9 Signs Your Loyalty Program Strategy (and Loyalty Software) Need a Makeover
In our top loyalty program traits guide, we talk about everything from goals and design to member experience and technology. So how does your loyalty program strategy measure up? Is it accomplishing what you set out to do? Are both your members and bottom line underwhelmed? It might be time for a refresh of both your program and possibly even your loyalty software.
9 key areas to consider modernizing
Have you recently launched a loyalty program? Are you looking to freshen up an existing program? Know you’re not tapping your program’s full potential? Wherever you’re at, here are 9 key areas you should evaluate to help identify gaps, limitations and opportunities for improvement.
1. Loyalty program strategy
How you approach loyalty within your organization is the foundation of success. Siloed, one-off, marketing-only loyalty initiatives will always miss the mark. Loyalty should be part of your company-wide strategic growth plan.
2. Loyalty program performance
Failure to plan is, well, you know. Do you have clear goals for your loyalty program? Do they align with and support your corporate objectives? If not, how do you know if your loyalty program strategy is moving the needle where you want it to go? Ideally, you should be able to see direct correlations between changes in your member behaviors and incremental revenue.
3. Loyalty program design
There are key questions you need to ask before jumping into designing and launching a loyalty program. Do you know which behaviors you’re trying to influence and where in your member journey you can impact those behaviors? Your loyalty program strategy and design should be based on clearly understanding your customers, their journey, your goals and how you can bring them all together for a win-win.
4. Data
Most brands have a fair amount of data—the key is your ability to analyze, segment and leverage that data. Is there a limit on how many members or how many attributes you can collect? Are you able to create segments based on any combination of attributes? These are key capabilities to deliver the meaningful personalized experiences today’s consumers expect.
5. Loyalty program software
Is your current loyalty software designed to support unlimited growth? How easy and quick is it to re-configure or modify things like segments and offers—or recognize and reward them for a wide range of actions? Having the right technology to power your loyalty program strategy is essential. Loyalty software solutions have come a long way, and today’s SaaS-based platforms are built for growth.
6. Personalization
The more data you have, the more you can personalize your member experiences—and personalization goes beyond just including the customer’s name or offering discounts. Today’s consumers may engage with you online, via mobile, in-store, on social and more. Do you have the ability to push customer data across every touchpoint? This is key to delivering a consistent and meaningful experience no matter where they interact with your brand.
7. Member experience
The customer experience (CX) gap is wider than ever and today their experience is more important than having the best product or service. Every interaction is an opportunity to add value. A member-centric loyalty program strategy, supported by well-equipped loyalty software enables you to know your customers, engage them in meaningful ways and add value beyond transactions. These are all things that lead the way to a better customer experience.
8. Loyalty program value
Points, discounts and dollars off will always have a place in loyalty programs—but today’s consumers want more. Do you continually keep your program fresh by updating features and rewards? Do you leverage tiers to gradually build more value and give members something to strive for? Recognition can be as powerful as rewards. Do you recognize members for specific behaviors or actions? And equally important, do you continually remind members of the value they’ve received through the loyalty program.
9. Relationship-building
Today’s consumers want more than transactional relationships with brands. An effective loyalty program strategy enables you to create emotional bonds by aligning with members on shared values, offering exclusive access or serving up unique experiences. This requires thoughtful review of your member journey and preferences to see where and how you can create magical moments that build lasting relationships.
