While brand loyalty may be the elusive unicorn of the business world, achieving it is based on certain fundamentals – a quality product, unique solutions, a stellar reputation, good after-sale service and competitive pricing. Another fundamental is cultivating purchasing habits in your customers towards your business. That kind of customer loyalty is more valuable than ever in the face of today’s fierce competition due to tech advancements, easily-available information and endless choices.
Reward Programs are a great means to this end and certainly influence repeat purchases, but their effectiveness depends on how well-designed they are; treat rewards like short-term promotional bait and expect low returns – one-off engagements, sporadic customer acquisitions and unrealized potential. To achieve truly sustainable customer loyalty that integrates brand-loyalty goals, a strategic approach through loyalty management is the way to go.
Loyalty programs are meant to reward customers for frequently patronizing a business while incentivizing them to make repeat purchases and engage often. On its own, an ‘earn-and-burn’ rewards system lacks the depth and insight needed to meaningfully engage the modern consumer while generating proportionate value for your brand. Let’s look at how a loyalty program can work to give you an edge over the competition and contribute to building brand loyalty too.
Rewards that are a mix of monetary and non-monetary benefits opens both customers’ hearts and wallets to your business. Adding non-transactional rewards to your program is an important avenue to reinforce your brand identity and values as the customer engages with your brand. In North America, where the markets are heavily loyalty program-centric, 54% of loyalty programs offer member benefits that are non-transactional (Deloitte, 2021).
Don’t make customers go out of their way for rewards. Give them simplicity and real-time access by seamlessly integrating your reward strategy into the customer journey for an uninterrupted experience, the way 64% of North American businesses do it (Deloitte, 2021). The mark of a well-integrated loyalty strategy is when it engages a customer without them realizing it. In focusing on key moments beyond the point of sale, however, don’t neglect the potential to integrate your program into the end-to-end customer experience.
When it comes to your business, no two customers are equal, and neither should be the rewards. There are two aspects to consider: customer relevance and reciprocal value for your business. Irrelevant, generic rewards do nothing to excite or entice a customer to stick to your brand. Personalization is crucial, especially when you consider the data-collection value it brings. Secondly, generic rewards might disappoint and lose you high-value customers, while retaining only low-value spenders who do little for business growth, making it a low-returns investment. Segment your customer base, and collect and use valuable spending and behavioral data to tailor your rewards.
That way, you not only engage your customers meaningfully but also ensure that it results in proportionate value for your company. Also, this is another avenue to reinforce your brand identity.
Loyalty programs instil habit, but brand loyalty speaks to deeper sentiments – trust, values and ultimately, advocacy. Marrying intelligent loyalty management with brand strategy can help your brand transcend customer loyalty to ultimately develop brand loyalty – coveted by all, achieved by a few.