The following post was previously published in an earlier edition of Marketing Insider.
To stay effective, loyalty programs must evolve. Even the best-designed programs need
frequent, data-informed updates to leverage new consumer expectations and technology. Failing to do so could limit your brand’s bottom line and diminish opportunities to build loyalty.
Here are eight signs your brand needs a loyalty rehab—and ideas for how to do it:
1. Customer conversion rates are dropping. Red alert: It’s likely your brand’s loyalty program value proposition isn’t compelling enough.
2. Active, high-value members are hitting snooze. If members who were once highly engaged decrease their earning and redeeming, your program has probably become predictable—maybe even boring.
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3. Members protest that new members and/or nonmembers can access the same benefits. Members who’ve invested significant time and money usually feel entitled to special treatment.
4. Members say it’s too hard to earn rewards. If the threshold for earning a reward is too high—or even too low—the program’s value exchange needs retooling.
5. Your loyalty program isn’t crossing demographics well. It’s likely your program’s content strategy and segmentation aren’t effectively reflecting the demographics, interests, and attitudes of your customer base.
6. What loyalty program? Loyalty programs wither without sufficient visibility among your customers, so leveraging communication channels effectively is key.
7. Members are struggling with your brand’s app or other tech. We all know the frustrations of glitches and bugs, and members may not stay patient with your brand if they encounter too many.
8. Loyalty members aren’t buying into product recommendations. Most loyalty programs drive significant revenue through upsell or cross-sell of sales and/or services using a personalization engine.
Keep your loyalty program up to date
As consumer expectations, trends, and technologies evolve, successful loyalty programs need to keep pace. Developing a strategy of an ongoing evaluation and strategic revisions will help your brand make incremental adjustments to improve customer experience, loyalty, and overall profitability.