Card-Linked Offer Customer Loyalty Program Strategy

Customer loyalty program has become one of the most useful tools in business and marketing. Not only it helps build a loyal customer base but attracts new customers as well. While there are many different forms of customer loyalty program, in this post we will speak in brief about Card-Linked Offer Customer Rewards Program.

Card-Linked Offer loyalty rewards Program is gaining popularity because of its simple structure. In this type of loyalty rewards program the customer’s credit card is converted into a cross-retail customer loyalty card. With this structure there is no need to have a extra loyalty card for customers. Customers use their credit card as the loyalty card and do not have to deal with additional identification or documents.

This type of value program is great from a marketing perspective as well. It allows businesses to track customer purchase behavior and allows them to customize their offers based on purchase pattern.

Customer purchase behavior is a crucial parameter to keep in mind, analyze and track when it comes to customer loyalty programs. No matter what type of loyalty program you decide to implement, a thorough research and understanding of your target audience is a must.

Customer loyalty programs

Customer rewards programs

 

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Customer Rewards Program – Tips From Experts

With increasing popularity of customer reward programs, today’s customers have become habituated to seeing rewards in countless forms. Businesses big and small over the time have realized the value of a well-designed loyalty programme and it has now become a competitive necessity in certain industries. Here’s how to keep your best buyers loyal.

If you have a business which needs a loyalty programme set up then the following tips from customer loyalty experts can be a good place to start.

 

Is it the Right Strategy for You?

First thing to figure out is whether or not it makes sense for your business to start a customer loyalty programme. A business that deals with customers on an occasional basis, such as a repair service or legal services etc may not be able to have enough return customers to put together a loyalty program in place. In such cases instead for loyalty you can reward your clients for referrals.

What Rewards to Offer?

The type of reward to offer will vary from industry to industry. According to experts limiting your rewards program to just discounts is a bad idea. Discounts don’t leave a lasting impact on customers’ memories. A physical prize like a weekend getaway on the other hand does.

Michael Hemsey, president of Kobie Marketing says that you need to figure out which customers are most important for your business and design customer reward programs that cultivates those customers.

Let your Customers know about your loyalty programme:

Experts say companies need to spread the word about rewards by using all sources and channels of communication such as social media, newsletters & website updates.

Keep it Simple for your Customers:

Keep the entire process of earning points, tracking points & exchanging them for rewards as simple as possible. Claiming rewards should be a simple and hassle free process. When the customer is being rewarded, make sure they know about it.

Embrace Social Media:

Almost everyone owns a smart phone and is active on social media. Konsewicz, a strategic consultant for Maritz Loyalty says that the hospitality industry has really embraced social media as means to identify loyal customers. Rewards are offered to loyal ones through FourSquare, the social media platform that lets users check in at locations with their mobile devices.

Study & Use Your Loyalty Data:

Loyalty programs can help you collect important purchasing information on the buying behavior of the customer base that can help effectively plan and design customer loyalty programmes. Chris Cottle, vice president of marketing and products at Allegiance says, the data from rewards programs is a rich gold mine that’s often times untapped. Supermarkets use this information to know which promotional messages to send you. Travel companies use it to know which deals you might be interested in.

Hope these tips from the industry experts were helpful.

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Customer rewards programs
Customer loyalty programme