Loyalty programs are the ideal way to engage with your customers and keep them coming back for more. But building a successful loyalty program requires more than just setting it up – you also need to attract and retain your members over time. This calls for a holistic approach to enrollment, spanning from the program’s initial launch to ongoing marketing campaigns.
During our recent Loyalty Connect virtual conference, we spoke with Sammy Newton and Vicky Vitkay from our Customer Success team to get their best advice on how to market a loyalty program. We’ve compiled all of the great tips they gave, covering everything from launching the program, to marketing it on an ongoing basis.
Marketing the launch of your program
Launching a loyalty program is a great way for businesses of all shapes and sizes to connect with their customers on a deeper level and encourage long-lasting loyalty. Here are some of our top tips on how to get the best results from your launch process.
Make sure you promote the launch on your website
If you want a successful launch, it’s important to promote your loyalty program effectively on your website. You need to build out clear, visually appealing calls-to-action throughout the site, including the navigation bar and footer. These are the places where customers are most likely to look for your program.
To grab the attention of both existing and potential customers, it’s also essential to make the promotion clear and straightforward, using labels like “rewards” and “loyalty programs.” While it’s tempting from a marketing point of view to use clever, fun names for your program, if people don’t know what it is, they won’t check it out. By making it unmistakably clear that the program is indeed a loyalty program, you can avoid confusion and ensure that the program receives the clicks it deserves.
Another good tip is to create a dedicated landing page specifically for the loyalty program, clearly highlighting the benefits of the program, explaining how it works, and providing clear instructions on how to join.
Onsite notifications can also play a crucial role in capturing visitors’ attention and driving sign-ups. These should outline the benefits that customers can gain, such as discounts, exclusive offers, and available points, to entice customers to learn more.
Take advantage of email marketing
Email marketing can also play a huge part when it comes to promoting your loyalty program. Instead of inundating customers with standalone emails, you can get just as much success through seamlessly integrating program details and incentives into existing communications. This could be through your newsletters, promotional emails, or transactional messages. One great tip is to add a dedicated section into your newsletters, highlighting member success stories, new rewards, and tips on optimizing benefits.
Promotional emails are also a great place to mention the rewards program, especially since these are likely to have higher click-through-rates, with customers eager to take advantage of special offers.
Transactional emails, such as order confirmations and thank-you messages, offer another valuable touchpoint for promoting the loyalty program. These emails are typically received when customers are at their happiest, right after making a purchase, making this an ideal time to push for enrollment.
You can also include your enrolled members’ point balances or tier status in any communications that you send to them, reminding them of the benefits of the program while adding that little personalized touch.
Introduce special offers
Special offers and promotions can really help to boost the launch of a loyalty program, creating a sense of urgency and incentivizing sign-ups. By bonus points, free gifts, or early access to products or sales during the launch phase, you can capture attention and motivate customers to join the program early on. These promotions not only get people excited to sign up right away, but also set the stage for ongoing participation and engagement in the program.
Making the most of social media
Social media is a huge tool in any business’ back pocket and one that should absolutely be leveraged when launching a loyalty program. Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok are ideal for showcasing your program’s benefits through captivating content, customer testimonials, user-generated content, and targeted ads. By tapping into the reach and engagement potential of social media, businesses can reach a broader audience and encourage participation in the loyalty program from both existing and prospective customers.
P&Co, Red Land Cotton, and Astrid & Miyu are excellent examples of companies that use social media effectively to promote their loyalty programs. Their visually appealing Instagram content effectively showcases the benefits of their programs, enticing followers to become part of their community. They also use customer testimonials from existing loyalty program members to drive their program participation and enrollment up.
Marketing your program on an ongoing basis
Once the excitement of the launch subsides, it becomes all about maintaining momentum and continuing to drive enrollments over time. Here are some key elements that you might want to think about:
Onsite notifications
This is where the strategic use of notifications can come in handy, serving as a gentle nudge to remind customers of the program’s benefits and encourage ongoing participation. Post-purchase notifications and onsite popups help prompt customers to join the program or engage with existing benefits and points balances, keeping rewards top of their minds.
Among these alerts, the guest post-purchase notification stands out as particularly powerful. At LoyaltyLion, we often see huge conversion rates on this notification, ranging from 8-15%. This particular notification highlights to customers that they could have earned points with their recent purchase, prompting them to create an account and take advantage of a first reward. We always advise our customers to take full advantage of these guest post-purchase notifications within their strategy.
Welcome messages also play a crucial role in encouraging enrollment. These notifications serve as a valuable tool to remind customers of the program’s existence, especially those who may not be aware of its benefits. Unlike emails, onsite notifications are hard to miss, meaning that customers are consistently reminded of your program.
Effective promotions
You should always focus on crafting campaigns that offer real added value to customers. Whether this is through sign-up incentives, bonus points events, or targeted rewards, your loyalty program promotions should be designed to maximize customer engagement and value, while also encouraging ongoing participation in the program.
We often see brands put a lot of effort into building their loyalty program, then forgetting to talk about it with their customers. Make sure you’re always promoting it, speaking about it, and keeping them up to date with any key changes or special member promotions.
Customer referrals
Referrals stand out as a powerful yet often underutilized tool in boosting enrollments and expanding the reach of loyalty programs. Their potential is often underestimated, even though they’re one of the most cost-effective methods to drive acquisition and reward existing customers.
By offering enticing rewards or benefits for successful referrals, you can motivate your loyal customers to become brand advocates, tapping into their extensive networks and attracting new members to the program. This not only drives enrollment numbers up, but also fosters a sense of community and belonging among your existing program members.
To maximize the effectiveness of the referral element of your program, it’s essential to integrate referral offers seamlessly into various communication channels. This includes incorporating referral offers into BAU (Business as Usual) emails, newsletters, and other regular marketing communications. By making the referral process visible and easily accessible to customers, you can increase awareness around referral rewards. Using catchy slogans like “give 10, get 10” can be particularly successful when delivering this kind of campaign.
A prime example of a brand that excels in leveraging referral programs is Patchology. With its straightforward and visually appealing referral offer showcased prominently on their website, they make the idea of referring exciting to customers, making it easy for them to participate and recommend to others.
Conclusion
Building and maintaining a successful loyalty program requires continuous innovation, and ongoing strategic marketing. By prioritizing the enrollment of redeeming loyalty program members, your business can build a dedicated community of advocates who not only contribute to your immediate success, but also lay the foundations for long-term growth and sustainable profits.
From the initial launch to ongoing marketing efforts, every single interaction you have with potential and existing members is a chance to get creative and strengthen that brand affinity.
If you’d like to find out more about how Loyalty Lion can help build out your ideal loyalty program and market it on an ongoing basis, we’re here to help. Get in touch with our friendly team today.
Managing your program
