One of the reasons why you should worry about retaining your existing customers is because even a 5% increase in retention can yield benefits of up to 95%. Focusing on a loyalty program doesn’t mean that you should not attract new customers, but you shouldn’t ignore the repeat users either. 

So, how do you keep your existing customers interested in your brand? By building an effective solution. And no matter what kind of offers you put out, financial or otherwise, you will be able to get a few benefits by implementing some customer loyalty program tricks and customer loyalty management solutions in your business.

Let’s take a look.

Improve Retention:

Do you know how much more loyal customers spend as compared to new ones? Around 67%, and that’s a considerable number. Now do the maths and think of the number of profit margins you can get by retaining your customers. 

Customer Loyalty Programs are cost-effective ways of growing your business and allows loyal customers to spend more money. 

Better Customer Lifetime Value (CLV):

CLV is the total net profit you receive throughout your association with a customer. You can now evaluate the CLV for a customer using an advanced customer loyalty solution based on your customer’s buying patterns. 

In short, customer loyalty marketing software finds CLV on both macro and micro levels and helps you predict their decisions, allowing you to roll out rewards accordingly. 

Inculcates Brand Advocacy:

While you might think that customers who spend the most money are more valuable, the advocates who spread positive word-of-mouth about your brand are also playing an essential part in promoting your brand. 

An effective customer loyalty program strategy also helps you build a network of brand advocates and bring in more endorsements from different people, leading to a better bottom-line. 

Must-Have Features of a Loyalty Program

Not every loyalty software has all the capabilities required to create optimum loyalty programs for your brand. Customers today want loyalty programs that give them direct benefits like discounts, gift vouchers, loyalty points, or freebies. 

They are also looking for non-monetary benefits that make them feel valued and help them develop a shared interest in your brand. 

Best loyalty programs incorporate both marketing promotions and customer engagement. Let us take a look at some of the must-have features of a loyalty program that will help you entice more customers and generate more long-term profits. 

Rewards:

Wouldn’t you like to save a buck when shopping? Of course, you will. A Customer Loyalty Rewards System is one of the best ways to thank your customers for being loyal and serve as a fun way to motivate them to shop more. 

Your reward programs should be simple, both for you and your customers. Follow a ladder where the rewards keep getting bigger and better with an increasing number of purchases. 

Remember, customers will leave if they feel that they are not being rewarded well. So, always be on top of coming up with new and exciting offers and give your users plenty of time to use them. 

Go Mobile First:

The majority of users spend more time on mobile devices as compared to computers. So, you should have a mobile-first approach when reaching out to your customers. 

Customers can quickly receive important alerts on their mobile phones, and you are likely to have higher open rates for the same. Mobile promotions can also assist you in staying on top of your engagement activities. 

Email Marketing: 

Nearly 25% of users open the emails you send. While some prefer mobile alerts, many still prefer email as the best platform to receive promotions. 

They are likely to open other emails about the latest trends or blog posts you put out. Make sure you have a robust email marketing campaign in your loyalty program to reach more customers. 

In-Store Promotion:

When a customer walks into your store, give them reasons to stay for long. Offer free WiFi to help them save money on data charges and engage with them by sharing your offers digitally. 

The more time they spend in the store, the more they purchase at the same time.

Detailed Metrics:

Advanced loyalty programs need to be backed up with reliable data. Choose a platform that gives your detailed reports on different metrics to help you make better decisions to deliver memorable customer experiences.

Excellent Support:

Technical support is essential to offer an all-round customer experience. Choose a platform that can help you train your support staff to execute the loyalty program effectively.

While it might sound like a minor deal, high-quality customer service can give a significant edge over the competition.

Top Performing Customer Loyalty Programs:

Starbucks Rewards Loyalty Program

As the name suggests is the name of Starbucks’ reward program that interestingly engages its customers. 

This program offers multiple offers like a monthly offer, order-ahead feature, star exchange, and more. Such diverse and creative offers combined with technology, offer the customers a wide range of engagement options using a mobile app. 

Each offer makes Starbucks more accessible to its customers, and a higher user base on the app serves as an effective way of communication between the company and the customers. 

But what’s even more interesting is that features like order ahead reduce the workload on their employees and prevent customers from lining up for their coffee.

The American Express Way

American Express is best known for its financial services and is based in New York. Their flagship products include credit cards, travelers’ cheque, and charge cards. 

The brand created new waves in the business world with their outstanding loyalty programs. They onboard every customer with the option to accumulate reward points on each spend. 

They treat new customers as an existing one and open all the loyalty program benefits for them. This helps in involving each member to feel like a valued part of the community.

The card owners can then redeem their reward points at any of the affiliated brands. These also include popular restaurants, major airlines, and more anytime, anywhere.

To Wrap Up

It would be best if you aimed for nothing but the best for creating and managing loyalty programs. One way of doing so is keeping your customers at the apex and the second thing to do is opt for a robust loyalty software. 

NextBee’s intuitive Customer Loyalty Software allows you to create customized referral programs to turn your customers into brand advocates. It offers unmatched integration capabilities and gives you accurate data insights to evaluate CLV and do a thorough predictive analysis.

Get the perfect Catalyst for your loyalty programs, and get over 5x referral invites, a whopping 150% improvement in social engagement, 3x more sales through referrals, and precise ROI projections from our expert services team. 

To know more about getting started, get in touch with our team over a free consultation today.