Did you know 65% of a brand’s business comes from existing customers?
This means customer retention and customer loyalty play a major role in a brand’s success and profitability.
Brands that have a customer-first approach to business have a greater chance of winning than their competitors. Hence marketing, sales, and customer success teams are entirely focused on how they can create exceptional experiences for their customers.
Customer journeys are increasingly becoming unpredictable. Every touchpoint impacts the relationship with your brand. Creating consistent experiences across touchpoints can help build customer loyalty and increase retention.
What is customer loyalty?
Customer loyalty can be defined as the ongoing and continuous relationship between a brand and a consumer that helps drive repeat purchases and builds a strong connection. People who are loyal to a brand usually have a positive experience with it. These positive experiences can include seamless and frictionless shopping, great customer service, excellent brand values, deals, etc.
It's usually not related to a product or service, loyalty occurs as a result of multiple positive interactions with a brand. It should also be kept in mind that the customer may encounter one or two bad experiences and remain loyal if the grievance is addressed. A customer may not be disloyal if they encounter a bad experience but it is entirely dependent on how well the brand handled the issue. Customer loyalty is more than just spending money with your brand. It is more about emotions and identity.
An analysis highlighted that a loyal customer usually has three features:
● They understand your product/brand
● They believe that you are offering good value for money
● They identify with your product on a personal level
Types of customer loyalty programs
According to a McKinsey report on loyalty programs, members of premium loyalty programs are 60% more likely to spend more on your brand, while free loyalty programs only increase that likelihood by 30%.while most loyalty programs have the same goal, each type works differently. Here are the types of customer loyalty programs:
Points program
The points program is a very common program and is used by many brands such as H&M, Nykka etc. This program allows customers to collect points every time they make a purchase. The amount of points depends on the size/value of the purchase. The points collected can be used to get a discount or a special reward on their future purchases.
Tiered programs
The tiered program aims to reward initial loyalty and encourages more purchases. This program offers levels of loyalty. Customers can collect points after every purchase and the more points they collect the higher their level of loyalty will be. Customers in the topmost level get more rewards and exclusive offers. Some well-known brands that use this program are Sephora and Starbucks.
Cashback programs
Cashback programs are similar to the points program. In this case, instead of collecting points, the customer gets a coupon or a cashback which can later be redeemed from the retailer. A great example of this is credit cards. Every time a customer successfully repays their credit amount, they are rewarded with a cashback. Some popular brands using this program are Google Pay, Paytm etc.
Value-based program
This program is more aligned with what a customer values. A great example of this is Classmate notebooks. Every time a customer purchases a product, a certain amount will be donated to children’s education.
Game program
The game program encourages shoppers to engage and participate to earn rewards. An excellent example of this is spin the wheel alerts. Shoppers can spin the wheel and receive discounts, and coupons.
How to use WhatsApp for Customer Loyalty?
With the growing popularity of WhatsApp, brands must make the most out of it. Customers are already on WhatsApp and brands can now connect on a 1:1 level to boost customer loyalty. Here are a few ways to use WhatsApp for customer loyalty:
Membership rewards
Send membership rewards to customers who spent a certain amount or if they earn points. The program can offer certain benefits such as early access to seasonal sales, free delivery, member-exclusive deals, and others.
Sign up instructions
Invite customers to sign up for your loyalty program via WhatsApp. Highlight the instructions, and use rich media to keep your customers engaged and entertained.
Customer feedback
Feedbacks are a part of customer loyalty. Use WhatsApp to learn more about your customers to serve them better. You can ask customers to rate the product they recently purchased, would they recommend your brand to others, and more.
Explore this article to learn more about WhatsApp Commerce
Learn how you can use Vizury for your brand
Best customer loyalty programs
A loyal customer doesn’t hesitate to pay a higher price. Here are some brands that are acing at their loyalty programs:
Mariott
Mariott introduced their loyalty rewards program called Mariott Bonvoy Benefits. Customers can earn points with car rentals, flights, and share points with friends and family. Travelers can redeem points for free hotel nights, dining and others. They also use personalization to create an exceptional experience for customers. They analyze customer behavior and use that data to create unique experiences for each customer.
Ben & Jerry’s
Ben & Jerry’s loyalty program is a value-based program. They create social justice-themed ice cream flavors and donate a portion of their sales to charities that support animals, the environment, social causes, and others.
Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime is a paid membership-based customer loyalty program. It offers a range of benefits such as free delivery on a wide range of products, discounts, etc. Even though the Prime program causes Amazon to lose approximately $1.2 billion a year, they make it up with the frequent shopping transitions. In fact, an average prime member spends around $1500/year compared to $625 spent by non-prime members.
Sephora Beauty Insider Program
This program allows customers to collect points after every purchase. Customers can choose how they want to spend their reward points. In addition to this, the “reward bazaar” allows customers to grab deals every Tuesday and Thursday. A report found that the program boasts more than 17 million loyal members and members make as much as 80% of their annual sales. Members can retrieve their points with gift cards and discounts. They can also redeem it with exclusive things like limited edition products or in-store beauty tutorials.
Conclusion
Customer loyalty programs are a proven and effective way to boost customer retention and customer lifetime value. Getting your customers to sign up is just the first step. It is crucial to keep your customers engaged and to truly reward them to make them come back.
Content credit Vizury To learn more, please visit https://vizury.com/.
