Millennial Engagement And Loyalty – Making Them A Part Of The Process
Millennials, or people born roughly between 1980 and 2000, are tough customers in both the literal and proverbial sense. With social media, subscription boxes and targeted advertisements following consumers on every website they visit, it’s easy for shoppers to get distracted. Since most of these teenagers to thirty-somethings were born into the age of e-commerce, it’s easy to assume they’re susceptible to the intrigue created by the new brands and products constantly inundating their screens.
Millennials represent the modern consumer. With this in mind, it’s no surprise that companies across all industries and verticals are catering to the needs of millennials as a way to earn their loyalties. Traditional methods of advertising have been proven ineffective in capturing their attention. Most people are never more than a tap, swipe or click away from almost anything. The fact remains that the digital world has forcefully inserted itself into all the phases of the buying process, especially for the millennial generation. As more millennials begin to enter the market, the question that arises is- how companies can appeal to these digital natives?
Agreed, millennials are choosy about their brands, but they are also more willing than older generations to switch brands if they can save money by doing so. While advertising may seem like the go-to strategy.
There are more efficient ways to get in front of this audience and reach them time and time again
Personalization
Millennials want to know that a company is paying attention to their specific needs. The critical component of delivering a personalized digital experience is a mobile-first strategy that guides each customer through all phases of the shopping journey. The look and feel of a customized product are important to the members of this generation who has an open- door policy. They are more likely in the first place to listen to your pitch, even if you are pitching from a brand they haven’t heard before. Companies can present options, targeted messages, recommendations and personalized services that can be effective in the right circumstances. To attract millennial shoppers, brands must think in terms of experience, not discounts and offers off alone. Brands can approach experience-focused programs in a number of ways, such as offering customers free shipping, skipping a checkout line, early access to a sale or the ability to view products before other customers. By focusing on the experience and personalization, brands can help shoppers feel as if they’re a part of something bigger than just a loyalty program, thus building an emotional relationship with the consumer, which is key for Millennials.
Engagement
In addition to providing a great product, responding and engaging with millennials in a timely and authentic way will also help cement a long-term relationship. As a tech-savvy and highly connected generation, it is no surprise that millennials are drawn to loyalty programs that engage them through various channels. Whether online, mobile app or in-store, brands can reinforce millennial loyalty with a program that keeps them looped into the brand experience. It’s important to have a cohesive marketing strategy across the brand’s website, e-mail campaigns and social media properties for relevant communication to elevate customer loyalty. Based on data collected from these sources, platforms can be used reengage, share new opportunities, offers and promotions that will keep millennial shoppers hooked and coming back for more. Social media as a platform is not only great for consistent, relevant communication but also has the added benefit of facilitating peer-to-peer recommendations, which many millennial shoppers turn to before making purchases. By adding game-like features to their reward program, brands have the potential to create customizable and rewarding experiences, providing entertainment value to the customer while bolstering engagement.
Convenience
Even a loyalty program with experiential components, engaging qualities, and price, the ultimate deciding factor can turn off this generation, if it is difficult to use. While millennials rely on technology to streamline their lives, they expect digital solutions to augment their experiences. This means brands must develop loyalty programs that are frictionless and easy to navigate across various channels – whether on a laptop, desktop, a mobile or a tablet. Millennials are quick to abandon slow-loading apps or confusing interfaces that do not save them the time or add value to their lives. Like other leading mobile solutions, loyalty programs can capitalize on common mobile strategies like real-time alerts, multichannel capabilities, and personalization or even technologies like mobile wallets.
Brands that want to capture this demographic will have to abandon traditional, shop-worn loyalty strategies in favor of new programs that emphasize experience, engagement, and convenience. Appealing to this demographic requires brands to ensure that the ways they deliver their rewards programs are as flexible and mobile as millennials are themselves.
Top 5 Things Not to Do in Your Employee Rewards Program
Employee rewards programs sound like something we can all benefit from, based of some known facts: generic rewards aren’t entirely effective, whereas the ones tailored to compliment the company can have a significant impact. Custom employee rewards contribute significantly to boost the engagement and company culture. Upon due consideration, we must realise the fact that implementing a rewards program isn’t always a step forward to success, unless it’s done the right way. Following this statement, is a list of the top five things not to do when designing a detailed employee rewards program:
1. Turning a Blind Eye to The History
One must never design a rewards program without an in depth knowledge and a detailed insight into the company’s past history with rewards. Finances are always to be kept in check; the tangible rewards mustn’t be finalised without identifying the appropriate behaviours to be rewarded. Rewards can be misused and misdirected; behaviours can’t always be changed without social reinforcement. Make wise decisions because reward programs tend to take the wrong direction, a consequence of an unplanned beginning.
2. Basing KPI’s on Biased Assumptions
Presuming that one knows what behaviours should be rewarded to produce the desired business growth, can be a reason for an unsuccessful rewards program. Observe, learn, converse, and connect with the employees to identify the behaviours that need addressing. Basing KPI’s on assumptions leaves a scope for biased opinions, which in turn, leads to undesired growth factors.
3. Ignoring the Objective Metrics:
Know the objectives of your rewards program and figure out a way to measure them. A common mistake occurs when only the subjective measures of effectiveness are considered, ignoring the objective metrics. Rewarding the wrong behaviour is never recommended. Remember, what you reward is what you’ll receive.
4. Undermining the Feedbacks
Rewards program tend to flourish when they incorporate employee and manager input. The job isn’t done yet, with rewarding; it requires taking feedbacks to find out if the reward makes an impact. Ask the recipients for a scope of improvement and apply the principles learned to design better the next time.
5. Underestimating the Significance of Recognition
Individuals who earn the rewards for their exceptional performances must know the specific reason for the recognition. A meaningful, sincere recognition encourages a positive behaviour in the future. Don’t restrict the rewards program to a mere transaction; it can be a great step forward to build personal relationships.
Appreciation is a fundamental need for humans to work with some motivation. Employees respond to appreciation because it is a reassurance of the value of their work. When recognised in a proper way, the productivity is set to increase, for there is a motivation to keep up the good work. Hence, an employee rewards program requires a lot of planning and organisation, to work in an unperturbed fashion; keeping in mind the foremost things to avoid. A well planned ERP can act like a catalyst, and give cause to an exponentially rising upsurge in the business charts of a company.
Channels of Engagement at the Point of Sale of consumer goods
It is interesting to talk about a subject that is creating so much buzz across various business circles. There is a lot of evidence that points to businesses enjoying higher sales through active engagement of their point of sales units. The influence of the out of store online activities on in-store purchase decisions is unique and worth a close look. The moment a consumer is about to do a transaction; it is critical to build loyalty and create multiple income channels for your business.
The message of marketers to attract customer interest in various brands has reached a saturation stage. Sadly, this has led to a point of diminishing returns for marketers who operate in various industries. This means that any business that wants to stay ahead of the pack must be able to communicate with its consumers at the right moments in order to win the lion’s share of the customer’s attention.
One of the best ways to engage this opportunity or business dynamic is to envision the engaged consumer as a segment all by itself. Many brands have an opportunity to engage a great number of their clients but are not paying attention to this new trend. It is important to give a high priority to this move in order to draw customers that would be loyal and valuable to your brand in the long term.
Here are 4 of the channels of engagement at the point of sale of consumer goods that is generating the right results:
Text Message promotions
Shoppers can be enticed to enter contests while shopping with the use of an effective text message. It is important to get the buyers’ consent in order to interact with them and build a strong following for your brand through their mobile device. About 67% of individuals do their shopping through a mobile device so this is a channel that must not be overlooked. You can create a trend by telling them the best time to shop while tying it to various store locations where you may want to drive increased sales.
Email Coupon programs
Consumers can register to receive limited time offers and coupons from their favorite brands. They opt in for such messages/communication from in-store promotions, brand websites, text message, mail messages or in response to calls. You can track the conversion rate from this medium and further understand the location from which the consumer makes the purchase. This can help you to build a strong data and dominate the market that you serve.
Brand Websites
Consumers are encouraged to register on the sites and provide important details about themselves. The data would capture their social network profile, information about their household and this can aid the message, research, segmentation or relevance of your sales approach to reach them. This can help you create a stronger engagement with even the most passive customer on your list.
Social Media
Social media connects brands to their customers like no other channel. When this avenue is well harnessed, it can influence the shopper’s behavior and increase the profit margins of any business.