Begging for more…

How do you convince your customer to come back to you again and again? Building loyalty to your brand is vital for the long-term success of your business. Why??

The cost of recruiting a new customer is estimated to be FIVE TIMES that of retaining a customer you already have. Increasing your repeat customers can raise your profits by anything from 25 – 95%. And that is why we should do our utmost to retain existing customers. This is called relationship building – building a long relationship with your customer is what will guarantee that your brand will last the test of time.

One way to nurture such a relationship is to create a strong, effective loyalty scheme.

What are Loyalty Schemes? Do they work?

A loyalty scheme is when you reward your customer for coming back to you again and again by giving that customer some kind of added value or reward. It can be in the form of a discount or money off future purchases, a freebie, or some kind of special treatment for your customer.

The aim is to incentivise your customer to come back to your brand again and again rather than trying out a new brand.

If done well, a loyalty scheme can be highly effective.

What are the benefits of a loyalty scheme

Retain your customer:

The primary aim behind a loyalty scheme is to reward your customers when they make repeat purchases, and in this way retaining them as loyal customers.

Get access to valuable information about your customers:

By participating in such a loyalty scheme, customers will usually provide you with their personal data, allowing you access to communicate with them. In today’s restrictive GDPR day and age, this data is even more valuable than ever before.

Additionally, this data will allow you to understand your customers’ purchasing habits and preferences, providing you with valuable information that can be utilised to tailor future offerings to your different customers.

Increase individual customers’ contribution:

The loyalty scheme will automatically encourage repeat purchase, helping you increase the value of that customer to you. Loyal customers trust your brand and are therefore likely to spend more. Additionally, by understanding their purchase behaviour and targeting messages according to that behaviour, you can continue to raise the contribution of that customer to your business.

Improve your communication with your customer:

Such a scheme automatically opens a two-way channel for communication with your customer. This means that a customer is more inclined to give you feedback about your products and services and allows you to build the relationship with your customer.

Secrets to an effective loyalty scheme

Make it simple:

Customers want their shopping experience to be as easy as possible and if you over-complicate your mechanics, they will just lose interest and give up. It is worth investing some time and money into the infrastructure that will manage such a scheme to streamline the process for your clients.

Give attractive rewards that appeal to YOUR customer:

You need to evaluate WHO your target customer is. Then you can tailor the rewards to appeal to that customer. It does not make sense to invest time and energy on a scheme if then you do not match the rewards with what would incentivise your customer.

Refresh:

It is important to keep such a loyalty scheme alive by innovating regularly and introducing new elements into your scheme to keep it fresh and interesting to your customers. You can do this by regularly introducing new rewards, creating limited time special added value, and even providing news about developments in your products and services.