New members are the lifeblood of loyalty programs. However, enrolling customers in your brand’s program is just the first step in what should become a long and lucrative relationship between the consumer and the brand.
Brands should leverage their loyalty program to increase user engagement and drive repeat transactions. In this article, we explore various strategies that can help brands achieve this goal.
How to Drive Repeat Transactions with Loyalty
Are you leveraging your brand’s loyalty program and marketing strategies to encourage new loyalty program members to return for repeated transactions?
Driving repeat transactions with new loyalty members is crucial for the success of your loyalty program and overall brand growth. Strategies like loyalty gamification, bounce-back offers, profile completion, rewards for engagement, next-best marketing action, leveraging social media, new member education, tiered loyalty programs, surprise and delight, and cross-channel integration can greatly enhance user engagement and increase customer retention.
Several strategies for utilizing loyalty programs to encourage increased engagement and repeat transactions are listed below.
Bounce Back Offers
Some programs offer members a discount on their first transaction, but a bounce-back offer could be a stronger marketing strategy. You can offer a larger discount for that future transaction. Plus, you’ve accomplished that all-important step of driving the second transaction. For instance, you could provide a coupon for 25% off their next purchase, which would incentivize them to return to your store or website.
Profile Completion
Survey customers or develop an online profile to learn more about their preferences and interests. Consider offering a bonus reward or discount for a future transaction to sweeten the pot.
This approach allows you to personalize your customer’s shopping experience, which can lead to higher satisfaction and increased brand loyalty.
Rewards for Engagement
Help “Fast Track” your program’s new members to their first or next reward by offering a variety of ways to earn bonus points. For example, you could offer points for:
- writing a product review
- completing a survey
- playing a game
These actions could push them over or at least closer to that next reward goal, motivating them to stay engaged with your brand.
Next Best Marketing Action
Evolve your onboarding marketing by employing Next Best Action Marketing. Have they downloaded the app? Are there adjacent products to the items in their first basket that you could encourage them to purchase?
Find simple ways to leverage data and immediately drive marketing engagement with thoughtful and personalized content.
Leverage Social Media
Optimize your brand's social media accounts to leverage repeat transactions. Encourage new members to join in the dialog and follow the brand. Posting pictures and content can be another way to earn bonus points for engagement, but it also encourages them to peruse content from other members.
This strategy not only increases their connection to your brand but also fosters a sense of community among your customers.
New Member Education
Are you helping your new members maneuver through all the benefits of your program? While most programs offer an array of benefits, typically, there is a handful that are key drivers of member engagement and retention, and, ultimately, profitability.
Reduce confusion for new members by developing clear and simple new-member communications that focus on the most critical benefits or behaviors you want to encourage. Make sure members understand how to access and utilize these and then monitor utilization rates. Provide follow-up communications and offers to push members along as needed.
Tiered Loyalty Programs
Brands might consider introducing a tiered loyalty program structure that rewards their customers based on their level of engagement. The more they engage, the higher their tier, and the more benefits they receive.
This creates a sense of exclusivity and encourages members to strive for higher tiers. This feeling of accomplishment is important to driving repeat transactions and deepening their connection to your brand.
Surprise and Delight
Surprise and delight your customers by offering unexpected rewards, exclusive deals, or personalized offers. This approach can help create positive emotions towards your brand and foster long-term loyalty.
Cross-Channel Integration
Ensure your loyalty program is seamlessly integrated across all channels, including in-store, online, and mobile app experiences. This makes it easy for customers to engage with your program and track their rewards, no matter where they interact with your brand.
Loyalty Programs to Drive Repeat Engagement & Transactions
After new members join your loyalty program, it’s essential to have strategies in place to foster the brand’s relationship with the new member. Leverage gamification, points, data, and components of your program to incentivize consumers to make more transactions. By implementing some or all of the strategies discussed in this article, you can effectively drive repeat transactions, increase customer engagement, and foster long-term emotional loyalty with your customers.
Brands should invest in building a robust loyalty solution that caters to their unique needs and desires, and they’ll see the benefits in the form of increased revenue, brand loyalty, and customer satisfaction. Remember, a successful loyalty program is not just about enrolling new members; it’s also about retaining those customers and creating lasting, valuable relationships.
Loyalty Strategy Experts
Brierley helped pioneer the customer loyalty industry, and our expert analysts and strategists can help your brand’s program, from ideation to full creation.
If you’re ready to optimize your brand’s loyalty solution to maximize repeat engagements, contact us today!