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.

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iPad – The Good, the Bad and the Possibilities

Apple’s January 27 “latest creation” media event was historical for many reasons – not the least of which was the introduction of the first real tablet. Never before has such anticipation surrounded the launch of single product, and rightfully so. When was the last time you read a book on your laptop? How satisfying is it to surf the Web on your smartphone, even if it is an iPhone? There has long been a gap in the usability of these devices for casual media consumption – a gap that Apple has now bridged with the iPad. As Steve Jobs noted in his keynote address, when developing the iPad, Apple set out to create a new category of devices that would surpass both the laptop and the smartphone in handling key tasks like browsing the Web, sending e-mail, viewing and sharing photographs, watching videos, enjoying music, playing games and reading eBooks. With the iPad, Apple has indeed succeeded in carving out a new category in the mobile device marketplace – one that makes digital content accessible in a posture that has been comfortable and familiar to humans for centuries. As with any first-generation technology, the iPad offers many exciting and novel features, but it is not without its drawbacks. However, these details pale in comparison to what is most significant about the device. By offering a new platform, the iPad promises to revolutionize media as we know it today – from the way we consume it to the way it is created, packaged and marketed – bringing sweeping changes to our culture and a number of industries along the way. Here's Fame Foundry's take on all things iPad:

The Good

• Revolutionary, unhinged tablet computing device in book-holding posture
• Addresses all core functions desirable in a mobile computing device: Web browsing, e-mail, address book, calendar, notes, photos, music, video
• Capability to create and edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations with iWork apps
• Ready to run 140,000 existing apps out of the box
• iBooks available to purchase and read on-demand
• Potential to accelerate the growth of the emerging marketplace of “cloud” products, computing and storage
• Hardware is thin (.5 inches thick), lightweight (1.5 pounds) and elegantly designed
• Full-color screen with multi-touch interface
• Sheds the bulk of input devices
• Bezel allows for comfortable holding without accidental touches
• Excellent battery life
• 30-pin peripheral extension
• Wireless and 3G capable
• Built-in Bluetooth 2.1
• Accessible price point: $499 for 16GB model with no 3G support to $899 for 64GB model with 3G support

The Bad

• No system achieved to allow non-Apple apps to run simultaneously with other apps while balancing responsiveness and battery life
• Needs broader networking capabilities for access to nearby computers
• Presents some challenges in the device’s keyboard interface and standing upright when needed (which can be solved with compatible accessories)
• No camera or capability to video chat – an already established system available even on low-end MacBooks and the MacBook Air
• No GPS device

What Will Change

• This is the beginning of the end of paper. As a handheld device that does more than the Kindle – in full color and with a touch-driven interface, innovative software and well-balanced interface design – the iPad will force print publishers to choose one of two paths: create innovative content systems and monetize or file for bankruptcy.
• You will actually be able to watch video easily and comfortably in your hand and in settings never before feasible with a computer or pocket device. In fact, the experience will even rival a high-definition movie, as holding a 10-inch tablet 14-18 inches away is the same as watching a 96-inch television 10 feet away.
• Casual computing on low-end laptops will diminish. Netbooks will need to redefine themselves or be banished to the same dismal corner of the market as underperforming MP3 players in the portable music category.
• Portable TV and video players will begin to fade into obscurity, and physical media such as DVDs and Blu-ray discs will continue to go the way of VHS tapes and Betamax.
• The Kindle’s price will drop substantially, or the device will cease to exist all together. Maybe both.
• Apple will bridge the interoperability gap between its devices, improving networking and file sharing dramatically. Macs, iPhones, iPads and AppleTV to make a bona fide push toward conquering your desk, your pocket, your lap and your living room.
• The iPad OS will continue to evolve away from its iPhone-like genesis.
• The App Store will see a bona fide split between iPad and iPhone apps.
• iPad apps – and perhaps even the OS – will accommodate more handwriting and drawing functionality. Consider what Newton did 15 years ago with the benefit of today’s advancements in software development.
• Apple declared war on Flash a long time ago, and the iPad’s lack of support for the plug-in is the latest incarnation of this. Expect developers to continue to evolve away from Flash, undermining Adobe’s long-running stranglehold on the Web.
• Gaming will enter a completely new frontier previously untouched by the iPhone platform and traditional computers.
• In the next generation of the iPad, Apple will develop an acceptable multitasking subsystem that balances performance and function and will introduce other hardware features such as a front-facing camera that will finally make the long-awaited video phone a reality. The second generation will also likely come with an even lower price point, boosting demand and furthering the iPad’s infusion into our culture.

Suffice to say, the iPad will sell well and will become firmly ingrained in the day-to-day lives of the masses – as have the iPods and iPhones that came before it. It comes with an already established, robust and broad platform of apps that is unprecedented. It is produced and backed by a company that is renown for ongoing innovation and, as with all its previous devices, will undoubtedly be improving upon the platform. Like it or not, the iPad will become a part of our everyday lives and will change everything. Perhaps not in 2010, but soon after. Below Fame Foundry's agents weigh in with their reactions and predictions for the iPad and its potential as a catalyst for change:

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• The Architect

  The truth is, Apple’s iPad is a tablet – and only a tablet. While it possesses the capabilities of many existing devices, it is not a netbook, nor a personal computer, nor a pocket device. It is, however, what the tablet was supposed to be all along: an easy-to-use, book-sized platform for content and communication, with software and an interface that allow for possibilities never before realized. As such, the true significance of the iPad lies in the long-term impact it will have on our culture. Putting aside all initial criticisms in not living up to the dreams of every power user, early adopter and fanboy, the iPad is unquestionably a game-changer. Imagine everything that currently exists in print at book or tablet size being completely data-driven and interactive. Expect to see your UPS driver carrying it. Expect to see your medical charts on it. Expect an interactive Sports Illustrated to be published with capabilities that are unattainable with current Web standards. Just as assuredly as the iPod and iPhone took three generations to hit their full stride in the marketplace, so will the iPad in revolutionizing content, communication and computing. The iPad’s first phase is now in play.

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• The Craftsman

  Although not the end-all, be-all device I was hoping for, the iPad – along with various other tablet devices – is ushering in a new era of personal computing and media consumption. The possibilities of a device like this are endless. The way people are consuming and interacting with media is changing. Virtually all forms of media will be affected by the move toward a handheld digital format, especially the newspaper and publishing industries. What a device like the iPad does so well is consolidate and present content, replacing volumes of books, magazines, papers and other forms of media. Students can empty out their backpacks and have every required book downloaded to their iPad. I also think we will see a shift from an emphasis on developing for the Web to developing applications. Apps will be the primary way content is delivered in the future. Until now, apps were lacking the right device to truly take off as a mainstream platform, but I think that device has finally arrived. But iPad went beyond media consumption when they redesigned the entire interface for iWork. I was intrigued to see how applications like Pages, Keynote and Numbers will work on a multi-touch, gesture-based device. I think the future of interface design is very exciting.

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• The Author

  The iPad is, first and foremost, a media consumption platform. However, this device is not as revolutionary in and of itself as are the changes it makes possible in the types of media that will be available to be consumed. Hardware developers have long struggled to create an interface that is comfortable for reading or viewing for extended periods of time. Now that Apple has solved this problem, as the public embraces the iPad and it becomes as ubiquitous as iPods and iPhones, we will see the emergence of a new kind of audience with evolving expectations. As demonstrated at the January 27 event, iBooks and the New York Times app are a step in the right direction for handheld digital media. However, given time, artists, writers and developers have unlimited potential to work together in changing the media consumption experience as we know it. Currently, media is segmented by format, vehicle and purpose. Books, newspapers, magazines, radio, television and movies stand alone as distinct entities. However, the iPad presents new possibilities for blurring the lines between these various media types. eBooks can become increasingly interactive, enhanced by images, animation, video and sound to offer more than just digital versions of printed texts. If movies have soundtracks, who is to say books can’t as well? Writers, designers, illustrators, animators and composers will have unprecedented opportunities for creative collaboration. Currently news outlets produce separate content for broadcast or print and for the Web. Even though an online news story might include a video or audio clip to support written text, they are not seamlessly integrated. The iPad makes this possible in ways that will offer a richer, more informative experience. Furthermore, as the iPad and other tablets eventually become the default media consumption device of choice, there will no longer be a need for entertainment to conform to a rigid half- or hour-long format for TV or two-hour movies. Instead, writers and producers will have the freedom to find new and innovative ways to produce entertaining content that is both profitable and better suited to the consumption habits of the end user.

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• The Creator

  As a designer, there’s only one thing that excites me about the iPad, and it’s not the elegant design, the slick interface, the incredible battery life or the low price. What really excites me is the iPad’s single most valuable offering — its potential to revitalize the suffering publishing industry and revolutionize journalism. As I watched the native version of the New York Times demonstrated at Apple’s "newest creation" event, a progressive yet familiar medium was being revealed. Unlike the iPhone, the iPad mimics the size and portability of traditional printed material such as books and magazines. In the example of the New York Times, the design of the page is easy on the eyes and demonstrates how typography and page design can be preserved in digital media. What’s more is there’s good news for advertisers, too. The creative ads we are accustomed to seeing in printed publications can be incorporated into page layouts for the iPad app, eliminating ineffective and obnoxious banner and pop-up ads that plague browser-based versions. Like never before, the iPad makes it possible to combine the best of traditional publishing and journalism with the best of the Web. I don’t believe the iPad is destined to replace our workstations and laptops. Rather, it will become the standard vehicle by which we consume information. It is the new “paper.”

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Let’s Talk Turkey: The Five Most Important Things Visitors Want from Your Website

What do your visitors want from your website?

The answer to this question depends on a number of factors, including the nature of your business, the type of person who typically visits your site and what they hope to accomplish while they’re there. However, there are certain basic needs and expectations that transcend these specific circumstances and are universal to all visitors.

Over the past few months, I’ve conducted an informal survey of clients, coworkers, friends, family and others that I’ve encountered, asking them this one simple question:

“What do you want when you visit a website?”

While there were many different responses to this question, there were five that I heard again and again. Each person I spoke with mentioned at least one of these five, and many cited more than one.

Let’s take a look at these five critical elements that visitors want from your website:

1. Ease of use

Without a doubt, the most common answer I heard was that people want websites to be easy to use, and this makes perfect sense. After all, it’s 2014. We’re all well versed in using the Web to conduct the business of our day-to-day lives. There’s no reason your website should require a learning curve just to get from point A to point B. Yet, far too many sites are guilty of presenting visitors with an experience that’s confusing, frustrating and completely unsatisfying.

The definitive guidebook of usability, Steve Krug’s Don’t Make Me Think, asserts that web applications must explain themselves. When a visitor looks at a web page, the next step should be obvious and intuitive. With the world of options available at their fingertips, visitors have next to no patience when it comes to dealing with sites where there are any sort of obstacles standing in their way. If they can’t figure out where to go and what to do next in as little as three seconds, it could well be a deal breaker that causes them to abandon your site – and by proxy your business – altogether.

Navigation menus that are difficult to use, important content that is buried deep in your site and nearly impossible to find or a design schema that does not provide visitors good visual cues and clear calls-to-action to direct their experience are all pitfalls that must be avoided if you want to ensure that your site meets the acceptable threshold for ease-of-use.

2. Good information architecture

Just as nearly everyone I talked with said they want a site that’s easy to use, many also said that they want information to be easy to find. The key to achieving this is by creating a concise, logical navigation structure. If your site encompasses a large repository of information and content, it’s a good idea to include a search tool that lets your visitors to use keywords to drill down to the information they’re seeking right away rather than hunting and clicking through the site page by page.

There is a long-held myth of website design that claims all content on a site must be able to be reached in no more than two clicks. While that might sound great in theory, in reality, the task of developing an effective navigational structure is rarely that straightforward.

For example, if you had a website with a hundred pages of content, you could theoretically have direct links to each one of those 100 pages right on your home page in order to allow visitors to access all of your content in only one click. Awesome, right? No – not awesome at all. While that massive menu of links might offer one-click access to your site’s entire content catalog, it will also be a confusing, gargantuan mess that provides visitors with little in the way of clear direction.

Remember, visitors to your site are making instinctive decisions in as little as three seconds. They do not want to sift through a laundry list of dozens of links in order to find the one that’s relevant to them. Rather, they want to make easy, logical choices that get them to where they want to go without a lot of guesswork and back-button clicking.

3. Fast load time

Another popular answer I heard in the course of my survey was fast load time. A webpage that takes too long to fully load is major source of frustration for visitors. After all, if they want to make a decision in as little as three seconds, and your site takes seven seconds to load, chances are good that they’re going to choose to navigate away from your site before they ever even see it. Seven seconds may not seem like a long time, but in the instant-gratification-driven world of the Internet, it’s practically an eternity.

If your site is slow to load for visitors who have a fast Internet connection, you’re really going to be in trouble with users who don’t have the benefit of a lightning-speed connection, including those on mobile devices who might be in a location where network coverage is slow or spotty.

Ensuring that your site loads quickly is crucial to providing an optimal experience for all visitors, regardless of their device or quality of connection. After all, no one has ever complained that a site loaded too fast for them!

4. No ads

Advertising is a necessary evil for many websites. If your business model depends at least in part on revenue generated by ads on your site, then removing those ads simply because visitors don’t care for them is probably not a realistic option. Still, the fact that ads offer little more than an annoyance to most visitors is something that you should be aware of.

When considering ads for your website, you must take into account not only the needs of your business but also the needs of your customers. Ads that make your site more difficult to use should be avoided at all cost, especially intrusive ads that take over the screen or obstruct areas of your content with over-the-top, in-your-face animation or video. These “take-over” ads are impossible for website visitors to ignore; they have to interact with them on some level, even if it’s just to hit the “close” icon, in order to achieve their purpose in coming to your site. Of course, the inability to disregard these ads is why advertisers love this format, but if you use them on your site, you’re running the risk that your customers and prospects will quickly tire of the hassle of dealing with them and seek out a competitor who will offer them a more user-friendly browsing experience.

Ads may be a fact of life for your website, but the types of ads you allow is well within your control. Listen to your customers, and make sure you choose advertising display options that do not compromise the overall quality of their user experience.

5. No bugs

One of the worst experiences a user can have online is when they have invested time in a site, gone through the necessary steps to complete a transaction – whether it’s to make a purchase, sign up for a membership, complete a request form, etc. – only to have the site crash and burn during the final steps of that transaction. This is a soul-crushing experience and one of the best ways to drive customers away for good!

Make sure that your website is working as expected at all times. If you’ve recently incorporated new features into your site, thoroughly test not only those new features but also all other existing subsystems within the site to ensure that no problems have been introduced along with the new code that has been added to the site.

Even if you’ve not recently added any new features or functionality, you should schedule routine testing to make sure the site is operating as expected and does not crash just as your visitors are about to cross the finish line and complete a successful transaction.

What I didn’t hear

The five elements covered in this article are ones that I heard again and again during my experiment. Of course, I heard many other answers as well, including “works well on my phone,” “good prices,” “information in Spanish” and “easy-to-find contact information.”

One of the most interesting discoveries to come out of my survey process was the answers that I didn’t hear. Not one person said that they wanted a site that “looked good” or had a “nice design.”

Nor did I hear any comments that people wanted features like “live chat” or “contact forms.” Does this mean that visitors do not want an attractively designed site or access to helpful features? Of course not – it means that those things should already be a part of a good site by default.

Great design is unobtrusive; it provides elegant yet simple visual cues that make the site easy to use and make information easy to find – two of the most commonly mentioned things that people want from a site. So, while the participants in my informal survey may not have cited beautiful design explicitly, they were, in fact, asking for it by proxy.

Great design and helpful features are not only important; they are expected.

In summary

It should come as no surprise that visitors want a site that is easy to use, loads quickly and works seamlessly. All of these should be par for the course for any site, which makes it all the more surprising to see so many sites that fail in even these most basic areas.

When evaluating the effectiveness of your site, start with these fundamentals. If your site fails the test in any one of these areas, then no amount of flashy features or advanced technology can compensate for the poor experience you’ve provided for your users. First and foremost, master the basics that visitors demand and then work up from there!

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