Loyalty Blogs

The Thanksgiving season isn’t just about festive feasts; it’s also a prime time for brands to connect with their customers. The fact that more people are shopping during the period will be an opportunity through creative and strategic loyalty programs to build long-term relationships with brands, but it takes more than just routine promotions to make an impact. Being outstanding in delivering an effective Thanksgiving loyalty program in 2024 depends on how compelling your loyalty program is and being customer-centric. Sometimes it just leads to instantaneous engagement and long-term loyalty.  

Here’s a closer look at the top strategies to ensure your Thanksgiving loyalty program shines this season.  

Launch Early and Build Anticipation 

During the holiday season, starting your loyalty program early will allow your brand to build excitement and create anticipation. Run campaigns in the last week of October or the first week of November and hint at the special rewards or exclusive access to holiday collections.  

Ideas for Early Engagement  

• Teaser Campaigns: Create sneak peeks of the rewards or offers so that the buzz can start building.  

• VIP Access: Give loyal members the ability to preview or buy products before they hit the shelves for the general public.  

• Interactive Campaigns: Consider getting customers involved via social media polls, countdown timers, and exclusive community chats as the big shopping day approaches.  

The advance launch keeps your brand at the top of the minds of the loyal members and gives them time enough to pool their points or benefits that have been amassed before the peak period comes.  

Implement Limited-Time Offers That Promote Action 

Time-bound, limited-time offers for a holiday period drive urgency and create an increased share of voice due to participation. These can be strategically crafted for Thanksgiving, pushing customers to engage with your brand during a short window.  

Here are some great ideas.  

• Double Points Days: Reward customers with double loyalty points made throughout the Thanksgiving sale period.  

• Exclusive rewards: Introduced as Thanksgiving-specific rewards but availed exclusively over a short period. Branded merchandise can be one of the options; alternatively, it can be seasonal-oriented items or even experiential rewards.  

• Reward points for social actions: Reach out to members by awarding points on the member’s behalf for activities such as shares and referrals on social media, reviews, etc., and tie in these actions with the spirit of Thanksgiving.  

  Add these time-sensitive offers and boost the number of conversions, build excitement, and add a festive flavor to your loyalty program.  

Associate each touch point with Thanksgiving themes 

Alignment of the loyalty program with Thanksgiving themes can help warm up the program for the customers and add familiarity, which makes the connection more profound. Thematic alignment may be in the visual forms or in the way the rewards are offered.  

Ways to Create Thanksgiving Spirit in Your Loyalty Program:  

• Themed Content and Imagery: Update your website, mobile application, and social media with holiday-themed imagery and festive colors.  

• Seasonal Rewards: Incentivize loyalty points for Thanksgiving-specific products, such as cozy clothing, festival decor, or limited-edition celebratory items that mark the end of the holiday season.  

A pertinent and engaging Thanksgiving theme will make your program relevant and engaging and perfectly in tune with the holiday season.  

Offer Exclusive Thanksgiving Bundles and Upsells 

The core objective of the Thanksgiving shopping period is to increase the basket size. Bundling with Thanksgiving themes and cross-selling across upselling could be an effective strategy to tackle this objective.  

Thanksgiving Bundle Ideas to Increase AOV:  

• Curated Thanksgiving Kits: Place the best-selling items into one product in curated kits such as “Thanksgiving Host Essentials” or “Cozy Thanksgiving Night In.” Bundled items bring added value to the customer and encourage them to spend more on the order.  

• Gift Bundles with Loyalty Points: Award additional loyalty points for the holiday-themed bundles. This can be an excellent deal for those customers who have already scored points.  

• Customizable Bundles: Let customers personalize their bundles by choosing items that best fit their Thanksgiving planning, with the added incentive of exclusive points for customization.  

Upselling and bundling allow you to cater to the needs of customers while increasing engagement and loyalty, given the fact that members are rewarded for opting into these larger purchases.  

Personalize your Thanksgiving Loyalty Offer  

The more tailored the offers are towards an individual, the better the response it is going to generate. Personalized recommendations march in conjunction with happy customers since the idea of your brand having an interest in customers’ preferences and shopping patterns tends to appeal to them. With the fact that you can utilize customer data to deliver Thanksgiving-specific product recommendations and even some exclusive deals most likely to attract action.  

How to Personalize Thanksgiving Offers:  

• Tailored Promotions: Utilize past purchase data to provide customized product recommendations suitable for the tastes of the customers.  

• Behavior-Based Incentives: Reward frequent home decor buyers with points each time they purchase Thanksgiving-themed decorations or distribute seasonal recipes of food items.  

• Segmented Promotions: Develop Thanksgiving experiences for VIP customers that contrast from standard rewards, including special invitations to participate in Thanksgiving-themed online events, or special levels of discount. Personalization goes more deeply into the connection between the customer and your brand, which strengthens the position of your loyalty program as unique by being relevant and customer-centric.  

Make Earning and Redemption Easy  

Simplify how you enable users to earn and redeem points to enhance their experience and participation. Complexity can be a killer in Thanksgiving loyalty programs when customers find them too complicated, uninteresting, and difficult to use. For Thanksgiving, make it as simple as possible to join and benefit from the program.  

Tips to simplify Thanksgiving Loyalty Actions:  

• Multiple Ways to Accrue Points: Encourage members to earn points by performing more than just purchases, such as by taking a survey, sharing a recipe for Thanksgiving dinner, or inviting friends as examples.  

• Easy Redemptions: Provide easy redemptions that ensure clear steps, one-click redemptions, loyalty codes, or even in-app point conversion as examples.  

This makes sure it is easy for the member to join the loyalty program and gain rewards.  

Maximize Using Multiple Channels  

Your Thanksgiving loyalty program should feature in every relevant consumer touchpoint. Take an omnichannel approach and integrate email, social media, in-app notifications, and even SMS to remind consumers about program benefits and special offers.  

Channel Strategies for the Thanksgiving Campaign:  

• Email Campaigns: Use Thanksgiving-themed email campaigns that highlight program benefits, exclusive rewards, or limited-time offers.  

• Social Media Integration: Execute Thanksgiving-themed contests, holiday countdowns, or special giveaways for loyalty members on social channels.  

• In-app and SMS Notifications: App and SMS notifications can be used to remind customers of last-minute deals, double points days, and other Thanksgiving-only privileges.  

This integrated approach makes sure that your program reaches the largest target audience possible. You are reminding members about exclusive Thanksgiving offers and building up excitement.  

Focus on Giving Back  

Thanksgiving is also a season of giving. Implementing your loyalty program with charitable causes is one of the best ways you can generate goodwill and strengthen customer loyalty.  

Giving Back Ideas for Thanksgiving:  

• Donate Points: Enable customers to donate their points to charities or causes, like feeding the homeless or participating in the Thanksgiving food drive.  

• Brand-Matched Donations: For every purchase or point earned during Thanksgiving, donate a proportion of the proceeds to a corresponding cause, like shelters or food banks.  

• Reward Philanthropic Actions: Award points to customers who volunteer during Thanksgiving or donate to a given list of charities on your platform.  

It reinforces the Thanksgiving spirit and links your brand with very strong values that add extra layers of loyalty.  

In a Nutshell 

Thanksgiving 2024 is just the right time when your loyalty program can go the extra mile to make the most of the holiday. With themes like early engagement, themed rewards, smooth earning and redemption options, and charity drives, you can make a fantastic Thanksgiving loyalty program stand out. All of this drives immediate engagement, strengthens customer ties, and helps small businesses in long-term loyalty all through the festive season.  

Loyalty is not about points but about making amazing memories that people associate with a brand. Give your loyalty program a bang this Thanksgiving season with Novus Loyalty. Novus Loyalty is a leading AI-powered loyalty software that can tailor rewards programs for small businesses. Personalization and theme-based loyalty are core areas where we excel.  

Let’s connect today to design an effective Thanksgiving loyalty strategy.