towards a special reward when they cash out keeps them making purchases and gives you continued access to revenue. Not all rewards programs are created equally, however, and you’ll need to be plugged in to the needs of your target audience to pull yours off effectively and deliver rewards that are worth it to your customers.
2. Strengthen Your Brand
Loyalty programs work in two ways: 1) they motivate new customers to remain interested even after they’ve purchased your products or services, and 2) they make your existing customers continue to feel valued by your brand. This way, customer appreciation for your business grows continuously, and the chance that existing clients will spread the love via word of mouth and online reviews grows right along with it. The more a customer feels appreciated, the more he or she is likely to support a brand and recommend it to others. Online testimonials and word-of-mouth create the best kind of ongoing cycle of growth for your business.
3. They’ll Likely Make You More Than You’ll Spend on Them
So maybe you’re sold on the idea of a loyalty program, but you’re still hesitant to pull the trigger because you’re imagining your resources taking a hit – and possibly being drained by a strategy that doesn’t guarantee success. The truth however, is that pursuing new customers is far more expensive; studies show that keeping an existing customer is 7 times less costly than acquiring a new one. This means that whatever you spend implementing a loyalty program is likely to be far less than what you’d spend in attempting to obtain new customers via advertising or any other marketing strategy. It’s also very likely that whatever you spend on a rewards program will be made back twice over by the resulting business you generate.
4. Learn About Your Target Audience
When you offer a rewards program, you’re generating results that will provide you with important information about your customers. As you tweak your strategy and your incentives, you’ll soon realize what triggers the desire of your clients, and what doesn’t quite achieve the same effect. This allows you to pinpoint the rewards that matter most to your customers, and therefore gives you the opportunity to make offers that endear you to your audience when you attach them to the products and services that you’d like them to experience the most.
5. Grow Your Tribe.
Rewarding your customers for sticking with you sets your business apart from your competitors who aren’t doing the same. A rewards program sends a strong message to your current and future client base that you don’t just care about making money; you value your relationship with them as stakeholders in your business’ success. This creates a tribe who feels good about associating with your business and supports you proudly.
6. Reward Your Customers in-Store or Digitally.
A great advantage of loyalty rewards programs is that, depending on the scope and capability of the system, rewards can often be applied to purchases made in person, online or both. In this way, you’re able to offer a greater number of rewards with a broader reach when it comes to your audience. Your program’s style should depend on the needs of your operation and the habits of your customers; if the majority of your sales come from online purchases, it’s time to beef up your online rewards. If, however, the bulk of your customers take advantage of your sales in person, an in-store program makes the most sense. You could, potentially use a combination of both. Mixto provides both digital and physical solutions for loyalty rewards programs. Click here to learn more about how we can help.
7. The Juice Is Worth The Squeeze.
We won’t lie to you; the initial set up of an effective loyalty rewards program takes genuine effort and research. You’ll need to be highly informed of the preferences of your customers, as well as the strategy you’ll need to implement. However, once you’re set up, your rewards program becomes automated and self-sustaining, just based on the cyclical nature of the work a client does to obtain those sweet rewards, the enjoyment they receive when they redeem them, and the motivation to experience it all again. If you take the time to study your audience’s buying trends and keep your rewards updated, your customers remain engaged, and the effort and time required to execute the process this will be worth it when your business experiences the growth it deserves.
Ready to get started with a loyalty program?
Click Here For Mixto’s Loyalty Card Solutions.
