A Step-by-Step Guide for Launching a successful Customer Loyalty Program

Loyalty programs are a great way of showing customers some love. These programs encourage return business and help in gathering information about the customer demographic.

Thus, getting the loyalty program right is critical. The key is to set up a program that is available to all, easy to use and drives customers to actually sign up and engage.

Starting a loyalty program is a process - it doesn’t happen all at once!

Here are a few things to consider when launching a customer loyalty program

1. Keep It Simple

Simplicity is key! If your program is inconvenient to use or difficult to understand, it won’t be used.

•  Easy to join

Customer’s mobile number, name and birthday are all you really need.

• Easy earning rules

Make earning points, an exciting experience for customers. When customers seek out the action rather than the reward, you have created an effective loyalty program. The simpler the rules are, the more likely customers may try to earn.

• Easy spending rules

Once again, simplicity is important. Spending rules should be easy to follow. 

Make Redemption “Crazy Easy”

2. Use Program Names That Sticks

A loyalty program's name sets the optimistic tone for shoppers. That means it should be so attractive that shoppers actually want to join! A generic name like “Points Program” just won’t do, instead, it should be unique and exciting.

Your program's name should inspire an emotion that resonates with your brand and the products you sell.

3. Be Creative with Your Points

The points that your customers collect by participating in your loyalty program need not be called “points.” Be creative and try to come up with a name that is meaningful to your brand and customers. Like, airlines use “miles,” American coffee chain Starbucks uses “stars”.

4. Segment Your Customer Base & Tailor Programs to Each Segment

Segmentation helps to target and personalize your message to your customers. You can segment your customer base by demographics, interactions with your content, sending out questionnaires directly asking customers what they want from a loyalty program and more.

Target selected segments of customers with different types of rewards or benefits. For example, segment your customer base by offering tiers of membership. Airline frequent flier programs allow members to advance to higher customer loyalty tiers the more they fly. It’s a way to reward the most loyal customers most generously.

5. Reward loyalty with some class

Customer loyalty is founded foremost on great service, a personal greeting, and the tried and tested the quality of your products or services. So think of ways you can make your incentives and rewards as unique as your business.

Free items don’t always appeal to all and they can even devalue your services. Experiential rewards are always popular. For example, a hair salon could offer a monthly workshop that offers free makeup tips to loyal customers. These experiences add value to your customers’ lives, build community, help your business stand out and give customers reason to keep coming back.

Let customers redeem points for exclusive products they can’t buy anywhere.

6. Make it about your customer, not about money

From the rewards you offer to the way your program feels to the customer, make it about them. If you’re only thinking about earning on your end, you might ruin your integrity with the customer in the process.

7. Train your staff to promote your loyalty program to every customer

Your employees are your loyalty program’s biggest promoters and driving forces. In order to get their support, you need to educate them on the benefits of a customer loyalty program. Explain how it positively impacts your entire customer experience, how it improves and adds value to every stage of the customer journey.

You need to coordinate who will be involved at each stage of the launch and rollout of your loyalty program. Come up with a proposed schedule and distribution of responsibility, leaving no stone unturned.

By understanding the gains and price of your loyalty program, you’re better prepared to convince others of the benefits of customer loyalty program. The more you know about your program, the greater your success at pitching it to others. So get excited and, most importantly, get going!

You don’t earn loyalty in a day. You earn loyalty day-by-day! 

Winggz is a leading provider of loyalty programs to businesses. The Loyalty Programs are custom tailored to each client’s needs and are compatible with all major point-of-sale systems. It can help you create the loyalty program that delights your customers and stands out from the rest. 

To set up a loyalty program that delivers the results you want, contact www.winggz.com.

What loyalty program strategies have worked for your business? Leave a comment below.