Loyalty Programs Excel with Right Mix of Program Benefits
With more than 19 years of experience in developing and enhancing customer loyalty programs, we know how important it is to use a customer-centric approach to align and deliver value that is meaningful, timely and mutually beneficial to the customer and ultimately the company as well. When developing the benefit strategy for your loyalty program we use a mix of the five types of benefits to achieve your business objectives:
- Initial Participation and Enrollment Benefits: Create instant gratification and affinity with the company. These are the core set of benefits members enjoy upon applying for program membership.
- Cumulative Benefits: The more a customer exhibits the desired purchase behavior the more he/she is recognized and rewarded. Often times, this type of benefit is associated with a points or rewards program where a customer accumulates points to earn a specified rebate or dollar off reward certificate.
- Periodic Benefits: Strategically invest markdowns by targeting discounts and special offers based on the customer’s previous purchase behavior.
- Instant Benefits: Unexpected “little surprises” that occur spontaneously from the customer’s perspective reinforce the sense of belonging and increase share of wallet.
- Emotional Benefits: Explore and reinforce the customers’ emotional connections with the brand with benefits that are unique to the company and to the brand.
In addition to varying the benefits based on your business objectives, we also tailor the benefits based on your customers’ anticipated reaction. A recent study that is soon to be published in the Journal of Consumer Research shows that consumer reactions vary widely across cultures to special recognition and free gifts associated with loyalty programs.
Learn more about the study published in The New York Times.
Filed under: Brand Loyalty, Loyalty Marketing, Uncategorized