5 Superb Sales Techniques to Reach Your Consumer Faster
Everyone has something they can market, whether it’s an item, a service, or some essential information. However, gaining customers and increasing sales from that service, item, or piece of knowledge are the only ways a business can prosper. However, you can’t just sit back and hope that someone would come across your product and buy it. Sales growth is the result of carefully planned sales methods that are created and implemented. To boost sales, you must either expand the audience you sell to, improve the goods you sell, improve your messaging, or do all of the aforementioned.
1. Be methodical when creating leads
The first step is to make sure that your firm generates enough leads consistently to sustain a steady flow of business. Too many business owners are determined to put out regular fires instead of thinking about their long-term aims.
- Establish goals for how many prospects you want to have in the funnel at any one time.
- To reach those goals, schedule the number of visits you want to have each week with potential clients.
- The remaining time should be used to manage your ongoing sales efforts.
- Although it’s not always the simplest element of your job, generating leads is essential if you want to create steady sales.
2. Understand the sales cycle
Your sales cycle, which is the period of time between meeting a potential customer for the first time and closing a deal, will be determined by the type of business you’re in. This can differ significantly amongst businesses. Your sales cycle can only be increased greatly when you offer good products at the time of redemption for the customers through game vouchers and gift cards. But you need to be aware of how long it often takes you, in days, weeks, or months.
To determine how long your sales cycle is:
- List the 20 most recent closed sales you’ve had
- Note the duration of each
- Calculate the median
- Using Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology can also help you discover your best customers, target particular demographics, and obtain a better understanding of your sales pipeline.
3. Understand numbers
Every business needs a certain number of prospects at all times just to keep up sales. Consider the usual sales cycle as well as the quantity of closed transactions you desire each month. The proportion of contacted prospects who made purchases is another important statistic to be aware of. Make the best customers through your products such as game redeem code, best loyalty programmes, redeem game voucher. With the aid of these figures, you may establish objectives for your company.
Example:
Your company wants to sell three things each month. An average sale is closed four months after the client is first contacted. You have a close ratio of 25% if one out of every four prospects your sales team contacts end up making a purchase.
In this case, you can be certain that you will close three transactions each month as long as you keep 48 active leads at any given time. It’s that easy. You will need to keep a list of 64 active prospects if you decide one day to boost your monthly production to four closed transactions, for example. With this knowledge, business owners are better equipped to provide their salespeople clear, measurable goals.
4. Active referral-seeking
Obtaining recommendations from happy customers is a general rule for any firm. Asking for a referral directly can be difficult, so one approach to avoid it is to encourage customers to mention their customers and suppliers about the products or services such as best loyalty programmes, redeem game voucher, game gift cards and others.
If a possible customer comes up during a conversation, you may ask them if it’s okay to call Tom and explain that you spoke with him. Describe yourself and say something like, “I was thinking it would be a good idea for us to gather up. Consider next Tuesday.
5. Be prepared for pushback
Be ready for typical objections, especially when conducting cold calls. Typical adverse reactions include:
I have to deal with someone else.
I’m overworked.
This is not the best time.
Send me some material first, and then we can discuss.
You will lose the prospect’s interest if you are not prepared with succinct responses. Get ready to respond by practicing your exact words in advance. It’s critical to understand their concerns before attempting to cast a more favorable perspective on them.
Conclusion
Sales promotion is one of the essential elements of the promotion mix. Keeping your needs in mind RewardPort develops a variety of sales campaigns that resonate with your target market in order to establish lasting relationships with your customers.
10 Common mistakes businesses make with their giveaways
You’ve probably seen your fair share of branded contests over the years. This is for a reason. Contests, when properly executed, can be one of the most effective marketing strategies.
Marketers have known this for years, and as a result, branded contests, sweepstakes, and giveaways have worked wonders for decades.
1. Ineffective Giveaway Strategy
The most serious mistake a company can make when running a giveaway contest is a lack of strategy. Most businesses often launch giveaways without first defining contest goals and objectives. This increases the likelihood of miscommunication and other technical issues that a comprehensive giveaway marketing strategy would otherwise eliminate.
A good giveaway strategy enables businesses to avoid low entry rates and ensure effective contesting to achieve the desired results. A strong giveaway strategy has the advantage of providing a standard for what a successful giveaway will look like. This way, you can reduce squabbles and get your team on the same page to meet specific objectives and achieve your desired level of success.
2. Unspecific Calls to Action (CTA)
The main goal of marketing your giveaway is to have a prominent CTA. Make it clear what the entry requirements are and use text and buttons to entice people to join.
3. Relying Solely on the Giveaway Publisher for Promotions
Create a contact list and send them an email about your giveaway. Be careful not to irritate existing customers by offering your product at a lower price than they paid for it – instead, offer them a free upgrade. Send out e-mails and follow-ups announcing the progress of your giveaway to give it the appearance of a real-life event, which it is.
4. There Are no Official Rules
Establishing official giveaway rules and regulations may require additional work, but it can often mean the difference between a successful giveaway contest and a failure. Without clear rules in place, your giveaway may confuse or, worse, expose your company to reputational harm, legal action, and complaints.
As a result, you must publish your official giveaway rules a few days before the contest to allow time for participants to review them.
When establishing rules, you must define participant eligibility by specifying residency and age requirements. Excluding your employees, affiliates, and their family members from the contest also ensures objectivity and avoids backlash from neutral participants. To avoid confusion and legal trouble, you should also specify how the winner will be chosen and notified, as well as how you will use the personal data you’ve gathered.
5. Unappealing Awards
Another reason most giveaways do not have a higher participant turnout is that the prizes are unappealing and irrelevant. Most people have no idea what giveaway prizes are, what they do, or how much they are worth.
When potential participants are not sold on the idea of your prize, they are more likely to participate without feeling completely convinced or to avoid the contest entirely. One way to avoid this is to come up with several social media giveaway ideas and determine what initially drew your audience to your brand.
As a rule, use your product as a giveaway to generate buzz and gauge customer interest. Using your products in giveaway contests gives the winners a taste of what they can expect if they continue to do business with you, ultimately increasing your conversions and sales in the long run.
6. Running Competitions for Too Long
Businesses frequently run giveaways for extended periods in the hopes of generating and maximizing traffic. This strategy, however, can backfire and result in participants completely forgetting about your contests. On the other hand, if you don’t run it long enough, you may limit the number of people who can enter.
Although there is no one-size-fits-all story when it comes to running giveaways, the sweet spot for a typical contest duration is two to four weeks. This is enough time to ensure that your marketing strategies mature, but not so long that it becomes tedious, and participants begin to complain.
Establish an appropriate contest duration to maintain a sense of urgency and entice people to enter sooner than later.
7. Registration Is Difficult
Many marketers make the mistake of requiring users to go through multiple registration processes and fill out multiple forms to participate in their contests. While this is a great way to collect relevant data, it may discourage potential entrants from converting and participating in your giveaway.
According to data, 74.3% of people despise forms because they take too much time and effort and provide little value. As a result, utilizing powerful marketing technologies such as a giveaway software solution is critical in reducing participant frustration and ensuring a successful contest.
It easily integrates with social media platforms and a dynamic giveaway software platform makes it easier for your customers to participate. The participants can easily log in using their Twitter or Facebook accounts.
Experts at RewardPort can also guide you with several such initiatives to ensure a high-performance Giveaway campaign for your brand.
8. Poor Reward-to-Effort Ratio
The purpose of a contest is to put in a little effort in exchange for a chance to win a large prize. Otherwise, you could save money and buy the item yourself.
This is true in any contest, but it is especially true when trying to get user-generated content in the form of essays, photos, videos, and other media.
Unfortunately, too many contests make this mistake and ask participants to do a lot of work for a small reward. As a result, even if you spent a significant amount of time and money executing the campaign, you may receive very few entries.
Here are some common signs that you’re asking too much of your audience:
- High entry barriers: If users require specific equipment to make submissions, such as a microphone or a camera, they will not accept low-quality prizes, such as cheap gift cards.
- Too time-consuming and/or labour-intensive: If you’re asking people to put in hours of work, you should make it worthwhile.
- The prize is too specific: Assume you sell photography and video equipment. A lens may appear to be a good prize, but it is meaningless to those who do not own a compatible camera. Prizes like this are inferior to those that can be used by anyone.
- The cost is low: Money cannot buy happiness, but it can purchase contest entries. The less expensive the prize, the less interest you will receive.
9. Arriving at the Worst Possible Moment
There’s nothing worse than missing out on a contest you’d love to enter because you don’t have the time, money, or energy to do so. Or, even worse, you simply didn’t notice it.
This type of error can turn off people who would otherwise enter your contest. That is a major issue.
Choosing the Incorrect “Location” (i.e., Poor Targeting)
We are all aware that location is important in the real world. You don’t want your contest to attract people who aren’t interested in your brand. While there are no “places” in the traditional sense on the internet, there is traffic – and various traffic sources.
Sometimes you must make a tradeoff: do you want hyper-targeted entrants, a mix, or are you willing to go crazy and accept anyone for the sake of expanding the campaign’s reach?
There are several things you can do to keep things more focused:
- Exclude advertising to specific demographics using Facebook Ads targeting.
- Make the prize specific to a specific demographic.
- Increasing traffic from websites that contain your target audience
Avoid Giveaway Mistakes & Ensure Success
For businesses that lack the tools needed to automate specific processes like contest duration, fraud protection, and contest creation, preventing giveaway mistakes can be difficult. Using a dynamic marketing software platform to manage your giveaways is one way to ensure a successful giveaway.
Alternatively, connect with RewardPort’s award-winning strategists to design and execute a custom Giveaway campaign for you.
14 Ways to promote your sweepstakes in 2022
If you’re an online retailer, you should think about incorporating sweepstakes into your marketing strategy. They’re an efficient marketing channel for expanding your business, generating more leads, promoting your brand, and increasing sales.
A sweepstake is simple and inexpensive to run, and the benefits are far greater than those of many other marketing methods when done correctly.
Email subscribers, new customers, and increased followers on social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest. Increased brand exposure and awareness can all result from a single promotion and increase sales.
Planning and Construction
Sweepstakes are a low-cost marketing promotion method that can have a significant impact on growing an audience and building a business. However, before running sweepstakes, you must plan it out so that you have a road map for success with a set of predetermined goals.
Many businesses believe that by giving something away for free, they will receive a flood of new visitors, email subscribers, Facebook likes, and sales. Unfortunately, without a well-defined goal and a solid marketing strategy, this is rarely the case.
To start creating your roadmap for a successful giveaway, plan out each step of your promotion until you reach the goal that you want to achieve. You can begin building your sweepstakes once you have a clear roadmap.
Marketing
Setting up your sweepstakes is a good start, but if you want to accelerate your sweepstakes and meet your goals, you’ll need a solid marketing plan.
Here are 14 different ways sweepstakes can bring real and measurable results to marketers:
1. Make a blog post
Writing a blog post about your sweepstakes is an excellent way to notify customers and prospects that you have a promotion going on. Your post should include a brief description of the promotion, how to enter, what prizes are available, and when it will end. Bonus points if you can explain how winning the sweepstakes will benefit the reader’s life.
2. Send a newsletter via email
Send an email to your list announcing your sweepstakes and providing a direct link to the entry page. Even if these people are already on your list, you should still promote them because if they enter, they will share the giveaway with their friends and family (Facebook and otherwise)
3. Share it on Facebook
Make a post about your giveaway on your Facebook timeline. Include an image of the prize that will catch people’s attention, as well as a brief description of what they can win. Finally, in your post, include a direct link to the giveaway.
4. Share it on other social media portals
In addition to Facebook, promote your giveaway on Twitter by sending a tweet with details about what people can win as well as a direct link to the giveaway page. Pin the giveaway to Pinterest, and share it with your audiences on Google Plus, LinkedIn, and Instagram as well.
5. Make use of video
Creating a video is no longer a difficult task, thanks to the power of smartphones. You can easily create short video clips to promote your sweepstakes using Vine, Instagram, or YouTube. A good starting point would be to make a short video clip showing the prizes available.
6. AdWords by Google
If you’ve set aside money to promote your sweepstakes, Google AdWords can be an effective way to reach your target audience. It enables you to target specific keywords that people are looking for and have your promotion appear in search results.
7. Blogger promotion
Bloggers are always looking for great content to share with their readers. Make a list of 10 or 20 bloggers in your niche and send each of them a personalized email about the sweepstakes you’re launching and how you believe it would be a good fit for their audience if they’d be willing to promote it for you.
8. Collaborate with another company
Collaboration with another company on your giveaway is a great way to increase the number of prizes and gain more exposure. Contact companies that are related to your niche but are not direct competitors to see if they would be interested in offering one of their products as a prize in your giveaway. If they agree, you now have another company to help you promote the giveaway. It’s a win-win scenario.
9. Publish a press release
Use a service like PR web, Pitch Engine, or PR Newswire to create a press release and schedule it to be sent out on the day the promotion goes live.
10. Incorporate a message into your packages
Tossing a little card inside each package telling them to enter the promotion is a great way to get people to enter your sweepstakes if you ship out physical products. Remember that just because these people are already customers does not mean that they will not refer their friends and family to you.
11. After transaction communications
If you sell a product, including a link to your sweepstakes after checkout can be an excellent way to collect entries. Because these people have already purchased something from you, they will most likely be delighted to have the opportunity to win something.
12. Collaborate with YouTube channels
Some incredibly popular YouTube channels may be the ideal partner to help promote your giveaway. Look for channels in your niche with many subscribers and make sure their videos have many views.
To get them to promote your sweepstakes, you may need to offer some form of compensation (either monetary or in the form of a gift- many of them review products for their audiences).
13. Banner of your sweepstakes on the business website
Most visitors to your website’s homepage will be unaware of your sweepstakes unless you notify them. Make an image that can be displayed on your homepage and links directly to your giveaway.
You can also use a simple service like Hello Bar to notify people on your homepage that you are running a giveaway. It appears simple, but many businesses simply do not realize it is an option.
14. Offline marketing
Social media and digital media aren’t the only ways to publicize your giveaway. If you have a physical store, consider how you can use walk-in customers to raise awareness for your competition. Here are some offline promotion ideas:
- Tossing a little card or flyer inside each package telling them to enter the promotion is a great way to get people to enter your sweepstakes.
- Make a check-in contest to encourage people to visit your physical store.
- Promote the contest at local events and communities in which you are involved. Create a banner or say something about your giveaway if you occasionally organize events. Using QR codes generated by a QR Code Generator is a good idea.
Conclusion
If you want your giveaway or contest to be successful, you must promote it frequently and on all available platforms. Make a page on your website for the giveaway, include details in your newsletter, and regularly spread the word on social media. Change your phrasing and timing on social media and monitor the response rate as you do so.
You may find that more people are willing to participate in the evening when they have “distraction time” and are winding down for the day. Contests, like any other marketing activity, can always be improved.
RewardPort sweepstakes can increase sales by up to 200%. Encourage customers to buy your products by offering them the chance to win big. Sweepstakes are ideal for brands seeking to introduce new items and boost trial numbers. Nothing beats sweepstakes to get users to buy your products.
The Impact of Loyalty Programs: Pros and Cons
Loyalty programs are designed to reward your most valuable customers. Businesses choose to implement a rewards program to retain current customers and convert new buyers into loyal customers. Traditionally, many businesses use rewards programs such as rebate programs, cashback, earning points, and others to incentivize customers to make purchases.
What is a Loyalty Program?
The most basic definition of a loyalty program is that converting customers into brand loyalists necessitates a repeatable process that incentivizes them to continue purchasing from you. Loyalty membership is essentially the process of rewarding customers for their frequent or ongoing engagement with your brand through structured marketing strategies.
They receive more rewards as they spend more. Customers will feel good about purchasing from you if you put customer preferences at the heart of your marketing efforts and execute a program well, giving your business a competitive edge over your competitors.
Why Are Loyalty Programs Necessary?
Loyalty programs were created when businesses realized that the competitive advantage, they once had due to product differentiation was no longer valid due to the proliferation of similar looking and “me too” products. Having loyal customers became more important and difficult in such an environment.
Advantages of Loyalty Programs
Loyalty programs became popular because they offered businesses a way to maximize their customers’ lifetime value, along with the following advantages:
1. Retention of Customers
A loyalty program’s primary goal is to retain customers by rewarding them for repeat purchase behavior. According to Khan and Khan, “loyalty exists when a person regularly patronizes a specific (store or non-store) that he or she knows, likes, and trusts.” In short, a customer loyalty program is a tool for retaining customers by providing them with a compelling reason to return to the company and establishing habits.
Many studies have been conducted to explain the relationship between loyalty programs and retention rates. According to one European study, customers’ relationship perception of a loyalty program offered by a Dutch financial services company explained about 10% of the total variation in customer retention and customer share.
Customer retention strategies have a well-established direct impact on the bottom line of a business. A company with a 60% customer retention rate loses three to four times as many customers as a company with an 80% retention rate.
2. Customer Information and Consumer Trends
When a customer registers for a loyalty program, their information is saved in the company’s database. Companies can use this data to segment their omnichannel, offline, and e-commerce customers, profile their best customers and tailor their offerings to specific groups of consumers.
Because loyalty program data provide a comprehensive picture of customer behavior, purchasing habits, and preferences, the company can use it to improve inventory management, pricing, and promotional planning. This information also allows marketers to assess the effectiveness of special promotions based on additional purchases, the use of additional channels, or a shorter time between purchases.
3. Increased Cart Value
Data collected by a company can be used to cross-sell and up-sell. It can provide extended warranties after a purchase, recommend accessories that complement the purchased item, and provide discounts on related purchases. Furthermore, the loyalty program can provide relief by increasing demand during slow seasons.
The best example is an airline mileage program that is only available on certain flights. Because there are less wastage, such targeted promotions are more likely to produce satisfactory results.
4. Getting Rid of Unprofitable Customers
One of the less frequently mentioned benefits of loyalty cards and programs is that they allow businesses to shed excess weight. A well-designed loyalty program enables businesses to segment their customers and identify profitable and unprofitable customers. It assists them in dropping customers who only buy discounted lines and avoid the premium range regularly. These customer profiles may end up costing more than they generate.
5. Improved Customer Communication
A loyalty program provides a direct line of communication with customers, making interactions much easier. Aside from promoting sales and announcing new products/services, a useful item on this list of the benefits and drawbacks of loyalty programs is that they facilitate recalls when necessary. This is possible due to the recalled items’ purchase date and barcode. Because it is based on the consumer’s actual purchase of the affected good, the recall notice gains weight and significance. In comparison to a store sign or newspaper notice, this email-borne recall notice has a high chance of being read by the public.
Disadvantages of Loyalty Programs
Loyalty programs have not always worked the way businesses aimed them to. Here are a few disadvantages you should hedge against while using a loyalty program.
1. Loyalty Behavior Is Difficult to Assess
It is extremely difficult for the loyalty framework to break free from the transactional spirit. A frequent buyer appears to be a loyal customer often. However, this may not be the case, as he may be purchasing from the company simply because it is convenient for him. Or he may be purchased solely for the benefits provided by the loyalty program in the form of rewards. As a result, loyalty, which is essentially an emotion, may not be measured by the loyalty program.
2. Keeping the Bottom Line in Check
The financial aspect of loyalty programs is the most stressful of all the benefits and drawbacks. Discounts, in any form, are detrimental to a company’s bottom line. A typical $50 sale transaction has a cost of $40 and a profit of $10. A 5% loyalty discount—$5 off a $50 sale—reduces profits by 50%. The costs remain constant, but instead of earning $10 on each sale, the profit is reduced to $5. What appears to be a minor discount (in this case, 5%) can have a significant impact on profits.
The key to overcoming this financial setback is to ensure that your loyalty program is reasonably priced and effective. If the program is truly increasing repeat purchases and average order value, you should have no trouble recouping your losses if your discounts are balanced.
3. Saturation of the Market
Loyalty programs, like products, are ubiquitous and may appear identical. They are all similar in terms of membership requirements, purchase requirements, and benefits. However, in today’s ultra-competitive world, businesses are unable to back out of their loyalty program commitments due to the fear of lost sales.
With the average household participating in over nine reward programs, businesses must develop programs that are distinct and distinguishable. However, creating a loyalty program based on a sustainable competitive advantage that cannot be replicated is extremely difficult. However, advocate loyalty programs are a good way to stand out because you can reward customers for doing things that are unique to your audience.
4. Profitability Variability
Based on past customer behavior, loyalty programs hope to increase repurchases. However, their incomes, needs, and lifestyles change over time. Naturally, their purchasing habits shift. People prefer to avoid the traditional loyalty program. According to a Maritz poll, four out of every ten loyalty program participants left at least one program. That is why some experts are understandably skeptical of loyalty measures such as RFM (Recency, Frequency, and Monetary Value). RFM is a useful tool for measuring customer loyalty, but it is far from perfect.
5. Loyalty Data Limitations
Because loyalty data excludes purchases from other brands and stores, it provides a skewed picture of consumers’ overall purchasing behavior. Data from customer panels may also be more representative than data from loyalty card members. Furthermore, customers may be offended if they are uncomfortable sharing sensitive information to receive the program’s incentives.
However, this point on the list of the benefits and drawbacks of loyalty programs can be addressed by incentivizing customers to share their other purchase data by rewarding them for submitting third-party receipts to you. You can gather this information to reward them for their purchases of your goods while also processing the receipts for additional information, whether they do so by scanning physical receipts or forwarding e-receipts.
Conclusion
Nobody can deny the value of loyal customers. The point of contention is the loyalty program’s ability to generate more loyal customers. This is because not all loyalty programs are successful. Some have failed due to their undifferentiated appeal, while others have failed due to poor implementation. Some have also failed because of incorrect value propositions.
Understanding the benefits and drawbacks of loyalty programs will aid in avoiding such errors.
Role of Rewards in Driving “Value Sharing”
“I do not love rewards!”, said nobody. Rewards are always exciting and free vouchers always boost the motivation of the customers. Also, customer loyalty programs are the best way to drive value sharing in the business either by helping in buying decisions or keeping employees motivated to achieve a certain goal. The end goal of every business has to be to achieve the buyer trust and a brand name of its own which only can happen with the help of high sales and motivated employees. Both the driving forces can be kept happy with free goodies that come as a reward to them. Value Sharing is an extensive subject that includes not only building on buying decisions but also include other intangible good a customer can do to a brand in terms of helping in word of mouth or act as a repeat customer. In short, a reward will make a customer happy and a happy customer will help in adding to the value share for the business.
Here are certain points to help you understand the role of rewards in driving Value Sharing.
Satisfied Customer Base
Buying and purchasing is a daily activity a customer does but when the target audience shops he adds on to the credibility of the brand as a whole. On top of the quality products you promise, if the customer also gets a good discount or a buy one get one free option it will help in saving more and bring a purchase satisfaction to your customers. This will help you in retaining more customers.
Win Customer Trust
Winning a customer is one thing and retaining the existing customers is another. Most of the times major brands also indulge in a plan to do a lucky draw and only one winner wins which in fact makes a lot of people disappointed and sad who do not win the draw resulting in a reduction in sales and unhappy buyers. Winning customer trust is important.
Add More Customers
loyalty reward management programs in terms of discounts and sales often add on more footfall in your store or website and help in adding more customers to your database. Discounts and other rewards act as a driving force for the customers to invest more money in you than your competitor.
All in all, rewards are a win-win for both the buyers and the sellers where they gain in terms of a customer or retaining customer and the customer gets brands at reasonable prices. For more end to end reward program solutions, one can visit rewardport.in. Through research and collective expertise, we guide our clients with choices to help them motivate their people. Be its sales force, channel partners or employees. We motivate to enable people to do things differently, by developing their strengths, knowledge, and confidence. They care and focus to build a relationship with people… Forever.
A Guide to the Ultimate Loyalty Program
What is a customer loyalty program? It is a full-fledged marketing plan to retain a brand’s loyal customer base. A company which uses customer loyalty programs benefits more at any point of time than a company which doesn’t use it. Moreover, it is likely to cost a brand more to acquire a new customer than it does to retain an existing one.
Did you know? Your existing customers spend about 70% more than the new customers.
It is time you incorporate success-driven customer loyalty programs in your brand’s marketing plan.
Today we have an impressive list of technologies to get customer attention and direct them in buying a product or service. Nowadays, customer loyalty programs have become increasingly important and gain a bigger potential to retain existing customers. Chances are some of them become active members.
Customer loyalty programs should be included in all companies that value its buyer base. Buyers who stay true and loyal to the brand help spread the word and encourage their families, friends and others to know more about the brand. This, in turn, increases free referrals.
If you are running a company and looking to maximize your customer base, the following inputs will make the process smoother.
How to make a customer stay with your brand?
- Analyze your target audience with their expectations and tastes. Then, work on a strategy that helps you achieve your customer acquisition goal
- It is important to maintain consistency in your product quality while you try different ways to promote the same
- Whenever and wherever it is required, attend to your customer feedback and reviews
- Always keep a tab on your sales performance and listen to what your buyer says
- Your loyalty program should be designed in a way that gives the maximum value to your customers
A detailed and customized loyalty program will make your buyers feel valued and important for the business that you do. This excites them to be a part of your brand today and in the future. Appreciate your customers by including fun and surprise elements whenever they make a purchase.
By learning what they like and see in your product//service, you will be in a better position to evaluate your plan and make necessary adjustments which will then increase their brand loyalty. They would love coming back to you. Use the present opportunity to learn about your customer touch points. How often do you meet your customers to interact with them? Learn more ways to improve your customer loyalty both online and offline. Research about the key metrics that help determine your customer value. Chart out plans for reward points and recognition. Find out different methods to motivate them. These will guide you to design the ultimate customer loyalty program for your brand’s success.
Avoid these 5 common mistakes in 2019 if you want to run a successful loyalty program
2019 has just arrived and every brand or organization is already prepped up to create and build loyalty programs that are not just interesting but engaging and utilitarian in nature. Times have changed and are likely to keep changing at a fast pace and all you need to do as a brand is to get with it! Old-school ways have ought to go and newer ways and strategies must be embraced to cater to the evolved set of customers you have.
Here are the top 5 common mistakes that you must avoid if you wish to run a very successful loyalty program:
1. Cut the complications
2019 should be all about being apt and adept. The basic rule to this is to do away with any kind of complicated rules. The simpler, the better. It is one thing to create exciting offers and incentive programs and it’s another to complicate it through multiple tiers and rules. The point is to be straightforward and prominent. The reason you need to keep the complicated rules to the bare minimum is that you want to gain your customer’s attention by offering them valuable loyalty programs and not have them occupied in figuring out or calculating their gains.
For instance, if your loyalty program need points to be converted into monetary value then make the who process simpler by denoting each point to a certain value of money. Eg: 10 points = 10 Rupees
2. Being generous with the validity
This is a must-have condition for any loyalty program at this point in time. If you are looking for customers to reflect their emotions and trust towards your brand for a long time, then it is necessary that you stick to your words; in this case, the rules you assign to the program. People will bestow you with their loyalty if your program offers them a large window of redemption of the loyalty program they have. Even better would be to stake out any form of validity period at all! Shorter periods for the redemption of these incentives or rewards might project your brand as a petty or cheap brand.
3. Don’t bore it
One of the main reasons why a loyalty program is offered in the first place is because you want to create loyal customers out of your target audience. If your loyalty programs offer you the straight-out-of-the-mill type of incentives then you’re clearly not doing great! Boring needs and has to go out. A BOGO offer is acceptable only if your company has five other offers that are sure to knock your customers out of the park. Creating new, interactive and creative ways to get your customer’s attention or loyalty is of utmost importance.
4. Few Amends Only
Take a loyalty program live to the public only if you have complete faith and confidence in it. Should you feel that there are bugs or smaller errors to be amended before going live, it is imperative that you make sure to get it changed prior to making it available to your audience. Frequent changes in your loyalty or incentive program can directly affect the faith of your customers on your products and services. It also tends to distract them easily.
5. One-tier rewards are a No-no
As it is earlier mentioned, it is important to create reward programs that make your customers want to stick with your brand for longer. To initiate such long-term behavior, it is important that you develop loyalty programs that are manifold and offer more in each segment and not be static in any way. Multi-tiered reward systems engage your customers and encourage them subtly to get back to you in the hopes of getting onto the next tier of the program.
With such simple yet significant changes, you are sure to make the most of 2019 with your loyalty programs. Remember to gauge your audience at all times and work around their expectations to reduce discouraged behaviour from your customers. If you can let go of these 5 major mistakes while structuring your loyalty programs, then your program is set to be a hit!
How to Prepare for a Successful Loyalty Program This Festive Season?
Once the festive season arrives, every company tries to amp up their game especially the commercial consumer brands. Each brand aims for higher engagement with their audience and customers in any form and medium. They plan events and programs that help in promoting their brand or products to their target group which in turn increase sales of their product. Festivities also mark a stark rise in the social media pages or websites of different companies which are often carried out with the end goal of reaching out to more favourable customers.
Most of the companies focus on collaborating with other brands in order to offer a combination of rewards and festive gifts that may be further booked in bulk by major corporates for festive gifting as well as in the form of loyalty programs that can be redeemed as per the receiver’s whim. Many corporate companies tie up with F&B companies to avail sweetmeats and decorative gifting options. Although corporate gifting is a major trend amongst big companies, it is also very common for them to offer their employees with attractive vouchers, gift cards and loyalty program offers that provide them with an opportunity to redeem them according to their preferred time and avail items that meet their requirements.
Below mentioned are a few ways in which companies can create a successful loyalty program for the festive season:
1. Cashback is in
It’s a natural psychology of people to get attracted to offers that allow them to get a percentage of their money back in the form of hard cash or even virtual money; that’s precisely how one can cash onto a large section of the working class people. It allows them to shop for a certain amount and receive a fraction of their expenditure in the form of cashback. Tieing up with clothing brands or restaurants that offer a cashback on purchase from them can prove to be a healthy collaboration for both the employer and the employee.
2. Discount Vouchers & Coupons
Everyone is in a festive mood when any of the big festivals arrive and shopping for their desired clothes, accessories and appliances become a must for many, which is particularly when a company must collaborate with electronic companies, clothing brands, etc as it is highly likely to pull crowd once they see a discount on their favourite item of choice! Coupons also work in a similar way as they help people get a discounted price when they apply a specific coupon applicable to their purchase. Rewarding employees with vouchers and coupons that enable customers to avail a certain discount based on the net purchase amount usually works great and even greater during the festive season!
3. Freebies & combos
Having a loyalty program that allows you to choose from a variety of products and then getting a free product along with it makes people extremely happy and allows the retailers to sell more items at a fairly good rate. Freebies also encourage people to share good reviews about their shopping experience and also helps in getting free PR from their customers! This can work particularly well if teamed up with restaurants as people are highly likely to eat out during that time and free meals or happy hours, etc. work great during this period.
4. E-commerce
The world is now run online and thus, it is imperative to be conscious and strategic in placing yourself with the right type of E-commerce website as it is likely to fetch great returns if done the right way. Companies can collaborate and offer their employees codes or referral links to avail a certain product or reward on their partner E-commerce website, which allows the employees to shop straight at their homes or desks without the hassle of travelling to brick and mortar shops to purchase festive articles. This technique projects the company associating with them in a good light along with their own brand which was chosen as their partners. It’s a win-win situation, most of the times!
Loyalty programs can be a great way to encourage people to buy from a particular brand or channel and it also helps in trust building factor or employees towards their company itself. This occurs due to the choice of loyalty program made and the offers made are generally very attractive. The festive season, in general, is a great time to pair up loyalty programs as they make everyone feel like they are getting something extra and are rewarded for the same!
How to make your Loyalty program addictive
Today Loyalty programs form a major component of engagement with all the stakeholders in business. Their significance is of prime in retaining existing customers and thus reducing higher cost inputs. Similarly, improving the B2B partner relations or motivating employees is crucial and is made easy with Loyalty programs.
B2C
Giving Rewards while empowering the customers
For any business, empowering customers helps developing confidence in them about the business. Customer should be given a platform to review the products/services. This should be achieved actively by offering loyalty points to the customer for a single review that they provide for the product or service received. This eases feedback taking and incentivizes the customers to review.
Special occasion rewards
The loyalty programs can be offered at special occasions for the existing group of customers with higher discounts or amplified rewards than on the regular days. For instance, a gift card and 10% cash-back or an online shopping coupon & 100$ cash-back on minimum purchases. Reminders go a long way in keeping the customers hooked especially on the special events in their life such as birthdays or anniversaries
Bundled offerings
Businesses can bundle their products into a packaged offerings to the customers such as Amazon Prime. It offers unlimited free delivery of products coupled with free music & movie streaming on Prime Music and Prime Video respectively and numerous flash deals.
B2B
Successful businesses today rely on cordial relations with the existing trade partners/ clients. It takes a great amount of effort in building the relation and trust and even greater to maintain it. The partner loyalty program ensures that the partners are engaged in work with the businesses for long run. The best strategy to develop client relations through loyalty programs is to start organising business conferences, meet-ups or other similar events and offering VIP passes.
Once the ground of trust is laid along the way, businesses can offer their partner hotel bookings & trips to various destinations for profits realized together, as part of the Loyalty program.
Employees
Digital endorsement
This programme will make an employee feel a pat on his back by way of being endorsed online. For every achievement the employee can be given digital pat on the back. This means the employee is rewarded by the addition of credit points into his account which can be redeemed later on and any product worth those points can be obtained.
Ultimately, all stakeholders desire to get tangible rewards by getting a free service/product or a cash-back. Whether rewards are given digitally or by manual methods, the loyalty programs dispense interface has to be simple and comprehensible such as the one created by Sephora beauty brand for their customers. And lastly the terms and conditions should be part of the loyalty program which could be in the form of FAQs to make it self-explanatory for the customers.
5 Trends to Influence Next-Gen Loyalty Programs
Loyalty programs have become the part and parcel of almost every company or brand. Engaging customers has become all the more difficult at this point in time and introducing innovative and exciting strategies to engage and bring more consumers to purchase products from partnered brands has become crucial. The tried and tested methods of gaining attention of target audiences has now shifted to a different tangent hence, learning about the new trends that are influencing loyalty programs is highly recommended. On looking deeper into this subject, these 5 trends mentioned below seem to be the most influential strategies in the realm of loyalty programs.
User-Friendly Features
There are several kinds of philosophies in terms of redemption of rewards. Some reward loyalty programs by different hospitality companies are extremely straightforward, as they say on their schemes are clearly slated on website like“Accumulate 14 nights, get 1 night’s stay free.” This is to ensure that customers are redeeming their rewards instead of expiring rewards, blackout dates and continuous degradation of the value of the reward points assigned by the loyalty programs, that may discourage the customers.
Premium Program
Nowadays, we get to see a plethora of premium reward loyalty programs. The main reason why premium loyalty programs are becoming extensively popular is because the members want the advantages and benefits that a premium program offers and are willing to pay for it as well. In a recent consumer study from the former year, 62% of the subjects admitted that they would consider joining a reward loyalty programthat was fee-based if the provider or retailer was of their choice.
Next-Gen Rewards
Introducing rewards that have the ability or capacity to evolve into another offer or reward or could be combined with other offers, would make reward loyalty programs much more appealing and attractive to existing and new customers. Allowing a guest to trade their offer with something that suits their requirements and preference can definitely boost a loyalty program. The concept of combining of unused rewards into a bigger and more appealing reward can be a great hit amongst loyalty program consumers.
Chatbot and AI
Though chatbots or artificial intelligence cannot technically replace an actual human interaction, chatbots seem to be the most effective medium when a customer is trying to resolve common trivial issues. Chatbots reduce the need for customers to visit the website or store, etc making it faster and more efficient due to the increased chances of reduced human errors.
Predictive Personalization
The ever-growing consumer industry has been growing and changing their strategies for years. It has tried to break through from a tier-based system to a more personalized loyalty program that caters to specific sections of the target audience. In this new archetype, you would receive a reward based on your previous purchases or will be tailored to your specific needs. One loyalty program member might wish for an exclusive event entry and another might require the best suite with the fastest wifi and giving a reward based on their personal requirements would gain their attention more than generic mass-planned loyalty programs.
Trends are often a fast-moving phenomenon and is driven by various factors and the aforementioned are the biggest trends that are likely to reign in the world of reward loyalty program. They are an estimated vision of how the trends would influence the Next-Gen loyalty programs.
Importance of Green Loyalty Card Schemes for a Better Living
We all agree to the fact that sustainable living leads to a better environment. Our global future entirely revolves around how we use our natural resources. Usage of solar power, eating locally grown foods, consuming less fuel are some of the few things that can lead to a sustainable future. To encourage this, loyalty card companies also have come up with various schemes that reward their customers to shop for more goods and services that are considered environment-friendly.
There is nothing better than an incentive plan that rewards its customers for a better future. Green card loyalty card schemes are basically an ethical way of rewarding people for a sustainable living. These schemes encourage people to purchase and use services that are more eco-friendly that include travelling by sustainable moods of transportation, consumption of locally grown fruits and vegetables, usage of solar panels and lightning etc.
A loyalty program company implements the same concept of loyalty schemes into green card loyalty programme by purchasing which customers can collect reward points, and spend them with the partnering companies to purchase environment-friendly goods and services. There are various educational programmes and campaigns on sustainable living but the question is what’s in there for the customers to follow it. The answer is awareness and it acts as a motivational factor for consumers to adapt sustainable living.
After the implementation of these programmes, consumers are slowly inclining towards ethical consumption of goods and services, the growth is slow but constant. The loyalty programme companies choose their partners who are basically manufacturers of sustainable goods and services who also have attractive ways to present them in front of their customers.
The schemes have become popular in retail, travel industry and consumers have started using more organic products and services than artificial counterparts. For example, more and more people are purchasing solar panels, solar heaters, solar cookers, solar chargers etc. to use more of sunlight generated electricity.
This initiative taken by the Loyalty programme companies also has a huge contributing factor in achieving a nation’s financial goals since sustainable living helps saving up natural resources. And thus it helps build a stronger economy for the nation. There is a collective benefit in making greener living choices. The change Is slow but it’s progressive leads to a better future for sure.
How IoT Will Influence Customer Loyalty Programs in Future!
One of the important sources of competitive advantages nowadays from a service provider point of view is customer loyalty. Many companies are investing in rewards and incentive programs to encourage customer loyalty. But given the ever-increasing competition, keeping customers loyal to your brand is no easy task. So how do brands build trust, drive engagement and create value for their most prized customers in today’s fast-paced world?
The Internet of Things (IoT) can help!
Today there are a multitude of objects and devices connected to the Internet of Things (IoT). The number of connected devices is expected to exceed 40 billion by 2024. Considering the proven value of Internet and such promising growth trends, it only makes sense to ride the wave of opportunities that the IoT will provide.
Let’s see how it works!
Innovate using IoT insights
Creating innovative experiences that remain true to the brand is one way to engage customers. We talk about virtual reality changing the landscape of customer engagement. Let’s see how it works. Virtual reality enables customers to ‘try before they buy’ products online. Now if brands tie this into their loyalty program, what will happen? Their loyal customers will have a richer experience when shopping with the brand, which will certainly move the graph upwards.
Create a new level of personalization
Internet technology can dramatically increase the ability of firms to serve and develop intimate relationships with their customers. Using analytics, brands can create an entirely customized rewards program based on individual customer preferences, history, location and more. Automated emails related to customer actions are a great way to do that.
Gain the necessary competitive advantage
In a rapidly changing competitive environment, skillful use of technology can really help you establish a niche for yourself. Let’s use the seemingly simple mobile as an example. Your customers are connected to their phones, so if you really want to differentiate yourself, use your loyalty program to go where they go most often. An example of this is Sephora’s targeting of those who use their beauty insider app. Their beauty insider app allows for a seamless omni-channel experience where one can browse online, check store selection and pick up in store, all while collecting points.
A word of caution!
The IoT experience is the most exciting technology of this decade. The use of IoT has given businesses the NEW opportunities to interact and engage with customers, as well as introduce never before realized revenue streams. Be mindful, however, of customer privacy. Remember, with IoT we are also dealing with huge amounts of personally identifiable information. IoT is all about data and insight. We must, therefore, ensure that effective consumer privacy protections are in place to protect individuals.
Above said and done, we believe that IoT has the power to change the face of loyalty programs. Given the growing use and acceptance, the loyalty program of the future will offer more relevant, personal and rewarding brand experiences.