Loyalty Blogs

Loyal customers are what every business look for to attain their goals and drive revenue. Many business owners are already making use of dedicated brand loyalty programs that aim to build and maintain long-lasting relationships with valued customers. Living in the competitive world, customers have never-ending choices when it comes to the business they want to associate with and they stay with the one that offers the best customer experiences and special deals.

Showing appreciation to your loyal customers can be a difficult task without the help of loyalty programs that are launched with the right strategies. Let’s take a closer look at the all-in-one guide that explains the steps to develop a reliable customer loyalty program!

How to Build Customer Loyalty in 7 Easy Steps?

Customer retention is what every business owners care about, especially in the era where the competition hits the peak on various online platforms. Many types of loyalty programs exist in the market today but choosing the right one for your audience is what you need to optimize profit from repeat customers.

Here are the detailed stages that you must keep in mind to build the customer loyalty program-

Stage 1: Know Your Customers

The first thing that you must consider before building a customer loyalty program is to know your customers and their expectations to help you serve them better. You can start by assessing their wants through the help of methods such as surveys, interviews, etc. Analyze what they expect from a loyalty program and their willingness to join if you build one. This helps in giving you an idea of whether your program will be loved by many or ignored.

Stage 2: Define Goals to Achieve

The next stage is to know the motive and the results you expect from the program you are building. Whether it’s the increase in sales, more traffic to your site, or an increase in brand visibility, know your goal from the program. Whatever you want to achieve, ensure that you make a well-strategized plan for the success of the loyalty program. This will help in planning the program with a clear purpose.

Stage 3: Find the Right Rewards

The reward type you choose for your loyalty program must offer value to your customers if you want it to be a success. After taking time for thorough research on customers’ expectations, choose the suitable reward that is not only beneficial for your customers but also profitable to your business. Another thing that you must not skip is to choose the right name for your loyalty program so that you can attract more participants.

Stage 4: Choose Loyalty Program Type

Another important aspect that must be kept in mind while building a customer loyalty program is to choose the program type that supports your needs. There are many types of loyalty program– points-based program, tiered based, vouchers-based, and so on. Though every type is different from one another, you have to ensure that you pick the one that helps to increase visits to your site/store by your customers. Also, you can consider a point-based program with additional features like a referral, social media sharing, etc. Another type that can increase value per order is a spend-based type program that rewards customers upon completion of a particular amount spend per week, month, or quarter along with an attractive cashback policy.

Stage 5: Plan a budget

The budget plays the main role for many business owners especially if you are a startup owner. Building a customer loyalty program doesn’t mean you need to spend a fortune to attract and retain customers. Planning a budget as per your business needs is essential before building a dedicated loyalty program. One of the easy and effective ways is to set a separate budget for retaining customers and another one for targeting new customers.

Stage 6: Kick start with Attractive Incentives

After building the loyalty program, you must give an amazing launch to attract customers with the help of sign-up benefits/incentives. You can make use of a simple & easy to win game/series of activities to encourage customers to work for it & earn the rewards. Apart from the signup rewards like 100 reward points or 10% off on the first purchase, you can also concurrent activities like discounts for 2nd purchase or reward points on completion of some task, etc. Start incentives act as a great way to engage customers quickly and give your loyalty program the boost that you need.

Stage 7: Assess Program Performance

The program you are building must be monitored and analyzed from time to time to upgrade considering the customers’ feedback. This will help your program to stay on top and ensure that your customers stay connected with your program for a long time. Check the performance and customer behavior data to give an idea of whether your program is doing what is meant for. This study helps to know more about the current performance of loyalty programs and how you can improve on the next scheme with a better result.

Top Examples of Successful Loyalty Programs

There are many great loyalty programs doing wonders for their business growth. Here are some of them-

• Sephora Business Insider

This is a point-based program that is loved by its members across the world for their flexibility to use reward points. Redemption of points can be done for gift cards, discounts on the store, or buying any product from the brand.

• Amazon Prime

Next is another well-known membership program where customers can pay a monthly or annual fee to become the prime members with unlimited streaming services, next-day delivery on millions of products, and other exclusive benefits. It has been evident that prime members spend 4x more than normal Amazon customers, thereby helping in increasing revenue.

• Tarte <3 Rewards

Known as the leading cosmetic & skincare retailer, Tarte uses their loyalty program to boost social media engagement where members earn reward points for different activities such as selfies with brand products, online reviews, etc.

Closing Statement

As we are now aware of how important a loyalty program is for the success of the business, make sure that you consider the points mentioned above before building one for your organization. Take time to analyze your customers’ needs and reward them with personalized deals, gifts & exclusive experiences. The right customer loyalty program software will help to increase customer retention and boost purchase rate, which will eventually create huge value for business growth. What are you waiting for? Grab the opportunity to set up an effective loyalty program with the help of our expert developers & bring the success you have always wanted for your business.