How to Attract More Customers to Enroll in Your Loyalty Rewards Program?
Loyalty programs are undoubtedly the best marketing tool for attracting new customers while retaining existing ones. Over the years, customer loyalty programs have changed significantly. New customer loyalty programs have not only become digital but are also unique, creative, and highly efficient. When planned and executed carefully, these programs can be beneficial for both the parties, customers as well as businesses.
Why Loyalty Rewards Programs Are Important?
Before talking about loyalty programs, it is important to understand what exactly customer loyalty is about?
In simple terms, customer loyalty is the willingness of a customer to purchase from or work with a brand again and again. Customer loyalty is usually the result of customer satisfaction, positive experience, and the quality of products and services that a customer receives from a particular brand.
Now let’s focus on the customer loyalty program. Offered by a company or business, a customer loyalty program is a reward program designed for customers who make frequent purchases from a brand. These reward programs usually include offers, discounts, coupons, free merchandise, rewards, and much more. For today’s businesses, building a customer loyalty rewards program has become imperative as it can influence the customer’s purchasing behavior and increase the customer’s urge to stay loyal to the company.
The primary objectives of the loyalty rewards program include:
Influence and enhance single-brand loyalty
Encourages customers to purchase and use more products or services listed under the loyalty program
Reduce consumer’s price sensitivity by introducing cashback, coupons, etc.
Attract and retain a large number of customers
Maintain and strengthen the relationship with current customers
Build new relationships with prospective customers
One of the key goals of businesses behind implementing the loyalty rewards program is to increase sales. However, as per studies, when it comes to loyalty program engagement, customers belong to an average of more than 13% programs, but they are only active in half of the programs that they enroll in.
Few Quick Tips to Attract More Customers to Participate in Loyalty Rewards Programs
Due to the extreme competition in the market nowadays, it has become quite difficult for certain types of businesses to attract more customers towards their loyalty programs. The more members you add to your customer loyalty program, the bigger impact your program will have. So, how to lure more customers to enroll for your loyalty programs? Well, below mentioned are some of the key tips to enroll more customers in a loyalty program that increases engagement and boosts conversions:
Make Participation an Easy Process
If the participation or enrollment process is too complicated, there are more chances that customers will refrain from participating in the loyalty rewards programs. When customers are on the go or standing in a long queue for signing up process, they may find it quite frustrating and would like to forfeit their rewards instead of performing additional tasks.
Therefore, make certain to include as few steps as possible in the enrollment process. The simpler the enrollment process is, the higher the chances of an increased number of customers that participate in the rewards program.
Make Clear How the Loyalty Program Works
Use all your communication mediums including emails, mobile apps, social media pages, brochures, and others to enlighten your customers about how the program will benefit them directly. You must make all things clear in the mind of your current as well as potential customers about what the rewards actually are, how they can earn them, and most importantly how they can benefits your loyalty program.
Another easiest way to inform your customers is through your sales associates during in-store transactions. Sales associates can remind the customers how the loyalty program works and how their today’s transaction will get them closer to earning exciting rewards.
Don’t Try To Gather Unnecessary Information
It is vital to note that when performing the enrollment process, you must collect only the required information from the customer that you plan on using. For instance, if you do not plan on sending emails to your customers, don’t ask for their address. Just ask for the necessary details that you will use to communicate and reward your customers. This way the customers will also not hesitate to provide their details as they don’t have to fill out long-form writing all the details that can take a long time.
Keep Your Employees Up-To-Date Regarding the Details of Your Rewards Program and Enrollment Process
Make certain that your employees know each detail about the rewards program so that they can answer any queries of the customers related to the program. Well aware employees can quickly explain the benefits of taking the time to join the program and may convince a customer to make a move for the enrollment process.
Also, employees must be educated about the enrollment process, which means they should know exactly what is required to participate in the rewards program. This will help to create a fast and smooth enrollment process.
To encourage your employees to get more and more new customers, you can organize contests and rewards for the employees who can get the newest customers through the enrollment process.
Nexta Software offers educational software but finds that because of the hundreds of inquiries they receive, their employees are tepid or lukewarm in responding. The result is that they lose dozens of potential conversions. The employee rewards program resulted in employees learning more about the product and being more proactive in engagement with customer inquiries. Conversions climbed up after employee reward program implementation and, even after paying incentives, Nexta makes a handsome profit.
Offer a Welcome Promotion for New Customers That Join
One of the best ways to attract more customers to participate in your loyalty program is to offer them a welcome promotion or incentive when they enroll for your program.
For example, you can offer new participants double points upon enrollment, half-off, buy one get one free on the next purchase, etc. Nothing motivates buyers like an incentive. Initiating a welcome promotion with a special incentive is not only easy and effective but can also act as a great tool that employees can use to convince the customers while explaining to them the benefits of the rewards program.
The above methods work where a concrete product is offered. However, if you are offering services then you may find choices limited. BTN Software, a software as a service provider, offered accounting software. It was difficult to attract new customers so they offered free usage for six months and one month trial of their payroll package.
Conclusion
If you are starting a new program or like to boost your existing rewards program, the above-mentioned tips can certainly help you to increase the number of customers participating in the program.
Though you don’t need to get 100 percent customers’ participation in your program, you should focus on making the enrollment process easier so that those who want to participate in the program can do so without any hassle.