Let's Get Started!
____
Once your rewards strategy has been established, it's important to start promoting your loyalty program. The strength and purpose of a loyalty program is to provide your business with an actionable database; thus the success of your loyalty program relies on your ability to enroll as many customers as possible. Here are some great ideas that will help boost enrollment.
Marketing Collateral
____
Point-of-purchase marketing materials are an excellent way to promote, inform and enroll customers into your loyalty program. Have a graphic designer create an infographic that clearly demonstrates the rewards structure of your program and includes a call-to-action asking them to enroll. Display the graphic in a frame near your cash. This way your salespeople can easily explain and invite new customers to join the program. For example, the Starbucks loyalty program (see infographic below), clearly indicates the rewards program structure, including how to earn points, a call-to-action "join now", and makes participation in the program appear easy and fun.
Think about your store and the flow of traffic and various touchpoints throughout your store. These are the areas you must target with appropriate signage. For example, advertise your loyalty program on a door sticker, frame a loyalty poster in the changing rooms and identify rewards promotions like double the points on key items.
The cash or point-of-sale is where your sales team will have the opportunity to engage your customers at length. This is a great opportunity to enroll customers and provide them with a small brochure or flyer that explains the reward program. It is also a great idea to include an additional promotional offer or discount in the flyer and reward customers for enhancing their profiles but entering in more data, like birthdate, interests and preferred brands.
The top three reasons programs succeed, as reported by the 2017 COLLOQUY Loyalty Census are:
- Easy to use: 53%
- Gives me great discounts: 39%
- Easy to understand: 37%
Website
____
Whether you have a brick and mortar business or you sell exclusively online, it is imperative that you dedicate a page on your website to the loyalty program. This page will act as a resource for your customers to check their rewards progress, purchase digital gift cards and learn about your program.
Much like the brick & mortar promotional ideas, your website needs to engage and inform prospective customers about your loyalty program. Such tactics as, a pop-up window informing and inviting customers to sign-up for your loyalty program. It is extremely helpful for shoppers to see how many points each item is worth as they browse your website. Thereby, increasing the likelihood for program enrollment. Another great web tactic is to have a pop-up at check-out reminding new customers to enroll and start collecting points immediately.
In addition to your website, it is also prudent to promote your loyalty program on social media channels. Make sure to post regularly, informing customers that you now offer rewards, post photos of items that you are promoting with points and encourage them to participate in contests by enrolling in your loyalty program.
Launch Party!
____
Once all of your marketing collateral is created and the website is updated, it's time to officially launch your loyalty program. Organize a party at your store location, invite customers, business associates and promote your event via email blasts, social media posts and on your website. Make sure that you provide refreshments, entertainment, and opportunities to win prizes and/or special experiences. For example, a beauty product retailer could provide a special gift with purchase, contest entries for a gift basket and/or mini treatments with products that they sell.
It's an excellent strategy to give bonus points to all invitees who attend and make purchases during your special event. You can reward them with a gift card or points for bringing additional guests to your party, posting photos of your event party on social media and/or writing product reviews. The idea is to get people talking about your brand and create a really powerful customer experience for your loyalty program members. The example below from Clinique's Smart Rewards program demonstrates how customers can earn points and get rewarded for participating in experiences and engaging with the brand.
Customer engagement leads to customer retention. Research by Rosetta Consulting, for example, found that engaged customers are five times more likely to buy only from the same brand in the future.
You're on your way...
____
Like all successful relationships, the more you listen to, care and anticipate your customers' needs and desires; the greater the connection. Keep your customers engaged by offering relevant offers, rewards, and experiences based on their customer profile and purchase history. Keeping your brand top of mind and exceeding your customers' expectations is the key to success. At Kangaroo Rewards our mission is to reinvent how brands connect, communicate and inspire their customers. Book a demo and start building better customer relationships today.