{"id":176,"date":"2019-10-23T16:43:28","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T16:43:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/peakperformancebusiness.ie\/blog\/?p=176"},"modified":"2019-10-23T16:43:30","modified_gmt":"2019-10-23T16:43:30","slug":"loyalty-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peakperformancebusiness.ie\/blog\/loyalty-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"Loyalty Programs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Creating\na Loyalty Program That Keeps Your Customers Coming Back! <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Loyalty programs are everywhere. I\u2019m\nwilling to bet you have several loyalty cards in your wallet. You may even have\nloyalty memberships you\u2019ve forgotten about. Customers love them \u2013 and with good\nreason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A well-thought-out loyalty program provides\nbenefits to customers that can range from reduced prices for products to\ngiveaways to exclusive access to special events and offers. For businesses,\nthey help with customer retention by incentivizing loyalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trick, of course, is creating a loyalty\nprogram that does both. There are lots of different options, including referral\nprograms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, with that in mind, let\u2019s talk about\nloyalty programs. Should you create one? What benefits and features are best\nfor your customers and you? Here\u2019s what you need to know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Benefits of a Loyalty Program<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s start by talking about the benefits\nyou\u2019ll reap if you start a loyalty program that appeals to your customers.\nThere are several that make loyalty programs a must for marketers and business\nowners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. They can help you retain\ncustomers. One study found that a 5% increase in customer retention led to an\naverage 25%\nincrease in profits<\/a>.<\/li>
  2. 60%\nof loyal customers<\/a> say they buy more frequently and make more purchases\nfrom the brands they love.<\/li>
  3. Surprisingly, loyalty programs\ndon\u2019t cost companies as much as you might think. It costs far more to acquire a\nnew customer than to keep\nan existing one<\/a>. When you offset the cost of a loyalty program against the\ncost to attract new customers, it\u2019s still a far less expensive option.<\/li>
  4. Customers who participate in\nloyalty programs feel valued and that triggers a cognitive bias known as Reciprocity<\/a>.\nThat\u2019s the instinct that makes us feel that we should return a favor when\nsomeone does something for us. <\/li>
  5. Research shows that loyalty\nprograms increase sales. According to one study<\/a>,\nmembers of loyalty programs generated between 12% and 18% more revenue for\nbusinesses than non-members.<\/li>
  6. Loyalty programs can help you\nlearn about your customers. It may take a bit of trial and error but creating a\nloyalty program allows you to collect valuable data about your customers and\ntheir buying habits. You can use what you learn to fine-tune your loyalty\nprogram and to create offers that will appeal to your most loyal customers.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Loyalty programs offer benefits to you as a\nbusiness owner while also giving your most loyal customers a reason to return\nto your business, increase their purchasing, and recommend your business to\ntheir friends and social media followers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Features of a Successful Loyalty Program<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What features should your loyalty program\nhave? There\u2019s no one correct answer, but there are some things that most\nsuccessful loyalty programs offer. Here are the ones that you should seriously\nthink about working into your program:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    • A structure that incentivizes customers to purchase frequently and\nspend more money than they normally would. <\/li>
    • Early access to special offers and products. A lot of loyalty\nprograms offer members insider status where they get first access to new offers\nand a heads-up on the release of new products. It\u2019s a good way to make your\nloyalty program members feel valued and special.<\/li>
    • Ease of use. Providing a frictionless experience is a must if you\nwant members to participate in your program. It shouldn\u2019t be difficult to join,\nand you should make it simple to accrue rewards and use them.<\/li>
    • Personalization. It\u2019s a great idea to create a mailing list for your\nloyalty members and personalize what you send to them. <\/li>
    • Freebies. Customers must accumulate points to earn rewards, but\nthere\u2019s nothing wrong with offering them something just for joining your\nprogram. A key example here is Sephora, which offers a free birthday gift to\nmembers every year. It\u2019s a nice reminder that they care about their customers \u2013\nand who doesn\u2019t like a birthday present?<\/li>
    • Brand relevance. Finally, your program should be relevant to your\nbrand and deliver what your customers want.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      \u201cThe key here is to think about your\nbusiness, brand values, and customers and create a loyalty program that\ndelivers on your customers\u2019 expectations while helping your bottom line.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Ideas for Loyalty Programs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Here are some suggestions for how to\nstructure your loyalty program in a way that makes customers want to\nparticipate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      • Use a simple point-based system. I\u2019ve seen some loyalty programs\nthat are convoluted. <\/li>
      • Charge a fee for access. This option might seem counterintuitive but\nit\u2019s often quite effective. Two examples are Amazon (Amazon Prime) and REI,\nwhich charges a $20 fee for lifetime access and pays dividends to customers\nbased on how much they spend during the year.<\/li>
      • Build your program around shared values. Not every reward needs to\nbe monetary \u2013 and some can be both monetary and do good in the world. A great\nexample is Patagonia, which offers a \u201cCommon Threads\u201d program that allows\nmembers to resell their used clothing on the Patagonia website. Since their customers\ncare deeply about sustainability, this offer makes sense for them.<\/li>
      • Gamify your loyalty program. Everybody loves a game and there are\nlots of ways to make loyalty fun for your customers. For example. Safeway\noffers an annual Monopoly game that gives shoppers game pieces based on how\nmuch they spend. They can earn rewards including free groceries, prizes, and\ncash rewards.<\/li>
      • Create a tiered system to further reward big spenders. It makes\nsense to give your most loyal customers \u2013 the ones who buy the most from you \u2013\nadditional rewards. Creating different reward levels (Gold, Silver and Bronze,\nfor example) will incentivize people to buy more to earn the extra rewards\nyou\u2019re offering.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        Different products require different\nstructures. A restaurant owner might choose a straightforward \u201cBuy 10 meals,\nget one free\u201d approach, while a retailer might be more interested in a points\nprogram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Once you get your loyalty program going, track the results and use what you learn to fine-tune your structure and rewards. Your customers will let you know if something\u2019s working \u2013 and your bottom line will reflect their increased loyalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        To Your Success!
        Brendan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Creating a Loyalty Program That Keeps Your Customers Coming Back! Loyalty programs are everywhere. I\u2019m willing to bet you have several loyalty cards in your wallet. You may even have loyalty memberships you\u2019ve forgotten about. Customers love them \u2013 and with good reason. A well-thought-out loyalty program provides benefits to customers that can range from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peakperformancebusiness.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peakperformancebusiness.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peakperformancebusiness.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peakperformancebusiness.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peakperformancebusiness.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/peakperformancebusiness.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":178,"href":"https:\/\/peakperformancebusiness.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176\/revisions\/178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peakperformancebusiness.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peakperformancebusiness.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peakperformancebusiness.ie\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}