Customer loyalty is a constant pursuit of companies. After all, this is what guarantees the longevity of the business, since keeping the clientele is cheaper than gaining new consumers. But to keep the public, it is necessary to retain it.
One of the strategies used for this is the loyalty program, which consists of offering continuous incentives to reward the customer and thus encourage the maintenance of the relationship with the company. A good program manages each of the participants through long-term actions.
To find out how to create a loyalty program for your company, follow this post. Good reading!
What is a loyalty program?
A loyalty program is a marketing strategy, where rewards and/or advantages are offered to customers who make recurrent consumption in an establishment.
Choosing this type of strategy is a very efficient way to retain customers and encourage them to maintain a closer and lasting relationship with the brand.
Another strategy that fits within the loyalty program and makes it even more attractive to consumers is to bet on partnerships with other brands and include this as prizes and benefits offered to loyalty program participants.
This type of action offers benefits for the partner, the customer and the company because this strategy turns out to be an exchange relationship between brands, that is, your business directs customers to the partner and, consequently, the partner directs his to you.
Why should you build a loyalty program?
One of the biggest challenges of retail is to guarantee the return of its consumers, but it is a necessary strategy for the survival of your business.
With numerous competitors in the market, whether for physical stores or e-commerce and the ease of comparing prices on the internet, the possibility of losing your customer is very high.
With this, it only takes a mistake, negligence in the service or even a small difference in the price of the products to lose a sale.
As if all these details weren't enough, acquiring a new customer costs 5 times more than keeping an old one. From the moment the consumer responded to your investments in marketing and store presentation and decided to purchase with you, it is very important to retain this consumer.
How to implement a loyalty program
Check out a step-by-step 6-step guide to implementing a loyalty program in your organization below!
1. Register customers
Registering consumers is the first step. You need to get the name, phone number and email address for each of them. Also, knowing your preferences and interests is crucial. One of the most common ways to get this data is to offer something in return: a discount, a gift or participation in sweepstakes, for example.
Knowing your audience is the best way to know how to please them — and that's the main asset of a loyalty program. Thus, the service becomes more personalized and the client feels comfortable being part of the program.
2. Define the rules
The program's operating rules must be clear and objective: the details must be well explained so as not to leave room for doubt. Furthermore, it must be easy to use and offer advantages to the customer. Consumers need to know how to accumulate points, their validity, how to use them (what is the equivalence between points and gifts, for example) and what the prizes are.
3. Set the rewards
The participant must know exactly when they can redeem their rewards — and they don't have to be expensive to be successful, but they must have value to the customer. That's why it's important to know your audience. To understand your customers' desires and expectations, you can also use research and analysis of purchase histories.
When the company shows that it knows the customer well and anticipates meeting their needs and desires, the chance of retaining them increases.
4. Create a name
The name of the loyalty program may be slightly different from the company, but you must refer to it. This helps in the association. And more: the simpler, the better. Here, creativity helps to surprise the consumer and makes communication more efficient.
5. Determine the expiration date
Ideally, the loyalty program should work forever. Otherwise, it's just a store promotion. It must be communicated to the customer from the very first purchase — and its benefits and perks must be constantly updated.
6. Careful communication
Once the program is created, it must be publicized to attract participants. After all, without this, there is no loyalty.
Interaction with the audience must be constant! Make exclusive offers and discounts (always-on products related to your audience profile! No random items on sale). In addition, be present in the lives of consumers through pages on social media and blogs with relevant content that can engage them and attract participants to the program.
To build the best loyalty program and influence your audience with good content, talk to one of our consultants here at Client Hall! Our solutions can help you and your business to conquer the universe!