3 Actionable Tips to Winning the Loyalty Program Marketing Race
Drive deeper customer engagement by mastering your communications strategy
Is your loyalty program strong enough to keep customers coming back? When it comes to customer engagement, marketing matters. After all, signing up for a rewards program doesn’t equate to loyalty.
If you’re treating your rewards program as a “need-to-do” checkbox then you’re missing out on crucial shared value. Creating this shared value encourages repeat customers and accelerates customer lifetime value.
Delivering the message of shared value is where the rubber meets the road. Today, marketing is so much more than "selling and telling." A marketing communications strategy involves defining customer personas, market research, advertising, product or solution planning and development, brand awareness, and customer satisfaction.
Rev up your rewards program with these proven loyalty program marketing strategies
Follow these 3 marketing communication strategies when designing or enhancing your loyalty program.
1. Have a solid onboarding communications strategy
A loyalty program should be intuitive and easy to use. If a customer’s first experience with your program isn't - then it’s time to shift gears so they experience your brand in a more holistic manner. Does your onboarding strategy include upfront communication? If not, consider adding it to your communications strategy or customers may lose interest before even getting started.
Establishing a loyal brand-to-customer relationship, setting expectations of your rewards program, as well as delivering important information directly to users, all help establish that important, upfront communication. This initial interaction with your program reveals why they should participate and establishes how valuable engaging with your program will be in their future!
2. Pull out all the stops to build a relationship
No matter how your loyalty program is structured, it’s imperative to build open communication channels and relationships with your customers.
Your marketing efforts have the all-important job of nurturing and developing strong relationships and ultimately, brand advocates. There are many ways marketing communications can help foster relationships and create loyalty:
- Webinars and trainings
- In-person events and seminars
- Support content for the buyer’s journey
- Tiered benefits and special recognition
- Referral bonuses
3. Personalize the rewards journey
Think just having a loyalty program is enough to appease your customers? Think again because your marketing strategy can (and should) go much deeper than an email with a personalized greeting once a quarter. Embrace the data at your fingertips to understand your buyers' journey and support it with communication and material that elevate your customers' experience with your brand. The key to customer loyalty is strategically planning the right customer journey.
What information or support can you proactively provide? Can you support users with events and pre-sales and post-sales rewards? Remember, rewards programs should not be a one-size-fits-all approach.
In the digital era, there is significant opportunity to reinvigorate the rewards experience. Dynamic, customized content and rewards with AI-driven personalization that learn as users engage can help personalize and streamline user experience.
At the end of the day, all roads lead to what differentiates you from your competitors. So, focus your loyalty program strategy on what makes your brand, product and service stand out.
Learn more about delivering a successful rewards program.