Is your Business Planning to Relaunch Loyalty Programs?

“Buy five subs get your sixth sub-free.” You do remember those humble loyalty programs of yesteryear, don’t you? Things were completely different twenty years ago. Today, consumer shopping behavior has changed. Thus, it’s vital to reshape your loyalty initiatives.

You have reached the blog because you plan to relaunch your affinity program. We are a loyalty management platform specialist. Our team has created this guide to assist in relaunching your loyalty program.

Here are vital factors you should not miss

• Lack of customer-centricity proves disastrous for loyalty programs
  

Why do firms launch a new loyalty program or relaunch an old one every year? First, there are marketing aims and business objectives behind relaunching an affinity program. But, in most cases, it’s the poor performance that forces brands to relaunch.

Some loyalty programs show a high enrollment number. Yet, members remain inactive, and there’s an evident lack of engagement. Most initiatives fail to offer anything different from market leaders. There’s nothing innovative; everything about them feels stale.

Is there a shortcut to drive the engagement levels and keep members active? What should companies do to differentiate themselves and stand out in the crowd? Your business CRM holds the answer to both questions.

Let your loyalty program consultant focus on your customer data. Look into consumer interactions, feedback, surveys. Then, choose the design, look, and rewards per your shoppers’ needs. 

• A shift from transactional to experience-based programs

Do you think shoppers ignore customer experience when they get heavy discounts? Well, studies conducted by customer experience firm Merkle suggest the other way. Roughly 66 percent of shoppers consider the experience more important than the price.

Until the last decade, most affinity programs aimed to reward repeat purchasing behavior. Now, the trend and tastes have changed.

Yes, loyalty programs are about value proposition, trust, and ease in today’s world.

Stay away from transactional things if your brand wishes to stitch lasting relationships. Your reward programs must offer value-added products with exclusive experiences.

What’s stopping organizations from changing with these trends? Studies suggest that most businesses still deliver outdated experiences. They rely on archaic processes and fragmented technology systems.

• Shifting to newer tech is crucial in controlling the fading loyalty
  

Several brands relaunched their old loyalty programs recently. And you wish to know more about the factors driving such decisions. Quick fading loyalty and the emergence of new direct-to-consumer brands are primary reasons.

Social media has opened gateways to new opportunities. As a result, every business is willing to spend on consumer acquisition.

Shoppers are spending more time on their phones. Thus, brands have an excellent opportunity to interact with consumers.

It’s easy for everyone to reach the consumers. But, retaining relationships is challenging. And this is where big data can come to the rescue.

You must have the technology to retrieve a ton of data from various touchpoints. Then, use it for delivering the consumer experience.

• Predictive analytics-driven loyalty initiatives 

Several firms are focusing on using predictive analytics to drive their loyalty programs. As a result, they are fine-tuning and refining loyalty programs. The relationship between these two is a long-lasting one.

Analytical tools integrate with loyalty platforms and CRM. Together, these systems can help highlight customer types, lifetime value, and spending habits.

You can create reward strategies to increase target consumers’ spending. Reshaping them can help you migrate them on the value ladder.

Your organization must have a good CDP (customer data platform) with built-in analytics. These and other machine learning tools assist in highlighting customer segments. They also help retrieve behavioral patterns displayed by shoppers.

Predictive analytics helps in pinpointing behaviors that drive high-value shoppers.

Once the picture on buying behaviors is clear, you can design incentives. Your brand won’t have to spend too much on consumers in loyalty programs later.

• Intelligent loyalty management platform to deliver a personalized experience 

First, ensure the procedure to sign-up for your loyalty program is straightforward. Consumers might move on if signing up for membership is too much of a hassle.

Consumer-facing loyalty web or mobile apps should deliver recommendations that consumers seek out. AI-powered predictive analytics can help create such fantastic experiences.

Consider loyalty platform integration with your e-commerce website shopping cart. Provide shoppers the option to use their loyalty rewards while making payments. Adding this option can help in reducing the cart abandonment rate.

All your customer-facing executives should have a complete 360 view of consumer info. Collaboration becomes easy. Plus, it ensures your shoppers get a personalized experience throughout the consumer journey.

Customers won’t leave you if you exceed their expectations with relevant experiences. You can foster loyalty further by using personalization and digital empathy.

• Affinity programs should focus on all age groups 

Do you think targeting Gen Z alone can work in your favor? Unfortunately, that won’t be enough. As per a report on CNBC, 62 percent of loyalty program users belong to Gen X.

Last year, older generations adopted technology quicker than before. They choose different channels to interact with brands. Older generations use Facebook, while younger ones might prefer Insta or Snapchat. Thus, brands must be present everywhere and target all age groups.

To conclude: 

Remember, design your loyalty management platform with customers in the center.

Engaging consumers at all digital touchpoints can help in deriving insights. Your business can use it to create meaningful experiences. If you have not shifted away from traditional loyalty programs, this is the time to do so.