Going the Distance: Four Ways to Build a Better Customer Loyalty Program for Your Brand

It’s easy enough for a customer to join your loyalty program, especially when you’re offering an incentive such as discounts. All your customer has to do is give out some basic information, and voila! They’re in the fold, a brand new loyalty member with your company. From there, it’s happily ever after. You offer the perks; they stand solidly by you, bringing you their continued business. Simple. Or is it? In reality, just how many of those customers are act ively participating in your loyalty program? Do you know? Sure, loyalty program memberships are on the rise according to market research company eMarketer, having jumped 25 percent in the space of just two years. However, that figure may be a bit misleading. The truth is that, while loyalty program sign-ups may be more numerous, active participation in such programs is actually in decline. At the time of the study, the average US household had memberships in 29 loyalty programs; yet consumers were only active in 12 of those. That’s just 41 percent. And even that meager figure represents a drop of 2 percentage points per year over each of the preceding four years, according to a study by loyalty-marketing research company COLLOQUY.

When discounts just aren’t enough

So what’s a brand to do? How can you make your loyalty program worth your customer’s while—as well as your own? After all, gaining a new loyalty member doesn’t mean much if your customer isn’t actively participating in your program. Consider this: Does your customer loyalty program offer members anything different from what your competitors are offering? Chances are your program includes discounts. That’s a given. And what customer doesn’t appreciate a good discount? But when every other company out there is providing this staple benefit in comparable amounts, it becomes less and less likely that customers will remain loyal to any one particular brand. Frankly, it’s all too easy for customers to get lost in a sea of loyalty member discounts. They’re everywhere. In fact, just under half of internet users perceive that all rewards programs are alike, according to a 2015 eMarketer survey. The key to success, then, is to differentiate your business from the crowd. If you can offer your customers something unique and valuable beyond the usual discount, chances are they’ll be more likely to stick with your brand. Here’s some inspiration from companies who get it.

Virgin: Reward more purchases with more benefits.

That’s not to say you need to get rid of discounts entirely. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Customers still love a good discount. The goal is to be creative in terms of the loyalty perks you offer. Take the Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, for example. As part of its loyalty program, the airline allows members to earn miles and tier points. Members are inducted at the Club Red tier, from which they can move up to Club Silver and then Club Gold. Here, it’s not just a discount. It’s status. And people respond to feeling important, elite. Still, even where the rewards themselves are concerned, Virgin is motivating loyalty customers with some pretty attractive offers. At the Club Red tier, members earn flight miles and receive discounts on rental cars, airport parking, hotels and holiday flights. But as members rise in tiers, they get even more. At the Club Silver tier, members earn 50 percent more points on flights, access to expedited check-in, and priority standby seating. And once they reach the top, Club Gold members receive double miles, priority boarding and access to exclusive clubhouses where they can get a drink or a massage before their flight. Now that’s some serious incentive to keep coming back for more. Discounts are still part of the equation – but they are designed with innovation and personal value in mind, elevating them to more than just savings.

Amazon Prime: Pay upfront and become a VIP.

What if your customers only had to pay a one-time upfront fee to get a year’s worth of substantial benefits? It may not sound like the smartest business idea at first glance. But take a closer look. Amazon Prime users pay a nominal $99 a year to gain free, two-day shipping on millions of products with no minimum purchase. And that’s just one benefit of going Prime. It’s true that Amazon loses $1-2 billion a year on Prime. This comes as no surprise given the incredible value the program offers. But get this: Amazon makes up for its losses in markedly higher transaction frequency. Specifically, Prime members spend an average of $1,500 a year on Amazon.com, compared with $625 spent by non-Prime users, a ccording to a 2015 report from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners.

Patagonia: Cater to customer values.

Sometimes, the draw for consumers isn’t saving money or getting a great deal. The eco-friendly outdoor clothing company Patagonia figured this out back in 2011, when it partnered with eBay to launch its Common Threads Initiative: a program that allows customers to resell their used Patagonia clothing via the company’s website. Why is this program important to customers? And how does it benefit Patagonia? The company’s brand embraces environmental and social responsibility, so it was only fitting that they create a platform for essentially recycling old clothing rather than merely throwing it away. The Common Threads Initiative helps Patagonia build a memorable brand and fierce loyalty by offering its customers a cause that aligns with deep personal values. OK, so their customers get to make a little money, too. Everybody wins.

American Airlines: Gamify your loyalty program.

If you’re going to offer your customers a loyalty program, why not make it f un? After all, engagement is key to building a strong relationship with your customer. And what better way to achieve that goal than making a game of it. American Airlines had this very thing in mind when it created its AAdvantage Passport Challenge following its merger with USAirways. The goal: find a new way to engage customers as big changes were underway. Using a custom Facebook application, American Airlines created a virtual passport to increase brand awareness while offering members a chance to earn bonus points. Customers earned these rewards through a variety of game-like activities, from answering trivia questions to tracking travel through a personalized dashboard. In the end, participants earned more than 70 percent more stamps than expected – and the airline saw a ROI of more than 500 percent. The takeaway: people like games.

Stand out from the crowd.

Your approach to your customer loyalty program should align with your overall marketing approach. Effective branding is about standing out, not blending it. Being memorable is key. To this end, keep in mind that loyalty programs are no longer a novelty. That means that yesterday’s strategies won’t work moving forward, so look for ways to rise above the noise, setting yourself apart from the cloying drone of countless other cookie-cutter programs.

Ten Secrets to Must-Read Copy

If you’re counting on your website to help you grow your business (as well you should be), then you must accomplish three goals:

• You must get them there. That’s traffic building disciplines such as SEO and extending your content to places beyond your own website.
• You must engage them. That’s great design and user interface.
• You must persuade them to stay and, ultimately, to buy. That’s where razor-sharp content comes in.

The myth of web copy

The often-used argument, "no one reads anything" is true, but it’s only half the story.

The fact of the matter is that no one reads anything that doesn’t hold their interest or isn't a pleasure to read.

You have only seconds to make the case for visitors to stay on your site and give you their time and attention. Overcoming the burden of proof that your content is interesting and relevant is a formidable challenge but one that can be conquered, if you know the tricks of the trade.

Here are the 10 secrets to writing copy that demands to be read:

1. Start strong.

Your headings are your first make-or-break point in determining whether a reader will continue to delve deeper into your site or give up and look elsewhere to find what they need. They must grab attention and make the case that what follows is relevant to their interests.

In this way, your copy should flow like runners in a relay race. A great headline will motivate your readers to continue to the first sentence below. A strong first sentence will keep them hooked as they move to the second sentence and so on.

You must start strong and then maintain sharp, focused writing throughout to lead readers inch-by-inch down the page.

2. Break it up.

If you have only one heading on a page, you have only one opportunity to sell your content to the reader.

Don’t put all your eggs in that basket. Instead, divide your copy into sections by topic and cap them off with subheads. In doing so, you create multiple chances to grab the reader’s attention as they scan the page looking for information that is relevant and interesting.

Each subsection should have a main idea and a distinct purpose. Breaking up your text into bite-sized bits is not a band-aid for lazy writing that doesn’t get right to the point.

Prioritize and make your most important points first to minimize your chances of losing the reader before they reach your key sales message.

3. Keep it short, sweet and scannable.

No matter who your target reader is, you can be sure of one fact: their time is a precious  and limited resource. You’ll never have more than a minute to show the goods, make your point, build your case or speak your mind.

The tendency of readers on the Web is to scan down the page to identify interesting information or answers to their questions.

They aren’t likely to read more than a few sentences at a time, so make sure your key points are easily identifiable. Use call outs and sidebars to say, “Hey, you, look at this!”

Bullet points are your friends. So are periods. Short, concise sentences are easier to process while scanning.

Forget what you learned in school about paragraph structure. If a paragraph needs to be one sentence, so be it. It’s better to make sure your most important information doesn’t get overlooked than to please your sixth grade grammar teacher.

4. Choose your words carefully.

Naturally, you have great passion for what you do, and you want to share as much information as possible about your product or service with anyone who will listen.

Unfortunately, in today's culture of the Web, you just don't have that luxury.

Every word on the page ticks down the clock on the window of opportunity for you to convert a visitor to a customer.

Channel your enthusiasm for your business into making sure that your content is concise yet powerful. One fantastic sentence that hits the bullseye will serve you better than a mediocre, rambling paragraph any day of the week.

Challenge yourself to pare your text down to only what's absolutely essential. Be ruthless in writing and rewriting to ensure that there are no wasted words.

Edit, edit, edit. And when you think you are done, edit again.

5. Don’t forget to qualify and quantify.

Brevity is not a license to write in sweeping generalities. Broad statements that aren’t supported with facts or evidence immediately raise red flags of mistrust for readers.

It’s important to be specific. Don’t write excessively flowery prose like you’re describing menu items at a restaurant. Do provide meaningful details.

Statistics and customer testimonials are great assets that add credibility to your key sales messages without wasting words.

6. Write like a human.

When writing for your website, don’t turn into a keyword-spewing robot, and don’t stuff your copy full of jargon and big words to make yourself sound like an expert.

Write like you would naturally talk so that you come across as a real person and not a product brochure from the 1950s. Allow your personality to shine through. It’s better to err on the side of informality than to alienate readers with stiff, lifeless writing.

Don’t think about addressing an audience. Instead, approach your writing as if you were having a conversation with one person. What would you say if they were standing in front of you?

7. Know your audience

Knowing your audience is key to knowing what to leave in and what to leave out. You don’t have to start at A if your readers are already at K.

We’re not just talking demographics here. You must think about the typical person who would land on your website, their level of sophistication with the subject matter and where they are in their decision-making process.

Is the type of product or service you provide something that is already familiar to them? If so, skip the basics. They already know they need what you have to offer, so get down to the business of demonstrating why yours is superior to the other guys’.

Are you bringing something new to the market? Then you’ll need to take a step back and educate your readers about your product (no rambling, please!) as well as why they should trust you.

8. Focus on the reader.

Good writing is not about telling readers what you want them to know.

It’s definitely not about stroking your own ego.

It’s about answering the questions that are present in your reader’s mind:

• Will this solve my problem?
• Will this save me time?
• Will this save me money?
• Is this company trustworthy?
• What if I’m not happy with the product or service I receive?

As you address these concerns, think less about features and more about benefits:

• What value will they receive from your product or service?
• What do they already use or possess, and why is yours better?
• What is not having your product costing them in terms of time, money, efficiency or even happiness and life satisfaction?

Demonstrate how your product or service pays for itself. Anticipate sales objections and address them directly.

9. Don’t answer every question.

You don’t have to introduce yourself, make your pitch and close the sale all on one page. It’s okay to leave them wanting more.

Your job is to start the conversation.

If you can hit the sweet spot between providing just enough information to pique your readers' interest and not putting all your cards on the table at once, you open the door for them to call you, e-mail you or complete a contact form.

10. Bring in the designers.

Wait a minute – I thought this article was about good writing!

Technically, it’s about good content, which goes hand-in-hand with good design.

It’s classic a chicken-or-the-egg scenario. If your writing is Pulitzer-worthy but your design is lackluster, you’ll turn away customers. If your design is beautiful but your writing is dull and disorganized, you’ll send them heading for the hills just as quickly. You can’t have one and not the other.

Design is the packaging for the delivery your content. If a reader lands on a page and sees nothing but a disorganized sea of text, they’ll be immediately overwhelmed, and they won’t even begin to try to make sense of it.

You need the help of a designer to paint your content on the canvas of your site. By augmenting your text with beautiful photography, illustrations, diagrams, infographics and pull-quotes, you’ll create a wonderful reading experience every time.

Need help?

While each of these tactics is simple and straightforward in theory, they are challenging to put into practice.

If you are writing your own content, it’s important to sharpen your writing skills and discipline yourself to keep your text brief but powerful.

If you’re not confident that you’re up to the task, don’t hesitate to call in the professionals. Fame Foundry’s copywriters are masters of the art form of crafting your sales message so that it is both comprehensive and to the point, while addressing the key motivations and concerns of your readers.

The investment you make up-front in ensuring that your copy is sharp, concise and well-designed is a drop in the bucket compared to the sales opportunities you’ll be guaranteed to lose as a result of dull, disorganized content that sends visitors running to Google to find a more appealing option.

The Unsexy Side of Marketing

These days, everyone wants to build an app. Everyone is publishing their own e-book. Everyone is pinning their hearts out on Pinterest. They all want to be first on the latest, greatest marketing bandwagon with the hottest buzz.

And while these are all valid and effective tactics, that’s no reason to abandon the proven standbys. Sometimes the less glamorous road is the most efficient and effective pathway to reach and connect with your particular target audience.

Let’s take a look at a few of these tried-and-true methods and how you can put them to work to help you reach your business growth goals:

Blogging

A company blog is an excellent way to engage your customers on a personal level and to provide some very relevant information to your target audience. Your target audience will be much more likely to find you if you are writing about topics that interest them. Just be sure to follow these pointers:

• Blog about topics that interest your target audience. You could provide how-to articles, inspirational round-ups, updates of your company, a contest or event you are hosting, etc.
• Blog with consistency. Each post can and should be varied, but they should always reflect the values of the company.
• The blog should be personal and authentic. If it achieves both of these, then the general public and (most importantly) customers will trust your company.
• Always link within the content of each post to one other post on your site. But only do this if it fits within the context of the article. Remember, you always have the "Related Articles" section at the end in which you can point readers to more. A link within your content, however, weighs a bit heavier as far as SEO is concerned.
• Do not forget an RSS feed and newsletter sign-up form. Make these easy to find and any forms short with as little information required as possible.

Another way to use blogging is to write for other blogs that are related to your company but that are not competitors. For instance, a landscaping business could submit guest posts to "green" blogs, home and garden blogs, other landscaping blogs that are not affiliated with another landscaping company, and any other blog that has readers within your target audience description. You will just want to make sure that blogs allow you to place a keyword phrase embedded with your link either in the content of the article or in the "About the Author" section. Not only does guest blogging build up your company as an expert in your field, but it also increases your page rank on search engines.

Facebook and Twitter

Facebook and Twitter aren't the new kids on the block they used to be, but fact is, most of your customers probably still use them day in and day out.

Keep posting on these networks regularly, but make sure that updates are written on an individual basis. Avoiding mass updates will give the perception that your company is relatable and values individuals.

Your updates can be your latest blog post, a countdown to a company event, discounts or coupons, a drawing or contest for a drawing. Do not update about how you are feeling today, rants on the latest political news, your opinion of competitors, or anything else that could annoy or distract your customers from their relationship with your company. Before posting an update, ask yourself if this is something that you as a customer would want to see from a company you love.

Online directories

Add yourself to as many applicable online directories as possible. Online directories increase your popularity on search engines. This means that it is more likely for you to be discovered through general search entries.

Google Maps is not generally considered a directory, but it may be the most important place to get your company listed. If you have a “headquarters,” post its location on Google Maps. Mark it as headquarters. Then, if there are satellite sites, include those as well.

Direct mail marketing

Direct mail does not necessarily mean via the postal service. Direct mail marketing can also mean email. These emails should be as personal as possible, so consider using customers' names in the subject and throughout the content of the email.

For postal mailers, include a flyer or use postcards. Both print mail and emails can contain a mixture of new developments in the company, things to be looking forward to, promotions and coupons, and any other sort of relational news. Try to avoid including too many statistical reports or numbers. These turn people off, and they will promptly throw away your letter or delete your email.

Keep direct mailers short and simple. Here are a few points to consider when planning for a direct mail marketing campaign:

• Postcards are still incredibly effective so long as they’re clean, unique, and have memorable graphics, along with the other important pieces of information below.
• Include just a snatch of information, enough to make them curious.
• Tell them what you want them to do with a strong, actionable call to action (i.e. buttons that say Purchase, phrases such as "Visit our website or scan our QR code to find out more").
• Provide irresistible incentives, such as limited time offers for free items with a purchase, a discount, or a chance to win a drawing for a prize.
• Include a URL, Twitter name, QR code, purchase button, or another source for them to find out more information.
• Be sure that you cater to your recipients. Consider age, race, ethnicity, gender, sex, and religious orientation.

Yellow Pages

Both online and off, the yellow pages is a valuable marketing avenue. If your business relies on both local and online customers, purchase ad space in both your local yellow pages as well as for the online yellow pages. This will not only improve your chances of being found when prospects complete an online search but also when they are looking through the local phone book for businesses who offer your services or products. Just be sure that your ad is large enough to be seen next to other marketing giants in your industry. Also, be sure to advertise yourself as unique. What niche services do you offer that your competitors do not? Are you family owned and operated? Do you give individualized attention to each customer? Creating a unique angle on your ad will make you stand out to your target audience.

Remember that while adapting to new ideas and technologies is essential, it doesn’t necessarily render the old methods invalid. Your job is to find the right combination to reach and resonate with your target market so that you can build your own community of fans and followers. No matter how they come into your circle, their loyalty and their advocacy of your brand is a result that will stand the test of time.