Which of the following tasks—customer retention or customer acquisition—is best served by a loyalty programme? You might vote to keep it just based on the name, but don’t make a snap decision. The purpose of next-generation loyalty programmes is to retain current consumers while also bringing in new ones. All you need is the appropriate attitude and a few cutting-edge features.
Work to Both Attract and Keep
I referred to my initial query as “tricky” since choosing one over the other could harm your company. Even if repeat customers are believed to be 130% more valuable and account for about 40% of a brand’s revenue, you should still maintain a strong flow of new consumers because today’s new customers will eventually become your brand.
The attendees of our most recent webinar with dotdigital echoed this opinion. 64% of poll participants who were questioned about their main marketing priorities for 2021 and beyond said they will concentrate on both customer acquisition and retention.
Loyalty Programs as Tools for Getting New Customers
However, what about the other extreme? Rewards can be utilised to persuade customers to sign up for the programme and begin their adventure as a member. The best acquisition aspects are listed here.
- Welcome Bonuses
The welcome prize is the easiest inducement to understand. When a member signs up, they immediately receive a discount, once-only free shipment, or some other attractive benefit. The value need not be very high. Giving new members something “free” should be the main focus.
The landing page for the loyalty programme should prominently display welcome rewards because they are crucial marketing resources. Just keep in mind that the advantage should always lead them to make their first buy.
2) Seasonal First-Year Campaigns
Freshman promotions work in a manner similar to welcome rewards, but they also include FOMO. Freshman promotions are predicated on the notion that freshly signed up members receive double points for their first month of purchasing. Additionally, this guarantees they won’t hoard their discounts.
Freshman promotions do not need to be used continuously throughout the year. You are free to launch a brief promotion during the holidays or on Black Friday. By doing this, you may take advantage of the holiday rush and provide yourself a competitive advantage.
3. Gamification
A excellent way to get new customers is to use gamified features. On the landing page for the loyalty programme, just picture a prize wheel. Visitors can spin it to receive a random reward; however, they must register in order to redeem it.
Additionally, you can change up current procedures. To make people’s welcome gifts more engaging, for instance, you may employ the prize wheel. Thanks to technologies like App Clips, this feature operates even more effectively for apps.
4. Referral Program
20–50% of purchasing decisions are influenced by word-of-mouth. As a result, when a buddy recommends a course, people are more likely to join. Referral systems are based on this idea, but you can add even more intrigue with a creative reward situation.
You can start by stepping up the recruitment process with incremental perks, where clients receive bigger bonuses after inviting their fifth, tenth, or twenty-first friend. Alternately, you might think about attaching benefits to the annual freshman campaign, at which point recruiters who are successful are eligible for the double points event.
5) Competitions on social media
Running a contest for the best hashtag or comment on Instagram is another approach to get people talking and spreading the news. People that post pictures of themselves using your products are placed into a contest, and a select few people win the top prize.
Social media competitions assist you find potential new influencers as well as increase the virality of your business. Additionally, the programme is made known to a completely new community, and members of that community are likely to enrol.
Prepare to Rock and Enroll
Simply having a loyalty programme does not guarantee customer acquisition or retention. Instead, create the system so that it excels in one (or both) of these areas. We hope that this post has given you a fresh perspective on loyalty programmes.
Are you interested in cutting-edge loyalty programmes that can support numerous KPIs? We would be pleased to start a conversation about how Antavo’s technology can benefit your company. Please feel free to mention us in your RFP or schedule a demo.
Here is our most popular article, a reward planning spreadsheet, to help you get started when it comes to thinking of rewards.