On paper, loyalty programmes seem like such a simple idea. “I just award my consumers with points for their purchases. Then, with the addition of several tiers for good measure, customers may use those points to purchase coupons or presents, and presto—instant success! “It’s not rocket science,” you could respond. The difference between functional loyalty programmes and successful loyalty programmes, however, is actually rather wide. And I assume you’re aiming towards the latter. If so, here are the top 10 management blunders for loyalty programmes to watch out for. There is no question that you will be on the correct route if you avoid these.
Table of contents:
- attempting a simultaneous launch with all the bells and whistles
- complexity in excess
- Having trouble enrolling
- avoiding rewarding involvement
- ignoring the influence of recommendations
- lacking mobile and omnichannel versions
- only encouraging transactional actions
- avoiding surprising clients
- disregarding social media
- disregarding fraud
The worst error of all was deciding against using Antavo as your loyalty platform provider.
- Attempting to debut with all the bells and whistles at once This is the first error that ambitious business executives frequently make. They launch right away with the biggest, flashiest loyalty programme. Though there is nothing wrong with planning ahead and developing your ideal loyalty programme, cramming every feature you can into the initial launch will just lengthen the development process and make it more challenging to maintain the experience interesting for customers in the future.
Consider beginning with a loyalty programme with six levels, gamification, challenges, competitions, prize draws, and a few mystery presents. What features would you include to surprise clients in the upcoming years once the initial excitement wears down? Not to mention that a bombastic start raises members’ expectations, leading them to anticipate that every new feature would be just as spectacular and thrilling.
- Making things too complicated
Another problem we encounter frequently in the management of loyalty programmes is that businesses either overcomplicate or overrestrict the programme. Customers will rapidly stop participating in the programme if the loyalty reasoning is overly complicated or not obvious from the start.
Similar to this, giving clients too much in the beginning then adding constraints can enrage and dissatisfy them. For instance, restricting members’ ability to earn points through reviews or friend referrals to just once each month reduces their interest in participating in the loyalty programme.
- Having trouble enrolling
Isn’t it true that initial impressions matter greatly? When a customer enrols in your programme, their first interaction with it occurs. Therefore, my advise is to refrain from placing the registration link towards the bottom of your brand’s page or in a drop-down menu. After all, this software is the fruit of your labour, so make sure to show it off!
Speaking of exposure, I frequently advise our clients to use graphics rather than a simple “Join our loyalty programme” button to persuade customers to sign up for the programme. You can convey the advantages so much more effectively through visuals.
- Fear of rewarding engagement
More than just a carrot on a stick, loyalty management solutions work to encourage long-term involvement and raise client lifetime value. Your programme will never be successful if you’re trying to generate quick returns by keeping clients from receiving too many benefits.
Avoiding nagging clients to use their points is a common error. Along with establishing excessively severe expiration dates, short-sighted firms do this to discourage customers from using their points for coupons or other benefits like free shipping in the mistaken belief that they will save money.
- Ignoring the influence of referrals
Word of mouth is a potent marketing tool for any company. Customers will always respect recommendations from friends and family more than advertisements. Although implementing a referral programme seems like an easy way to maintain customer loyalty, many businesses overlook this important aspect.
And while we’re talking about it, I should add that your referral programme doesn’t have to stick to a tried-and-true formula. Why not design a progression system with milestones or tiers in instead of awarding a small number of points for each individual who is referred? A member’s awards increase in value as they invite more people. You may also set a minimum threshold for members to invite friends before receiving advantages like free delivery.
- Absence of mobile and omnichannel versions
Being omnichannel today serves more as a marketing hygiene measure than a competitive advantage. Customers want to be able to complete the loyalty experience across several channels, so your company should surely meet this expectation.
The first and possibly most obvious step in managing a loyalty programme is to make the experience available on mobile. If your company currently has an app, a nice place to start is by including a section on loyalty. However, if you add a specific loyalty app, you accomplish much more. Don’t worry; this task is quicker and simpler than you could imagine thanks to creative new ideas.
- Only rewarding business transactions
The fact that next-generation incentive programmes (also known as Recognition loyalty) engage clients outside of the buying cycle is its key selling point. Customers can, in other words, accrue points or unlock advantages for non-transactional actions. In other words, users can accumulate points by performing various tasks such as reviewing a product, participating in social media, completing surveys, recycling their old goods, supporting charities, etc.
If you only offer incentives to customers who make purchases, you’ll miss out on a lot of important touchpoints. Less points will be gained per hour, and it’s more probable that participants will lose interest rapidly.
- Avoiding shocking customers
The key to a happy life is variety. And how can you make your consumers’ lives a little more interesting? Obviously by catching them off guard! The secret to successful reward schemes is to surprise and please. Additionally, it affects consumer loyalty more than you might think.
Do you not want to surprise your clients? Not only are you foregoing a potent incentive—surprise birthday gifts are a very alluring perk for top-tier members—but your programme won’t be able to produce unforgettable experiences.
- Ignoring social networking sites
The membership page shouldn’t be the only place loyalty programmes are used. You will lose out on important customer interactions if you limit loyalty programmes to a single location. Increasing the program’s social media exposure is a certain approach to attract a crowd that would never otherwise learn about your company.
Start by awarding points to clients who share your product pages on social media sites. Additionally, set up Instagram hashtag and comment competitions with prizes for the most inventive participants to fully take advantage of virality and user-generated content.
- Not thinking about fraud
The subject of fraud is extremely essential but also somewhat delicate. Many people want to manipulate the system in order to gain an unfair advantage. They will attempt to take advantage of any loopholes in your loyalty logic to duplicate their points or advance through tiers more quickly than they should be able to.
Unfortunately, fraud is a part of the management of loyalty programmes, so you must be ready for it. While testing your loyalty programme, you and your soft-testers could miss a tiny flaw that won’t be apparent until after the fact. Even an instant rule change or the temporary removal of a feature might be necessary to resolve the problem.
The worst error of all was deciding against using Antavo as your loyalty platform provider.
Despite the tongue-in-cheek headline, we take great satisfaction in the sophisticated and cutting-edge capabilities that the Antavo platform offers as the forerunners in loyalty programme administration technology. Additionally, we provide you with superior market insight to help you avoid typical traps and create a loyalty management system that accurately represents your brand values.
Our experts are more than willing to assist you if you’re interested in starting a conversation about next-generation reward systems. So feel free to engage us in the RFP process for your loyalty programme or schedule a demo to learn more about what we have to offer.