Customer Experience for Loyalty Programs

Successful customer loyalty programs are critical for growth. Customer loyalty programs have multiple benefits for companies and make the customer experience much better. They help with customer retention since it costs five times more to acquire new customers as compared to retaining them. A loyalty program basically encourages your customers to return and do more business with you. A loyalty rewards program incorporates behavioural and social actions such as referral points, rewards, and more to provide customers a personalized experience.

What is Customer Loyalty?

Customer loyalty is the willingness of the customer to return repeatedly to a company because of the remarkable experiences they have had. These customers are those who can promote your business and improve prospects of sales and marketing. The point of the company is to keep customers happy and buy products to increase revenue. Customers who are loyal also tell their friends to drive word-of-mouth marketing and referral traffic. Loyal customers are a brand’s evangelists who excite people about the company and the offerings.

What is a Customer Loyalty Program?

A customer loyalty program is a bunch of strategies that will enable customers to receive timely incentives based on buying habits. For a customer loyalty program, the features should be to drive a seamless experience, improve service, enhance customer satisfaction, and make the customer feel like a priority. Here are some traits of a customer loyalty program-

• Brings customers closer to the business
• Offers a frictionless transaction experience
• Improves touch-point access
• Enhances value through affiliate and referral partnerships
• Uses technology to give more personalized offerings

7 Top Tips to Create a Customer Loyalty Program to Enhance Customer Experience

For any program, a great plan is required. To create a customer loyalty program, one needs to keep certain tips in mind.

1. Research Comes First

Did you know that Starbucks got its loyalty program idea from a customer forum? And Starbucks claims that the program created a 26 percent profit increase and an 11 percent jump in overall revenue.

That’s how impact research is for customer loyalty programs. Be clear on what your campaign is about, understand the size and nature of the business, and then create a program. Customer data will give an idea of the trends, nature of behaviour, conversations, and more. With the right data, you can improve customer experience and enhance customer satisfaction.

2. Keep the Program Simple

“Smart companies have realized that customer loyalty is the most powerful sales and marketing tool they have.”- Bill Price

A complicated loyalty rewards program is more of a problem. It will be ignored and forgotten as it is less understood. Keeping a simple points system will be helpful. On purchase, you get points that can be accumulated to get rewards and discounts. A complex program will not be appreciated as people like simple things. The point system and matching rewards has proven to be the most successful loyalty program.

3. Personalized and Innovative Programs

Personalized loyalty programs will help companies keep more customers. Artificial intelligence is great in helping companies stay more aware of trends and creating better programs. Some ways to do that include:

• Offer a seamless omnichannel experience
• Multifaceted personalised content and product description
• Offer easy rewards like try-ons or virtual assistants

4. Choose the Incentives well

When you have to decide on incentives, do not go for something inappropriate. Choose an interesting program and incentives. There is a perception of always choosing freebies. Sometimes freebies devalue the product. So be unique and innovative with incentives. Rewards meaning to create an experience can be rewarding as they make customers feel good and add value. It should make your business stand apart and induce long-term loyalty.

Hyatt encourages customers to spend nights in many hotels, enjoy luxurious views, and travel more. Member perks include rebates at hotels and spas.

5. Closer to Customers

As Steve Jobs once said, “Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves.”

It is necessary to have a concerted email campaign to make your customers know about special deals, renewals, and more. Building a positive impression is important. Message them about campaigns, inform them about festive sales, or slash discounts. Use social media to get close to customers. Give them limited, exclusive discounts and induce that loyalty in them. It makes them feel special and they will refer your business for the amazing experience.

6. Build a Community

Customers will trust peers more than other things. Having a well-managed community either on social media, forums, or review sites can help encourage customer loyalty. Customer loyalty programs can amply add to the community and create a well-rounded forum that can be used to enhance the customer experience.

A community of loyal customers is your biggest support and will be useful in crafting some new customer loyalty programs. With a loyalty program, you can surely build a great community of loyalists who love your brand.

7. Marketing the Customer Loyalty Program

No matter how well-drafted or amazing your customer loyalty program is, your customers need to know about it. If they do not, there is not much to do. Invest in your marketing efforts and make your customers aware of the customer loyalty program. Having a good marketing strategy that fits is important. Here are some ways you can do it-

• Press releases
• Newspaper ads
• Online ads
• Social media
• Blogs
• Emails
• In-store messaging
• Referral programs

Bottom Line: Loyal Customers = Long Term Success

Customer loyalty programs are powerful ways to boost the profits of any company. You can improve customer retention, reduce churn, and drastically enhance customer satisfaction.  With loyalty programs, you can get more with less. Exclusive offers make the customers feel significant and important improving word of mouth marketing.

Also, getting their feedback or voice of the customer is great to boost the program. The best success lies in customer retention. Customer loyalty programs can also impact your customers who want to leave. Implementing a customer loyalty program can improve your business and ensure it is long-lasting sustainable growth.