5 trends to influence Next-Gen Loyalty programs
Loyalty programs have become the part and parcel of almost every company or brand. Engaging customers has become all the more difficult at this point in time and introducing innovative and exciting strategies to engage and bring more consumers to purchase products from partnered brands has become crucial. The tried and tested methods of gaining attention of target audiences has now shifted to a different tangent hence, learning about the new trends that are influencing loyalty programs is highly recommended. On looking deeper into this subject, these 5 trends mentioned below seem to be the most influential strategies in the realm of loyalty programs.
User-friendly features
There are several kinds of philosophies in terms of redemption of rewards. Some reward loyalty programs by different hospitality companies are extremely straightforward, as they say on their schemes are clearly slated on website like“Accumulate 14 nights, get 1 night’s stay free.” This is to ensure that customers are redeeming their rewards instead of expiring rewards, blackout dates and continuous degradation of the value of the reward points assigned by the loyalty programs, that may discourage the customers.
Premium program
Nowadays, we get to see a plethora of premium reward loyalty programs. The main reason why premium loyalty programs are becoming extensively popular is because the members want the advantages and benefits that a premium program offers and are willing to pay for it as well. In a recent consumer study from the former year, 62% of the subjects admitted that they would consider joining a reward loyalty programthat was fee-based if the provider or retailer was of their choice.
Next-Gen rewards
Introducing rewards that have the ability or capacity to evolve into another offer or reward or could be combined with other offers, would make reward loyalty programs much more appealing and attractive to existing and new customers. Allowing a guest to trade their offer with something that suits their requirements and preference can definitely boost a loyalty program. The concept of combining of unused rewards into a bigger and more appealing reward can be a great hit amongst loyalty program consumers.
Chatbot and AI
Though chatbots or artificial intelligence cannot technically replace an actual human interaction, chatbots seem to be the most effective medium when a customer is trying to resolve common trivial issues. Chatbots reduce the need for customers to visit the website or store, etc making it faster and more efficient due to the increased chances of reduced human errors.
Predictive Personalization
The ever-growing consumer industry has been growing and changing their strategies for years. It has tried to break through from a tier-based system to a more personalized loyalty program that caters to specific sections of the target audience. In this new archetype, you would receive a reward based on your previous purchases or will be tailored to your specific needs. One loyalty program member might wish for an exclusive event entry and another might require the best suite with the fastest wifi and giving a reward based on their personal requirements would gain their attention more than generic mass-planned loyalty programs.
Trends are often a fast-moving phenomenon and is driven by various factors and the aforementioned are the biggest trends that are likely to reign in the world of reward loyalty program. They are an estimated vision of how the trends would influence the next-Gen loyalty programs.
Father’s day marketing ideas
Despite it being a slightly low-key celebratory day, it has gained enough popularity on the social media at least. And hence, capturing a huge section of audience becomes quite easy on different social media platforms. Here are a few ways, you could cater to your employees/audience and market the idea of Father’s day to them:
Promote on Email
Irrespective of your company being the type that celebrates such days or not, or if you don’t specifically cater to the type of audience that does, promoting in-house events related to the day or events that are in correspondence to the same can be promoted within your target audience. Building up on catchy headlines/subjects for such promotional emails are highly likely to attract greater audience.
Team Up
It can be a significantly healthy and fruitful idea to have your company approach local restaurants, eateries, bars and even fitness centers and partner with them and host vents or promote deals and offers that cater to the audience who are likely to be attracted by the same. Some offers such as ‘Bring your dad & the beer’s on us’ or ‘Like father-like son fitness challenge’, etc can prove to quiet a hit amongst younger generations.
Rule on Social Media
Having set up a contest specifically promoting the bond between fathers & children can be a great idea too. Running a contest that encourages people to post selfies of themselves with their father or having to write the funniest incident they shared with their children/father can also turn out to be a successful strategy to grab attention. Having the winners announced & distributing a promotional voucher or even a freebie of your own brand can do the company a whole world of good.
Spoilt for choice
Making your audience/customers part-take in events organised by you that celebrates father’s day & having fun games and rules set up for the same could be quite interesting. Partnering with fashion brands or clothing lines can also be an off-beat option but still quite impressive, though mothers are more likely to be interested in the shopping part, but that’s where it gets better. Your sale/event can have all the members of the family invited and participate in a game that requires them to select pieces of clothing each & the father gets to pick his favorite which can be given to him as a prize or at a discounted rate, etc.
These are some of the fun, interesting and practical ways to market Father’s Day to people in a more economical, interactive and impressive way for a wide range of audience.
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Will AI replace traditional loyalty programs?
The face of customer loyalty is changing constantly with the increasing cut-throat competition between companies. There are a hell lot of retail options available to customers. So what makes a person choose one over another? And there comes the most basic customer retention techniques- rewards for their loyalty. They have made themselves as Loyalty Rewards Company – a give-away reward to retain their customers. But is it the future? Do customers really want to be engaged in this way only?
The future is Artificial Intelligence. AI will help in gaining a foothold in this very competitive environment. AI consists of speech recognition, natural language understanding for creating better intelligent assistants. They will help customers with accessing information and completing tasks. AI will result in better business processes and customer orientation. The urge is there from customer side to make it more personalized and nothing can do it better with Machine Learning, which is a part of AI. Companies like Nectar are leveraging upon the technology giving their customers more personalized offers and they are very successful. As more customers use their Loyalty Rewards Programs and other digital channels, the better the machine learns about what is relevant for them. Customers are more likely to shop with retailers that deliver more personalized experiences.
Machine learning will totally eliminate the guessing work, it uses the data & analytics to provide the most likely predictions. Loyalty Reward Management programs basically will be utilizing the customer’s prior behavior on certain set of rules. For example, AI facilitates virtual assistants that can monitor the customers on the basis of their engagement in good behavior and then they could be rewarded for it. This reward would lead to more loyal behavior, and all of this will be done without any human interference. Further, this will significantly reduce the marketing cost since they would be targeting only the most relevant customers.
In the very future only, machine learning and AI would be touching every industry and customer loyalty is no different. A Loyalty program company which will use AI and Machine learning will no longer have different teams working on different campaigns for designing and managing offers schemes and discounts for their customers. So, with the help of Machine learning, they would not have to push 200 offers to everyone, but to push 20 offers for 20 type of audience which would have a higher conversion rate with low cost.
Also, the ability to deliver real-time personalized offers based on the ever-learning algorithms will completely replace the traditional loyalty programs. AI will disrupt business functions in nearly every industry. Different loyalty rewards companies are heading towards adopting this technology for better retention of their customers.
Millennials as customers and how to gain their loyalty
It is the age of the millennials — also commonly known as the Gen Y. This savvy generation not only comprises smart customers, but also include decision makers in top firms. Holding the largest share in the consumer marketplace, they have taken it hands on to change the rules of how brands engage and conduct their customer-experience design. It’s both easy and difficult to gain millennials’ loyalty. But the job is half-done once their tech-savvy psyche is grasped!
- Customer-facing technology can’t be slow or complicated
Millennials have always embraced and aligned themselves with technology. So a user experience that is not friendly, simple, fast and advanced, is generally frowned upon by consumers. Companies should be careful not to present an obsolete process or a complicated system to consumers that will keep them away.
- Smartphones have been the norm for millenials
Millennials are used to getting everything immediately and experiencing everything in real time. The queries need to be attended to as soon as possible and in an authentic language; otherwise, the customer moves on to someone else who understands him/her more.
- Purchasing, for millennials, is a social experience
Engaging on social media is a part of everyday life for millennials. Often, these posts concern their consumption activities, their next purchase or what they might be looking for. This greatly affects businesses — as the opinion and review of one consumer could influence another.
- Millennials seek an authentic and engaging experience
Which is why the company website should include a FAQ page — how to go about making a purchase, detailed repercussions of what could go wrong, or any sort of guidance. This can be done either through articles or videos — where customers can discover quick-fix methods and find instant solution to all their problems.
- Interference or help from customer care is considered tedious
This means that they are self-reliant too and do not need customer-care executives getting in the way, just to mess up their whole experience. More often than not, they would prefer self service.
- Surprisingly, they also want to co-exist
They’re open to new experiences and want to associate with the brand more than with just a transaction. To speak plainly, millennials are adventurous and seek the same from the brand. For example, a cause supported by a favourite company would also be supported by the loyal customers.
The bottom line is that — nothing with the millennials can be taken for granted. The skeptical approach of the previous generations also needs to be done away with. They move fast, like to experiment and are prone to changing loyalties only after one bad experience. It would also be good to know what the target audience is, in order for customer service to be innovative, seamless and top-notch on the whole.
The growing needs of social CRM
Customer Relationship Management
This is the name for any system or model, accustomed to manage a company’s interactions with its current or future shoppers or customers.
This system could be a piece of technology designed to manage, organize, change and synchronize the entire client-facing areas in your company — from sales and marketing to client service and technical support.
It offers you time to develop the different areas of your business, while providing you with the assurance that you’re not losing your existing shoppers. It helps you in responding to new inquiries in an economical manner.
It also permits you with the time and freedom to target different areas of your business, while you are assured with the knowledge that an automatic system is keeping you and your team up-to-date and totally conscious of your clients’ needs.
There are more advantages of adopting a great CRM . As of now, simply keep in mind that keeping the client at the soul and heart of your business strategy is that the key to success.
CRM in the social world:
Of course, ancient channels like telephone or email aren’t any longer the sole channels, whenever conversations between the company and client happen. People are contacting brands for everything — from general queries to compliments and complaints via social networks.
The digital world is getting complex and we’re seeing a lot of broader fragmentation in the way that customers are using different channels.
It makes things terribly difficult for the client service team. Customers hop across varied channels so as to complete even the simplest of tasks, whether or not it’s shopping for merchandise from a brand or checking the opening hours of a retail shop.
However, chances are, all the channels are operated by different folks with different agendas and priorities. It’s entirely easy for a client to move across channels and have a totally different experience with each channel.
Therefore consistency is a must.
Early days of social media
Here’s a neat summation of the early days of social media.
As social media channels became popular, they were embraced by users to support conversations with brands and different customers. Customers were not passive recipients of data. They had unrestricted access to data and content from their peers.
Brands had no direct management over these conversations and would, at best, intervene in them at an opportune moment, e.g. create a post during a forum discussion thread.
The default communication dimension was client to client and therefore the primary goal of the social CRM model was engagement, resulting in an increased customer experience — with a deal being a secondary consequence, not the first goal. The shopper was currently in full control.
It simply goes to point out why it’s a must for each brand to observe mentions of itself on Twitter.
Current days of Social CRM
Brands must incorporate social media into their CRM strategy in response to their customers’ adoption of the same.
Social interactions might not directly lead to immediate conversion. However, they can promote engagement which will indirectly generate leads, produce authoritative relationships and build confidence within the brand, eventually driving future sales.
Every touch point should be recorded in a CRM system. Thus, all the knowledge concerning any last purpose of contact, notwithstanding channel, is created out there to anybody at within the organization.
Differences between CRM and social CRM
Understanding the variations between social CRM and traditional CRM models will facilitate marketers’ approach toward the social CRM program style.
Best practices of social CRM
Social CRM is regarding client engagement, not management, because brands and marketers are not in control of conversation anymore.
Social CRM thus sees a shift — focused from sales to relationship-building conversations — lead by a belief that enhanced client experiences with engagement can ultimately drive sales. The key to success is to give the choice to shop for as a secondary instead of the first focus.
Use the regular contact opportunities afforded by social media as a way of staying somewhere close to the front of customers who aren’t ready for purchase yet.
In the meantime, keep them engaged with helpful, valuable content and knowledge. Keep in mind that ‘valuable’ will mean many various things though. Amusing, academic or informative content is effective. A fast response to a relevant question is effective. Connecting customers with people or brands which will be relevant can even be valuable. And something that may either make a shopper feel special or save him time, cash or problem will definitely foster a deeper sense of brand name loyalty.
Social CRM is regarding being patient and organized. Customers take smaller steps down the sales funnel. However, the long-term gains are often far more rewarding.
This is clearly a totally different sales model to the normal sales-orientated processes. The foundations of engagement are modified by social media because of its omnipresence in people’s lives and therefore the expectations that have changed with it. Grouping social together with your existing CRM strategy can mean your company matching those expectations and hopefully surpassing them.
Difference Between Online and Offline Loyalty Programs
Retailers appeal to customers’ buying habits with incentives in order to outsell their competition. This trend has been in practice since the beginning of time. Over years, retail has continued to evolve, and following the birth of ecommerce in the early 1990s, loyalty strategies have made a migration to the digital platforms with definite motives. With all of the online and offline rewards programs emerging every passing moment, one might begin to wonder where exactly the differences lay between them. A detailed study of both the platforms leads to a clearer opinion about the debate that has raised quite a few opinions.
Offline Loyalty Programs:
Location has always held significant consideration on its part, for customers who choose to purchase products in-store, rather than an online purchase. However, additional expenses may be associated with visiting a particular store to purchase a certain product. Although, customers tend to come back on their own simply due to the close proximity to a specific store, retailers must still be aiming to appeal to their customers’ best interests with their loyalty programs. Following are some of the strategies tailored to benefit the offline sales environment:
1. Social Sharing:
High chances prevail that customers will browse through physical stores through social networks before the purchase. The current generation of customers, in particular, spend a considerable amount of time on mobile devices, checking into social media accounts and with such exposure, harnessing social sharing power is a genius way to entice customers to shop with you. Rewarding customers for sharing their experiences with the products on platforms like Twitter and Instagram gives retailers the opportunity to create brand influencers while incorporating their brand into the everyday social fabric of their customer base.
2. VIP Tiers;
VIP tiers allow retailers to acknowledge and evaluate their best customer base with exclusive benefits and rewards. Simply effective at increasing customer engagement, VIP tiered programs give the the customers an opportunity to earn more, which in turn encourages them to spend more. VIP programs have emerged as an excellent solution for brick-and-mortar retailers, because once a customer is committed, they are more likely to engage themselves with a specific store. It’s the perfect example of how exclusive benefits, as opposed to discounts, set a brand apart from the herd.
Online Loyalty Programs
One of the most significant reasons people prefer to shop online is discount prices, which doesn’t come as a surprise given the fact that many such people don’t even have a savings account. Online shopping has taken the commercial merchants by storm, and is soon to dominate, which raises a need for loyalty programs to ensure a customer base. With the facility to shop around and buy at the lowest price in a matter of seconds, there are many ways ecommerce merchants can work to keep their customers hooked.
1. VIP Tiers:
VIP Tiers is a perfect example of some of the strategies which can be incorporated in both online and offline platforms. Tiers are especially known to industries like supplements and cosmetics because they have intense levels of competition. Brands that reward customer loyalty with benefits and transactional rewards are more appealing in a more obvious sense. Offering customers access to exclusive events or product launches are some of the many ways that retailers can give recognition to their VIP customers, considering that these loyal customers are responsible for a majority of their business.
2. Engagement Touch Points:
One must provide the customers with ways to engage outside of the shopping cart if one wishes to make his online brand stand out. With a rising trend of using smartphones for all manner of online activity, people are searching for experiences that complement their lifestyle. Referral programs are an excellent way to encourage customers to engage with one’s brand throughout their everyday necessities, and can be seen as the evolution of the old school reward systems.
No matter what you’re selling, where’re you’re selling; whether it’s online or offline, a loyalty program is a proven way to acquire a huge customer base. Through exclusive rewards, beneficiary initiatives, and social awareness, one can treat customers to a lifestyle and loyalty experience unlike anywhere else, making one’s brand a priority for them, every time they go shopping.
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Customer loyalty programs that add value
Imagine you had been given a loyalty card when you visited your favourite food chain and have been advised that every time you returned to have a meal you will be stamped on their card and upon the completion of this card, you would get a free meal. I bet you’ve experienced that too: you buy something and sooner or later after the purchase either immediately or within a few days or perhaps weeks you get hold of a proposal from the store to come again and make another purchase which is free.
This is a motivating factor. Lots of huge retailers do this kind of thing because it works, and because they understand something that many small commercial enterprise owners don’t: it’s an awful lot less complicated to turn an existing purchaser into a repeat patron than it’s miles to win other new customer completely.
The probability of promoting to a brand new purchaser is 5 to 20% however to an existing customer is 60 to 70%. Make a purchaser sense importance, you’ll by no means have a product or price gain once more, they can be effortlessly duplicated, but a robust customer support tradition can’t be copied.
Here are few amazing examples of loyalty programmes conducted by the means of loyalty management companies
Companies provide purchaser incentives for giving splendid reviews. These opinions make them feel important and additionally boom your advertising. Local search directories will let you share coupons and discounts on their web sites. Special coding on Facebook can let you percentage special offers for fanatics only. You can provide a giveaway for individuals who upload a video review. The possibilities are limitless, and the better your provide, the more reviews you’re probably to receive.
Do you sell a product which very few have heard of? Then go the Maca Team’s loyalty program way. Ask your client’s to give you a few referrals and earn some more money or a new item. A loyalty program offers them an incentive to now not simply refer their buddies, however additionally converts those new customers into dependable customers rather than a one time transaction.
Referrals are an critical component of any food and beverage loyalty rewards program!
The Oberoi Group is said to have the best luxury resorts in India. Oberoi Advantage is very different to different loyalty programs given by hotels in that there may be no accrual and redemption of points. Instead, the advantage is straightforward and attractive live for five nights at Oberoi residences throughout India and Dubai, and acquire a unfastened stay or a room upgrade. This can also be redeemed at homes in Indonesia, Mauritius and Egypt.
In addition to extra miles, Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club allows individuals to earn tier elements. The membership inducts people on the Club Red tier, then bumps them as much as Club Silver after which Club Gold. The secret’s to offer benefits in the early levels to hook the client into coming back. Once they do, they’ll realize that “gold” reputation isn’t not possible, and gives simply cool advantages.
Like a few loyalty programmes however do no longer understand how to put into effect, there are loyalty rewards companies, who simply would be more than happy to help you.
6 Steps to an Effective Customer Loyalty Program
A loyalty and rewards program offers the possibility to solidify existing relationships, initiate new ones and convert your one-time visitors, consumers and prospects into repeat business and long-time contributors. Implementing a successful customer loyalty solutions is all in the process.
Nearly 60% of worldwide purchasers stated that loyalty programs were available where they shopped, and of those, a whopping 84% stated they have been more likely to visit these ones again.
Here are five steps you need to take as a way to build an effective loyalty program, and why they’re so essential to your achievement.
Target your most loyal customers
Analysing statistics collected through loyalty and gift card programs can help.
In reality, the blended facts flowing from POS, e-Commerce systems and loyalty companies carries treasure troves of client insights — revelations which could help stores to increase basket size, form advertising campaigns and perceive their most treasured loyalty members based on spending habits and preferences.
Segregate based on patterns
Determining a customer’s value need to never be a guessing game. Fortunately, data collected by loyalty program company can offer an exclusive insight into customer segments and the way to strategically allocate advertising money to every group.
It’s certainly one of big data’s most vital uses as evidenced by a recent Maritz Loyalty Report. The paper reveals that 94% of loyalty members opt to receive communications from their programs, yet only 53% describe the communications they acquire as relevant.
Establish program goals
Once a retailer has created customer segments, the subsequent step is to choose a couple of retention metrics to target with this system. Imagine being capable of delivering personalised reductions based on repeat purchase rate, common order value and purchase frequency.
Once you’ve picked your metrics, measure them to set up a baseline and in the future to test if this system is going on the right course.
Determine program structure
If you are honestly executing a custom method to loyalty marketing, imparting the right rewards will usually come naturally.
It must be obtainable.
Getting it right means that rewards have to be both unique to the brand experience and tailored to the purchase behaviour.
Random on the spot rewards drive pleasure, interest and momentum in the program and remember the fact that monetary-based rewards like gift cards are each highly-priced and common.
Reward with creative intent to provide a touch point with the intention to differentiate your brands in the minds of the customers.
You’ll be surprised on the goodwill this could engender.
Promote
Establishing a loyalty and rewards program permits you to proactively communicate with your existing members, prospects or members instead of passively waiting for them to return to your website or stop by a shop to buy your product.
Talk to your clients and confirm whether your loyalty program is hitting its mark or not.
Don’t be afraid to experiment and continuously evolve to hold a unique place that caters to your consumer base. Your customers and bottom line will appreciate it.
Once you’re off and running, the sky’s the limit with loyalty.