Eager to learn more about creating a successful loyalty program?
We drew up a map to help you through the process of creating a successful loyalty program communication plan. Below, we’ll be exploring each step more in-depth.
Go omnichannel!
A successful loyalty program connects with customers on their terms. A massive study by Google and Millward Brown Digital found that 42% of B2B decision-makers use their mobile phone to make a purchasing decision and 49% of B2B researchers us their phone for research while at work. And that was in 2015!
Now imagine what that means for your B2B loyalty program. Do you think a B2B loyalty program in 2019 can be successful without being mobile-ready? A successful loyalty program will give your customers options to connect and take their communication preferences into account. This means email, push notifications, SMS, direct mailers, web content. Providing a connected, omnichannel experience creates program awareness and increases engagement, no matter where your customers are, physically or metaphorically.
According to Salesforce, 72% of B2B marketers are dissatisfied with their ability to engage customers across multiple channels at scale. Luckily, a loyalty program can be a major step in the right direction, in a way that’s scalable and doesn’t require extensive manhours.
Check out how creating an omnichannel customer loyalty experience overhauled this distributor’s e-commerce platform to produce a massive ROI.
Segment your audience.
Successful loyalty program communication depends on your ability to reach the right people with the right message. Even going omnichannel won’t help much if your messaging to participants don’t feel relevant or useful to them. Segmenting your audience by region, organization, department, or participant-type can help you tailor your message to each customer and address specific needs. Moreover, segmentation will help you organize your data and gather insights that can help you refine your incentive marketing to each segment over time.
That’s not even to mention the costs you can save by segmenting your audience and focusing more of your incentive budget on high engagement accounts that are more likely to result in greater ROI.
P.S. While we’re on the topic of being relevant, you can even use loyalty incentives as a source of customer data, to clean up your database, more effectively segment your audience, and improve your personalization. Notice how we’re starting to build a positive feedback loop 😉
Create exciting engagement.
You were probably wondering when we were going to get to the topic of rewards. Of course, a successful loyalty program offers great rewards – whether that’s online, point-based rewards, gift or debit card rewards, or incentive travel. But it’s about more than that.
The process of earning rewards can be almost as fun and engaging as the reward itself. I know that sounds crazy, but imagine if participating in a B2B loyalty program went a little something like this:
- On enrollment, you’re offered the chance to participate in a scratch-off or spin-to-win for added point bonuses (Gamification).
- Accessing your loyalty rewards site is as simple as logging into your customer portal, and a few clicks of your mouse can have you surfing the reward catalog or redeeming for rewards (Integration Services).
- You have the chance to earn rewards for participating in interactive quizzes and trivia, which makes the process of learning more about various products and services more fun and light-hearted (Learn-and-Earn).
- On your customer anniversary or after making a big purchase, you receive a sweet loyalty box with a pair of Apple® AirPods, an Amazon Fires TV Stick, or other popular B2B loyalty rewards.
- Logging onto the reward programs site, you can easily track your goals with a progress bar and get the chance to participate in time-limited promotions or earn bonus points for purchasing a specific product (Performance Tracking).
- You look forward to opening the next fun, creative program email. Or, if you’re away from your computer, you get a convenient push notification that keeps you in the loop (Custom Communication).
Sound pretty fun, right? And all of that happens before even earning a reward! These are the types of brand interactions that differentiate you from the competition and make you more than just another boring commodity supplier. The reward is just the icing on the cake!
Loyalty, Retention, and Growth: The Outcomes of a Successful Loyalty Program
As they say, “’X’ marks the spot!” In this case, that’s loyalty, retention, and growth. By following these three steps – using omnichannel communication, audience segmentation, and creating exciting engagement opps – you’ll be setting yourself up for B2B loyalty program success!
To learn more, whether you’re ready to take the next step or just want to chat about the latest in B2B loyalty, hit us up!
Til next time,
Nichole Gunn
