The current horrendous time of the pandemic has affected everyone. The unemployment rate has increased rapidly in the last few months. Small businesses have been affected more than anticipated. It is time to rebuild your business according to the new normal.
Even your regular customers won't be spending money on your product due to this crucial time. You should make an effective plan to show the customer their values by keeping the requirements under consideration.
What is a Customer Loyalty Program?
A customer loyalty program is a marketing approach embraced by brands to reward their frequent customers. These rewards can be in the form of discounts, free products, reward points, and coupons, etc. It assists brands to encourage their frequent customers to get their regular purchases. A successful customer loyalty program can make a regular customer a brand promoter.
Why do businesses need a customer loyalty program?
A successful customer loyalty program can bring the brand more success and sales. Every small or big business wants its customers to make a purchase consistently. The rewards or offers should be captivating to your customers.
The rewards should hold the customers' benefits, so after receiving the rewards, one will regularly visit your brand. Customer loyalty programs also strengthen the relationship between customers and brands. Engaging offers brings more sales and business.
How to Re-Engage Customers with a Loyalty Program?
Planning a successful customer loyalty program is a big deal. And the pandemic made it more difficult for everyone. Millions of people are unemployed due to coronavirus. So, keeping money as a niche in customer loyalty programs won't be that effective.
Due to the current scenario, it is challenging to get your customers' engagement to purchase. Here are a few ways you can get the engagement of new customers and re-engage your older ones.
1. Keep the Loyalty Program Plain Sailing
Keep the program as simple as it can be. While explaining the offer to your customer, the first 30 seconds are going to do everything. The pitching and plan should be simple and effective, so your customer gets to hang in there within seconds.
Don't plan anything which requires a lot of effort and time. Your customers will think that you want them to visit regularly. Avoid keeping long forms, app downloads, or follow you on social media. Take their contact number and send the rewards on text messages. No customer would like to fill forms and waste their time.
Keep it simple.
2. Effortless Rewards Redemption
Your customer loyalty program should be straightforward. There shouldn't be any hard and fast method for rewards redemption. If you plan something difficult to understand, your customer will lose interest in the reward program.
It is better to provide instant reward redemption, like – a scratch card of 50% instantly after buying something or a cashback after achieving a certain amount of purchase points.
3. Eliminate Reward Points Termination
Eliminating reward expiry is the best strategy you can apply to get customers' engagement during this perplexing time.
A business must bring specific changes in its loyalty program during this new normal. As things are different, you should plan the reward program differently. You can extend the expiry date of rewards redemption to encourage the customer to make a purchase. It will be best if you can eliminate the rewards expiry thoroughly.
During this time, it will be helpful to show empathy and generosity to your customers. Appreciate them for things they make during COVID-19. You can give them huge offers and discounts and show them the care to get more attention.
4. Consider Customer's Privacy
It is essential to keep respect for your customers' privacy. There were many cases of fraud in 2019. Few brands collect the data and spam their customers as a promotion strategy, which can be annoying.
Keep the customers' data safe. You don't need to take their address, family details, or other personal contacts. You can ask their name and contact number. Send rewards messages and make sure to provide them within the time limit.
5. Consider Demography
Dividing your loyalty program according to the demography, will bring you more sales. You can divide offers according to your targeted audience.
Like if a group of women are there, you can offer something feminine, or if you are targeting a corporate company, you can provide offers to their employees.
Wrapping Up
This pandemic has already changed everything. It's time to change your strategy for customer loyalty programs. Sharing personal details, filling long forms, and downloading apps have already gone out of the limelight. Customer attitudes towards these methods have changed before the pandemic.
Make a strategy by keeping the needs of the customer as the center point. This recovery time can be challenging for many businesses. You can treat it as a golden opportunity to get back into the loyalty program game and re-engage your customers.
