Customer loyalty pays off and any customer loyalty program is better than none.

Do you know the cost to your business for to win a new customer? Is it $5, $25, $100? Do you track the cost? According to Harvard Business Review https://hbr.org/2014/10/the-value-of-keeping-the-right-customers, it costs about 5-25x more to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing customer.
There is a huge value in keeping and expanding your business with your existing customers, as according to Inc. magazine https://www.inc.com/guides/2010/08/get-more-sales-from-existing-customers.html, they also spend 67% more than new customers.

Businesses need to think about what they are doing to make their customers come back. The ICSC report also confirms that 82% of adults are loyal to brands. Read at https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170815005733/en/Prices-Raise-Customer-Loyalty

So with that background, let’s dive into everything you need to know to build a successful customer loyalty program.

What is customer loyalty?


The classic textbook definition says that customer loyalty reflects a customer's willingness to buy from or work with a brand again and again, and it's the result of a positive customer experience, customer satisfaction, and the value of the products or services the customer gets from the transaction.


Loyal customers can help grow a business faster than any sales and marketing promotion you could come up with. Loyal customers spend more with your business and it is more effective at driving new customers to your products or services. But how do you turn happy customers into loyal brand ambassadors? That is where the customer loyalty programs come in.



What is a customer loyalty program?

A customer loyalty program is a rewards program offered by a company to customers who make purchases or subscribe to a service. A loyalty program is built on the simple idea that repeat customer purchases and interactions with the business lead to rewards like free merchandise, coupons, discounts and more.

No matter what your industry or business segment, you can find a way to reward customers for their repeat purchases and loyalty with additional exciting and exclusive benefits.

Not only will your customers come back over and over again, but members of customer loyalty programs typically spend up to 18% more (https://newsroom.accenture.com/news/members-of-customer-loyalty-programs-generate-significantly-more-revenue-for-retailers-than-do-non-members-accenture-research-finds.htm) than other customers.




Here are a few reasons why you should start your loyalty program today:

1. Customer Retention
Customer loyalty programs help you keep customers engaged with your business beyond the purchase. It plays a huge role in how likely customers are to come back and how much they're going to spend.

2. Customer Referrals
A loyal customer referral is the single more trusted form of advertising. Let your customers enjoy the benefits of the customer loyalty program and they'll tell their friends and family about it. Those recommendations bring new customers to you that are free to acquire, and which will generate even more revenue for your business.

3. Cost-Efficacy
It's more cost-effective for your business to retain customers than it is to consistently acquire new customers: remember, acquiring a new customer is 5-25X more expensive than retaining a current one: https://hbr.org/2014/10/the-value-of-keeping-the-right-customers

4. User-Generated Content and Reviews
Your loyal customers are most likely to leave you raging review online. Customer loyalty programs that incentivize reviews and ratings on websites and social media will result in lots of trustworthy and authentic user-generated content from customers that are singing your praises.

Start your Customer Loyalty Program with Omnibasis


Ready to get going? In just a few steps you can build a full loyalty program with Omnibasis.

  1. Pick a great name.
  2. Define a clear value for consumer.
  3. Reward a great variety of customer actions.
  4. Offer a number of different rewards.
  5. Make reward "points" valuable.
  6. Provide multiple opportunities for customers to enroll.
  7. Explore partnerships to provide more compelling offers.
  8. Make it a game.
Let’s walk through each step one at a time.

1.       Pick a great name.

Get people excited about your customer loyalty program with a great name. The name of the program needs to incite curiosity and interest to urge customers to participate, and it needs to be distinguished from the many other loyalty programs they are probably already a part of. For example, Delta SkyMiles or Starbucks Rewards, are very clear, about the name.


2.       Define a clear value for consumer.

Some customers are not willing to share their personal data with your business. Describe in more details “why” behind your loyalty program to make it as compelling as possible. For example, Amazon Prime, for $120 per year, offers not only free 2 day shipping but also tons of other rewards – like streaming tv shows and grocery deliveries.

3.       Reward a great variety of customer actions.

Rewards may not only be earned for purchases but also for a great variety of other customer actions.  For example, reward customers for following and sharing social media content, subscribing to your blog, downloading your mobile app etc. This is what 75% of customers involved in loyalty programs want: https://helloworld.com/insights/whitepapers/2017-loyalty-barometer-report/
The Omnibasis Circle of Trust loyalty program called OmniRewards, lets members earn points for a variety of different actions – like signing up for the loyalty program, sharing a program with a friend, engaging with blog post or Facebook post. You define what is worth what with more points being earned for the higher effort or ROI action.

4.       Offer a number of different rewards.

Provide more value than just discounts to your members and offer a variety rewards. It is a good practice to build loyalty program levels. The higher the level reached, the more points are earned and the better the reward choices. Some businesses offer loyalty points that customers can exchange for free tickets to events and entertainment, free subscriptions to additional products and services, or even donations in their name to the charity of their choice.

5.       Make reward "points" valuable.

Just like a real currency, you need to offer your customers something valuable in return to make sure the reward matches the effort expended and those hard earned points are worth the time and effort. For example, if you are offering cashback rewards as part of your customer loyalty program, assign a monetary value to your points so customers can easily visualize what they can earn (and spend) by continuing to purchase from you.  Omnibasis makes it easy for you and your customer to convert points to any currency of your choice.


6.       Provide multiple opportunities for customers to enroll.

Now you have launched your customer loyalty program, provide for multiple opportunities for your customers to enroll, both online and offline. Remind them of the benefits whenever possible, at the counter during checkout or online order confirmation. For example, If customers get rewards from purchasing from your online store, next to the price, share the points they could earn from spending that sp
ecific amount.



7.       Explore partnerships to provide more compelling offers.

Co-branding loyalty rewards programs are a great way to expose your brand to new potential customers and to provide even more value to your own loyal customers. Some businesses offer cross loyalty program reward redemption and reward gifting. Omnibasis makes it easy for you and your customer to set up those partnerships.

8.       Make it a game.

Turn your reward program into a fun game. Engage the winning spirit of the customer who is interacting with your brand more. It is called gamification and achieved through an approach that requires participants to reach certain levels of achievements and participate in competitions. After participants complete a set of actions or tasks, they can unlock certain benefits. Some businesses couple this technique with a tiers system. That way, every level attained offers customers more rewards for more engagement.


Get started with Your Loyalty Program


Customer loyalty programs should increase customer happiness and retention, and there are ways to measure it other the size of a customer smile J

Omnibasis helps your company, business, sports club, non-profit, association to get up and running with your own loyalty programs instantly. You can setup your loyalty program levels, rewards, earning rules, badges and invite your members to join. Start your customer loyalty journey for free at Omnibasis.com