So, you’ve got your shiny new loyalty programme...now what?

DID YOU KNOW: Consumers are typically enrolled in 30+ loyalty programs but only have the capacity to engage with 10?

In light of statistics like these, brands must scrutinise their current efforts in a bid to aggressively promote their loyalty programme. As a customer can choose from a myriad of options, it is essential that brands encourage repeat app engagement and usage.

RELATED: 10 Mind-Blowing Loyalty Programme Statistics

Before anything, ask yourself these four questions:

1. What is being launched, and why?
2. Who are you marketing to, and why?
3. How will you reach your target market and key demographics?
4. How will you create a connection to new and existing customers? 

The next step in your promotional efforts is identifying the touch points where your customer interacts with your brand.

Step 1 | Awareness

• Create an awareness of the product and why it’s needed 
• Educate prospective customers on how the programme will improve their lives

Step 2 | Interest 

• Differentiate the programme from the competition 
• Promote these differences in advertising strategy 

Step 3 | Consideration

• Offer incentives to join the programme
• Ask beta customers for feedback and suggestions 

Step 4 | Purchase

• Ensure strong online presence with product information
• Use social media & website to advertise benefits, features and promotional offers

Step 5 | Post & Re-Purchase  

• Fully immersive App Engagement Plan to build loyalty
• Create incentives to return or purchase an add on

While intersecting the customer journey is infinitely more complex than the five steps listed above, the simple act of getting started with journey mapping will provide actionable insights into your customers’ experiences with your brand.

But how do you do it, how do you promote your loyalty programme?

Take a look at our foolproof ways to promote your loyalty programme and make the most of your brilliant investment:

Digital Strategy - Homepage Feature + Dedicated Page

Hundreds, thousands and even millions of unique visitors will reach your website every day for opening hours, location, menu items, and more. Catch their attention with an announcement about your new loyalty programme on your homepage along with a link to a dedicated URL, that concisely explains the program.

GEMS posted a banner on the homepage of their website and created a separate landing page explaining the program:

GEMS EDUCATION Home Page 

By making their program visible at the top of the homepage, GEMS have seen phenomenal success in gathering new members.

Featuring your loyalty programme on your homepage makes it easier for everyone to discover it.

 

Dedicated GEMS Rewards Page

Your existing website can help you immensely in acquiring, engaging, and retaining each unique visitor.

Here’s another example from Emirates who developed a dedicated landing page for its mobile travel companion, Emirates Skywards GO. 

EMIRATES SKYWARDS GO DEDICATED PAGE

Digital Strategy - Social Media

Take full advantage of the traffic flow you receive from your social media pages and use it to promote your loyalty programme.

It’s great way to increase your visibility and raise awareness without spending too much of your precious marketing budget. 

TOP TIP: Why not use your Facebook cover photo to promote your loyalty programme

Don't forget that your existing account members are often your biggest advocates, even when they’ve only just joined.

TOP TIP: take advantage of your customers' social networks to organically increase your program's reach

A fantastic way to extend your reach without increasing your spend is to offer incentives to encourage account members to share details of their loyalty programme usage (sign up, offers redeemed, money saved, tagging friends etc.)

Content Marketing Strategy - Blog Posts

Automated Outbound Strategy - Email Marketing 

If you have a customer email list, alert those customers about your programme first. Loyal customers will be the most excited about your new programme, and they’re 70% more likely to be up sold to make larger purchases.

Start with communicating the basics, such as:

• Account balance updates
• Pending points emails
• New reward notifications

Aim to develop an email workflow system to target content tailored to active and non-active segments. This automated sequence of emails should send on a specific schedule or as a trigger in response to certain actions taken by the customer.

Responsive email automation is especially useful for engaging your loyatly programme users. For example, after a customer redeems an offer in a certain category, they could go into a email workflow to receive an email sharing related offers.

Through-the-line Strategy 

A Through-The-Line Strategy should integrate your always on 365 comms platform. This will ensure that all product launched objectives are achieved through 2-way channels; Customer Focused Storytelling and conversations

If you have a physical store, for example, use it to promote your loyalty programme (in all locations). This can include signage, POS enrolling, leaflets, adverts on any TV Screens, radio announcements. Why not pack a loyalty reminder into the customers bag when they make a purchase? 

It is essential that all store staff members are fully trained and clued up on your loyalty programme FAQs and Rules of Use. An inadequately trained staff member could have devastating effects on your brand as a whole.  A Harvard Business Review study found that 48% of customers who had negative experiences with a retail location told 10 or more people.

RELATED: 11 Customer Experience Statistics You Can’t Ignore

If the customer signs up in-store, train your employees to thank them for doing so. If they choose not sign up, give them a leaflet as a friendly reminder of what their purchases/loyalty could get them in the future.