Advocado – Advocado https://advocadoapp.com Award-winning Cloud Loyalty Software for your business Tue, 23 Mar 2021 07:59:49 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.8.1 5 Effective Ways to Retain Customers Who Are Leaving https://advocadoapp.com/2021/03/12/retain-customers-who-are-leaving/ Fri, 12 Mar 2021 10:07:59 +0000 https://advocadoapp.com/?p=8301 Customer retention is easily achievable than its thought. All you need is some right processes and practices in place, such as: Building the database of your customers Engage this data of customers at regular intervals Target them with the right offers and promotions that they are looking for Reward them for their loyalty towards your...

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Customer retention is easily achievable than its thought. All you need is some right processes and practices in place, such as:

  • Building the database of your customers
  • Engage this data of customers at regular intervals
  • Target them with the right offers and promotions that they are looking for
  • Reward them for their loyalty towards your brand
  •  Most importantly, provide them with good quality products/services and customer service

 

Why should you think about customer retention?

 Customer retention should be the primary goal of every business owner. Retaining customers is much easier than finding new ones who are interested in your business. The cost is five times more for attaining new customers. If your customer retention plans are effective, you will save a substantial amount of business costs every year. Existing customers are also the primary contributors to the profits made every year. Therefore, customer retention should be given due importance, if you want your business to succeed. 

In this article, we explore some of the best techniques that every business should adopt for retaining the customers who are leaving. 

 

      1.     Build the customer database

A customer database is a place where you store all information about your customers. Finding out about the offers that attract them, how frequently they purchase from you and at what intervals, their spending patterns etc. You can also keep track of the new customers brought in by the existing ones. The wider your customer database is, the better you know the customers, and it gives way to effective communication. As a business owner, you will know what products and services every customer is interested in from the database. The information can be used for targeted promotions. You can easily bring them to your stores more often with all these insights. Customer database provides you with valuable information that can be used to plan future sales and improve the overall performance of the business.

 

Read more about the Importance of customer data here. 

 

      2.     Engage your customers at regular intervals

Keeping the customers engaged with the business is the key to retain customers. SMS & Email notifications provide the perfect platform to communicate with your customers. To keep them engaged, businesses can send messages informing them about special offers, seasonal sales, new products or personalized rewards. It helps the company to build a close relationship with the customers. Customers feel valued when they receive personalized offers, and they tend to repeat business.

Building a community for the customers is also an intelligent way to engage customers, not only with the business but with each other. Social media platforms provide the opportunity for customers to connect, share reviews, insights, and much more. 

You can also share information other than products or services. Sharing your brand’s vision or share a story of the contribution the business made to society. Such things help to build a connection with your customer. They learn things about the business beyond products and services. 

Read more about how SMS marketing is very effective in customer retention.

3. Targeted promotions and Special offers

Most of the sales come from the loyal customers of the business. This section of customers is what businesses want to retain. The targeted promotions are designed to focus on improving the shopping experience of the customers. Special offers and rewards are a way to keep the customers interested in the business. Studying the customer’s purchase history can help the business to promote products and offers that customers will find relevant. 

Businesses can opt for personalized rewards to customers for references to new customers. The rewards will help to retain the customers and also fetch new ones. Targeted promotions have a higher chance of conversion into sales too. 

      4. Reward customer loyalty

Rewarding the customer is your way of showing gratitude to them for choosing you over the competitors in business. These loyalty programs are excellent for retaining customers. Some ways to rewards your customer are as follows:

  •  Start a membership program
  • Offer discounts to the customers who make big purchases.
  • For customers who make frequent purchases, you can give away some free merchandises to reward them for their loyalty towards the business.
  • Involve the existing customers in new product and service launches. It makes the customers feel more connected to the business.
  • Reward the customers for referrals to new customers. The rewards can be in the form of discounts or free gifts.
  • Give special discounts to customers on their birthdays. This makes the relationship between the business and customer personal, and the customer feels valued.

5.     Provide excellent customer service

The way you serve your customer requests and complaints says a lot about the business. Make sure every person in the business treats customer service as a priority. Customer service is needed to retain the customers. The customers become loyal to the business that caters to their needs efficiently. The type of customer service you provide says a lot about the company’s image, missions, and business values. Studies show that 70% of customers remain loyal to businesses for the excellent customer service they provide. Customers who are served well are likely to get new customers to the business. 

Conclusion

Customer retention is a much essential aspect of a business as compared to acquiring new ones. It is much less costly and deepens the loyalty the customers have towards the brand. Therefore, invest in good strategies for customer retention and keep them from leaving. 

The post 5 Effective Ways to Retain Customers Who Are Leaving appeared first on Advocado.

]]> Importance of Customer Data: Why does every small-medium business need data? https://advocadoapp.com/2021/02/09/importance-of-customer-data-why-does-every-small-medium-business-need-data/ Tue, 09 Feb 2021 08:08:00 +0000 https://newstage.advocadoapp.com/?p=7268 Every business depends on customer data for making better decisions. Data collection and analysis through technology helps businesses to draw conclusions about their customers such as: – Who are your customers? – What do they like to buy: trends and behaviours? – How to better engage them? – How to draft effective marketing campaigns that...

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Every business depends on customer data for making better decisions. Data collection and analysis through technology helps businesses to draw conclusions about their customers such as:

– Who are your customers?

– What do they like to buy: trends and behaviours?

– How to better engage them?

– How to draft effective marketing campaigns that appeal to your customers?

Let’s get into details:

What is Data Analytics?


Data analytics is the process by which large sets of data are examined for patterns. We humans always perform some data analysis for making decisions or drawing conclusions. With computers and appropriate data analytics tools, businesses can process a larger amount of data in a shorter time and generate useful results.

Data analysis begins with identifying the type of customer data that is needed. It’s important to make sure that the data is collected from a reliable source. The data that is not credible may give the results that are not true, leading to inaccurate business decisions.

Specially for the businesses in Singapore, it’s very necessary to collect data in compliance with the Personal Data Protection Act. The PDPA considers that the business has

– taken the ‘consent’ from the customer to use his data

– have informed the customer of the ‘purpose’ of data collection

Data analysis can be performed for various purposes in a business. Some common types of data analysis include:

  • Predictive analysis: studying past trends and make predictions for future business.
  • Descriptive analysis: analysis of the collected data to find out about performance, sales, revenue, and much more. It describes the data which is being analyzed.
  • Diagnostic analysis: analysis to know the reason behind a positive or negative trend found in descriptive analysis.
  • Prescriptive analysis: data is studied for making data-driven decisions. Businesses make plans of action based on the results of the analysis.


Why SME needs data analytics?

Small-Medium Businesses are the support system of the economy. Therefore, the growth of SMEs is important for a healthy economy. Data analytics is currently the best way to understand SME and here are the reasons why SME needs data analytics:


1. Know your customers: understanding buying habits and recognise trends

Business activities largely depend on customer behaviour. Understanding customer behaviour precisely and accurately goes a long way towards the success of a business. The SMEs that aspire to grow quickly need to perform analysis of customer behaviour regularly. Data analytics has made the job easier. Businesses can track the buying habits of different customers and recommend the products that might be useful to them. For instance, a garment shop needs to know the current trends and recognise the buying patterns of customers to be able to succeed in the market. With enough customer data and detailed analysis, businesses can grow sales.

How can you really know your customers? The answer is to have a smart CRM system that collects the data of your customers, analyse it and give you information like: Who are your regular customers? How frequently they visit? Who are your top spending customers? What do they buy?



2. Create effective marketing and engagement strategies

Data analytics provides businesses with knowledge that can be used for making better marketing strategies and campaigns. Data analytics identifies trends and patterns from customer data which can be used for creating a successful recommendation system. Businesses can identify the strategies and campaigns which have led to purchases in the past. The biggest benefit of using data analytics is the visibility it provides to businesses. With an analysis of customer data, SMEs can engage customers with personalised advertisements, emails, and offers on products and services.

You can read more about targeted SMS marketing here.

3. More targeted marketing using your website & social media

As a business, you would be definitely familiar with ‘social media marketing’. But do you know how it works? Social media marketing is nothing but a set of algorithms that work on datasets.

Here is how collecting your customer’s data will help you run effective Facebook or other social media ads:

– You can create lookalike audiences based on the customer data

Now that you have the golden mine of data, you can create lookalike of your customers and target them with relevant ads. You can play with many combinations like lookalike of customers with ‘high average spent’ and ‘low average spent’.

– You can target your customers based on their demographics, like gender, age etc

With your magical data you can determine details like which of your products or services do women like to buy? What do most people in the age group of 21-30 years buy? Etc. And facebook does allow you to target accordingly.

So, all you need to do is have a system to collect data of your customers. The technology today will take care of mostly everything after that.


4. To increase operational efficiency and control costs

Operational efficiency can be boosted using predictive analysis. Businesses can reduce outages and increase production to meet future demands as predicted from the data. With a detailed knowledge of the present trends in the market and the possible trends of the future, SMEs can estimate the costs. This can be an effective manner of cost control. Customer services can be improved significantly by studying customer data and understanding their needs. It improves brand loyalty which guarantees a constant sale of products.


5. Keep track of your competition

A business can succeed when it has good knowledge of the competition in the market. Data analytics lets you understand the strategies of your competitors. Social media is a great space to analyse your competition and it is made possible with data analytics. This is termed as competitive analysis, where businesses identify the strengths and weaknesses of their rivals. Once you know your competitors well, you can develop effective business strategies.



How can SMEs collect customer data?

The first step towards data analytics is by collecting customer data. One of the best ways to collect reliable customer data is through the CRM-loyalty program. Loyalty programs are a type of marketing strategy that offers rewards to customers for their loyalty towards the business. With the fast-growing technology, the customer enrolment is generally very quick and seamless. Businesses can reward customers with some welcome vouchers, complimentary beverage, or any low-cost merchandise for signing up into the loyalty program. It is an effective means of collecting customer data from reliable sources as the business can collect the customers data to engage in the future, while the customers receive instant gratification. This way, it’s a win-win for both the business and the customers.

Other means include market research, web analysis, social media scraping, online surveys, and point of sale data gathering.



Conclusion

Customer data is important for every SME to grow and data analytics is a means to achieve that. With data, analytics businesses come out of the traditional means of customer satisfaction and have a more accurate and reliable plan of action. Therefore, data analytics is a novel approach to gain an edge over your competitors in the market.

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]]> Now that you have a Loyalty program in place, What Next? https://advocadoapp.com/2021/01/18/now-that-you-have-a-loyalty-program-in-place-what-next/ Mon, 18 Jan 2021 07:43:00 +0000 https://newstage.advocadoapp.com/?p=7247 So, you have finally created the perfect loyalty program–one that will keep your members loyal for years to come. Congratulations! But now what? What should be the next steps to take after you have a loyalty program in place? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. In this article, we are going to discuss the four crucial...

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So, you have finally created the perfect loyalty program–one that will keep your members loyal for years to come. Congratulations!

But now what?

What should be the next steps to take after you have a loyalty program in place?

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

In this article, we are going to discuss the four crucial steps that you should take if you want to make your loyalty program a success:

  • Enroll your customers into your program
  • Promote your awesome loyalty program
  • Remind your customers about the rewards and benefits they have
  • Occasionally, run special promotions for the members-only

Read ahead for our best tips!

 

1. Enrol Customers into The Program

Your first step after creating your loyalty program should be to enroll customers into it. Attracting members to your program is a crucial step, making them stay is even more difficult.

Most people have little to no patience when it comes to things like loyalty programs. People don’t stick around for a long time if they don’t get quick results and value for their time. So, as soon as you enroll customers into the loyalty program, make sure they see the usefulness of it.

Create the best first impression because it goes a long way. Make them familiar with the things the program offers. In the Business World, this is called ‘Member On-boarding‘.

An ideal member on-boarding process should be able to successfully do these three things.

  • Show the customers the value they are getting from your program

The on-boarding process should make the customers want to enrol in your program. They need to see why it’s relevant to them and what value it adds to their lives.

  • Impress the customers immediately

The customers don’t have much patience and they are quick to abandon such programs. So your member on-boarding process should be quick, easy and engaging.

  • Provide Helpful Information

Customers should have all the information about your loyalty program easily available to them. Apart from that, tutorials, informative videos, and a helpful support system also help in increasing the chance of them sticking with your program.

2. Promote Your Loyalty Program

Promoting your loyalty program is the most important and crucial step. You have a loyalty program but your target audience isn’t going to get aware of it automatically.

You will need to make your program visible to them. Here is how you can do it:

  • Banners, Posters, Standees

Now that you are ready with the rewards for your loyal customers, prepare attractive banners, posters or standees and display at the places so that everyone can read. They can be placed at the entrance of the shops, on the tables of a café, in the trial rooms of clothing stores, and common display places in the mall, near the cashier, etc.

  • Website

Include the information about the rewards and membership on your website. This is a must have, as in today’s digital world, customers visit the website first before visiting your store.

  • Social media

Create online campaigns to promote the loyalty program. Almost everyone is present on social media today, so take advantage of it. Make Instagram and Facebook pages and reach out to your target audience. Run paid ads on various online platforms.

Remember, you don’t only need to promote the program but you need to do it in the right way – which is, your customers should know about their rewards from every channel.

3. Remind Your Members About Their Rewards

People are so busy with their lives that they often forget about various things. And you don’t want your loyalty program to be one of those things.

So make sure that you keep reminding them about the rewards and benefits they are getting from your loyalty program. This can be effectively done by sending occasional emails, organising webinars, creating campaigns, etc.

Specially in Singapore, the channel that is very effective in bringing customers back is SMS. Read more about the effectiveness of SMS Marketing here.

Now, it’s very important to not overdo it. You don’t want to bother them constantly and appear as annoying. But make sure that you remind the members about their rewards periodically so that they don’t end up forgetting about them.

4. Once In A While, Create Special Offers Only For The Members

Lastly, make sure to create special offers and benefits once in a while for your permanent members.

This will help you in two ways, firstly, it will make the members feel privileged and special, and secondly, it creates a kind of an exclusive club that other people will also want to join. In this way, you will be able to increase the member base as well as the popularity of your loyalty program.


Conclusion

Creating and managing a loyalty program is not a piece of cake. But if done in the right way, it will give you many profitable results in the form of loyal customers, additional revenue and brand image.

We hope that this article helps you with some clarity on how to successfully execute your loyalty program. Advocado’s teams will be very happy to assist with more information on how you can make your loyalty program a success!

The post Now that you have a Loyalty program in place, What Next? appeared first on Advocado.

]]> How SMS Marketing Outperforms Email Marketing https://advocadoapp.com/2019/01/15/how-sms-marketing-outperforms-email-marketing/ Tue, 15 Jan 2019 07:01:00 +0000 http://droitthemes.com/wp/saasland/?p=569 98% people open the SMS they receive. 75% people say they want to receive an offer via SMS.  Most people respond to an SMS within 90 seconds. Hence, the SMS definitely has higher open rates, deliverability as well as click-thru rate as compared to most other mediums of communications available. They are direct and precise....

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98% people open the SMS they receive.

75% people say they want to receive an offer via SMS. 

Most people respond to an SMS within 90 seconds.

Hence, the SMS definitely has higher open rates, deliverability as well as click-thru rate as compared to most other mediums of communications available. They are direct and precise. For SME’s, SMS is the best channel to inform their customers about the attractive offers.


Let’s talk ROI

As a marketer, it is essential to get the maximum return on investment (ROI) on every marketing campaign you run; however, there are various avenues available, and most times, it can prove difficult to identify the right medium for your campaign. This is where SMS marketing and email marketing come in. One of the best ways of engaging your customers is simply by reaching out to them through SMS and emails. Now while they are both excellent marketing strategies, studies and statistic has shown that SMS marketing is a more suitable marketing campaign than email- marketing.

It is essential to understand that this article is not aimed at debunking email marketing but rather showing you which of the marketing strategies provides more benefit and is better suited for engaging your customers, which is, in this case, SMS marketing. Based on research, SMS open rates are at an estimated 98% as opposed to that of emails, which are just 20%, and based on this same research it also shows that it takes a person 90 seconds to respond to a text and 90 minutes to respond to an email.

To be practical, use yourself as an example; it will be very untrue to say that you open or read every email sent to you. 65% of marketers are of the opinion that SMS marketing is a more efficient marketing method for them, while 75% of people have also stated that they will prefer to receive an offer via SMS, which proves why SMS marketing is generally a much-preferred option.

 

SMS MARKETING AS A MORE EFFICIENT STRATEGY FOR SME’s

Studies have shown that an average American checks their phone more than 300 times daily. A phone is one technology that your consumers are always likely to have on hand throughout the day, which is why SMS marketing is perfect for SME’s especially for sending short messages, promotions, and quick advertisements.

The focus of SMS marketing is on permission-based texting service, which is aimed at promoting brand awareness and also engaging your audience. Why SMS marketing is one of the best choices for businesses, especially SMEs, is because texts are an efficient means of gaining your audience’s attention while also ensuring that your message gets viewed.

SMS marketing functions effectively even without WI-FI, unlike email marketing. Texts also have high engagement levels and tend to capture the attention of your audience.



HOW SME’s CAN USE SMS TO BOOST THEIR MARKETING STRATEGY

Today, technology has made way for various new marketing channels, including the well-established medium of SMS, which shows a great return on investment in terms of lead generation and open rates. Having established that, SME’s can easily use SMS to boost their marketing strategy.

To get started, you don’t need a huge budget as SMS marketing is easy to start, cost-effective, and efficient. As earlier stated, SMS enjoys a high open-rate percentage, and you can easily start marketing over SMS as long as you possess a phone and a line. For more efficiency and effectiveness, you can also invest in an SMS marketing platform. It is also vital to obtain your audiences’ consent and ensure that they opt-in to your SMS service.


Advocado’s Experience with SMS Marketing

Advocado is serving close to 700 outlets across Singapore, and helping them to reengage their customers via SMS campaigns. SMS performs way better than emails, and are the way to go for B2C companies in Singapore Market.

Most merchants who send their promotions using SMS successfully generate return visits and additional revenue. Here are some examples of our clients in Singapore, on how SMS’s are super effective in bringing back customers:



Irrespective of how you approach it, SMS marketing does not only improve engagements, but it ultimately boosts business sales and connects you to a larger audience. There is no doubt that SMS as a marketing tool is effective as long as you make the most out of it.


The post How SMS Marketing Outperforms Email Marketing appeared first on Advocado.

]]> The Next Step To Take After You Have A Loyalty Program In Place https://advocadoapp.com/2019/01/13/the-next-step-to-take-after-you-have-a-loyalty-program-in-place/ Sun, 13 Jan 2019 07:03:00 +0000 http://droitthemes.com/wp/saasland/2018/11/14/why-i-say-old-chap-that-is-spiffing-jolly-good-copy/ So, you have finally created the perfect loyalty program–one that will keep your members loyal for years to come. Congratulations! But now what? What should be the next steps to take after you have a loyalty program in place? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. In this article, we are going to discuss the four...

The post The Next Step To Take After You Have A Loyalty Program In Place appeared first on Advocado.

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So, you have finally created the perfect loyalty program–one that will keep your members loyal for years to come. Congratulations!

But now what?

What should be the next steps to take after you have a loyalty program in place?

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

In this article, we are going to discuss the four crucial steps that you should take if you want to make your loyalty program a success:

  • Enroll your customers into your program
  • Promote your awesome loyalty program
  • Remind your customers about the rewards and benefits they have
  • Occasionally, run special promotions for the members-only

Read ahead for our best tips!



1. Enroll Customers into The Program

Your first step after creating your loyalty program should be to enroll customers into it. Attracting members to your program is a crucial step, making them stay is even more difficult.

Most people have little to no patience when it comes to things like loyalty programs. We know it’s sad, but it’s reality.

People don’t stick around for a long time if they don’t get quick results and value for their time.

No one wants a membership that adds no value to their life. So, as soon as you enroll customers into the loyalty program, make sure they see the usefulness of it.

Create the best first impression because it goes a long way. Make them familiar with the things the program offers. In the Business World, this is called ‘Member Onboarding’.

An ideal member onboarding process should be able to successfully do these two things.

●     Show the customers the value they are getting from your program

The onboarding process should make the customers want to enroll in your program. They need to see why it’s relevant to them and what value it adds to their lives.

●     Impress the customers immediately

The customers don’t have much patience and they are quick to abandon such programs. So your member onboarding process should be quick, easy and engaging.

●     Provide Helpful Information

Customers should have all the information about your loyalty program easily available to them. Apart from that, tutorials, informative videos, and a helpful support system also help in increasing the chance of them sticking with your program.


2. Promote Your Loyalty Program

Promoting your loyalty program is the most important and crucial step. You have a loyalty program but your target audience isn’t going to get aware of it automatically. 

You will need to make your program visible to them. Here is how you can do it:

  • Banners, Posters, Standees

Now that you are ready with the rewards for your loyal customers, prepare attractive banners, posters or standees and display at the places so that everyone can read. They can be placed at the entrance of the shops, on the tables of a café, in the trial rooms of clothing stores, and common display places in the mall, near the cashier, etc.

  • Website

Include the information about the rewards and membership on your website. This is a must have, as in today’s digital world, customers visit the website first before visiting your store.

  • Social media

Create online campaigns to promote the loyalty program. Almost everyone is present on social media today, so take advantage of it. Make Instagram and Facebook pages and reach out to your target audience. Run paid ads on various online platforms.

Remember, you don’t only need to promote the program but you need to do it in the right way – which is, your customers should know about their rewards from every channel. 


3. Remind Your Members About Their Rewards

People are so busy with their lives that they often forget about various things. And you don’t want your loyalty program to be one of those things.

So make sure that you keep reminding them about the rewards and benefits they are getting from your loyalty program. This can be effectively done by sending occasional emails, organizing webinars, creating campaigns, etc.

Specially in Singapore, the channel that is very effective in bringing customers back is SMS. Read more about the effectiveness of SMS Marketing here.

Now, it’s very important to not overdo it. You don’t want to bother them constantly and appear as annoying. But make sure that you remind the members about their rewards periodically so that they don’t end up forgetting about them.


4. Once In A While, Create Special Offers Only For The Members 

Lastly, make sure to create special offers and benefits once in a while for your permanent members.

This will help you in two ways, firstly, it will make the members feel privileged and special, and secondly, it creates a kind of an exclusive club that other people will also want to join.

In this way, you will be able to increase the member base as well as the popularity of your loyalty program.


Conclusion:

Creating and managing a loyalty program is not a piece of cake. But if done in the right way, it will give you many profitable results in the future.

Planning the next steps to take after you have a loyalty program in place is a crucial decision.

We hope that this article was able to provide you some clarity on it.



The post The Next Step To Take After You Have A Loyalty Program In Place appeared first on Advocado.

]]> Beginner’s Guide to building a customer loyalty Program https://advocadoapp.com/2019/01/11/beginners-guide-to-building-a-customer-loyalty-program/ Fri, 11 Jan 2019 07:04:00 +0000 http://droitthemes.com/wp/saasland/2018/11/14/victoria-sponge-horse-play-copy/ If you are reading this article, congratulations! You have taken the first step towards your loyalty program. Here we are sharing some must have strategies for a successful loyalty: Offer rewards that are meaningful Incentivise customer enrolment Targeted rewards for different customer segments Spread the word – promote your loyalty program 1. Offer rewards that are...

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If you are reading this article, congratulations!


You have taken the first step towards your loyalty program. Here we are sharing some must have strategies for a successful loyalty:


  1. Offer rewards that are meaningful
  2. Incentivise customer enrolment
  3. Targeted rewards for different customer segments
  4. Spread the word – promote your loyalty program


1. Offer rewards that are meaningful

The rewards should not exist just for the sake of rewards. The rewards should be meaningful, and should delight your customers. If the rewards program is not enticing enough, the customer would eventually drop off.

Hence, spend some time to understand your business objectives and what does your customers expect from your loyalty program.

Lets take some scenarios to understand this:





Scenario 1:

There is a fine-dining restaurant who have 2 different loyalty campaigns:

Campaign A:

Offers 5% cashback to customers that they can redeem in subsequent visits

Campaign B:
Offers store credit, where the customer has to pay $500 in advance, where they can eat for the worth $550.

Which campaign would you prefer as a customer?

Most customers will prefer to enroll into campaign A because they don’t want to commit to $500  today. Rather they will prefer to have 5% cashback that they can redeem in subsequent visits.





Scenario 2:

There is a cafés where customers like to take away their morning coffees from, also has 2 loyalty campaigns:

Campaign A:

Offers 5% cashback to customers that they can redeem in subsequent visits

Campaign B:

Offers store credit, where you purchase say 9 coffees today and you get your 10th coffee free.

Same question, which campaign would you prefer as a customer?

Most likely Campaign B, because committing to the cost of 9 coffees is easier when you know that you will buy from them every day. Also, you will not have to pay for your coffee every day, just pick your coffee and redeem 1 more out of 10.

We see that how cashback makes more sense in scenario 1 while store credit makes more sense in scenario 2. Hence, its important to offer reward that are meaningful to your customers.


  1. Incentivise enrollment




Incentivising enrollment aims at new customers. Offering a welcome promotion to new customers is one of the best ways to attract more customers and built loyalty among the new ones.

It plays a very important role to:

  • Enrol customers in your loyalty program, ofcourse
  • Getting them to try your services for the first time
  • Collect their data to engage them in the future with more offers

How can you incentivize enrolment is very simple – you can offer the a welcome gift, free item, 20% discount on the first purchase, etc.


 3. Targeted Rewards for different customer segment




Customer segmentation involves classifying customers into different groups based upon their similarities and differences from other groups. Segmentation allows you to interact with the customers and understand their needs in much wider details.

Choosing a different kind of reward programs for different kinds of customers to help to precise the process and establish better trust. Rewards through segmentation help to create a more personalized approach and making the customer feel special. Through this technique, you do not only sell to your customers but also show them how much you care.

Let’s go to this simple scenario to understand this better. If you are a bag store with a hello kitty tote bag with your hot selling item. If you offer a free hello kitty tote bag at every purchase of $50, which gender do you feel most of your customers will belong to? Yes, women.

Which also means that you just missed on the opportunity cost to effectively engage the other 50% of your customers that are men. In this case, all men receiving these messages wont connect with the brand as they will feel that you don’t know them and don’t care about their choices.


4. Spread the word – promote your loyalty program


Don’t hide your light under a bushe l – else its of no use.

It’s an absolute must to let people know that you have an amazing loyalty program just for them. A loyalty program is a brand’s most important marketing strategy. It should be visible to the customers at every touchpoint – cashier, website, social media etc.

Your staff should be trained to inform the customers about it. There must be posters or standees inside the shop. It’s a good idea to have some information outside of your store so that the prospect customers who are passing by can read, and might try it another time.

In today’s digital world, your customers visit your website and social media first before coming to the shop. So do not miss to put up there as well. More the exposure, higher the enrolment!


 

Conclusion:

If you are starting a new program or trying to boost your customer loyalty program that the above-mentioned techniques will be very helpful. These techniques help to increase customer participation in the loyalty program and provide you with more opportunities to attract customers and build trust with them. With the right kind of initiatives, you can make your first time customer into a loyal and frequent one.






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]]> How do loyalty programs work? https://advocadoapp.com/2019/01/09/how-do-loyalty-programs-work/ Wed, 09 Jan 2019 08:32:00 +0000 http://droitthemes.com/wp/saasland/2018/11/14/we-craft-marketing-digital-products-that-grow-businesses-copy/ Loyalty programs have proven to be an efficient marketing tool in driving businesses to the zenith via customer satisfaction. They make customers happy with exciting rewards and then remind them to come back and redeem the rewards. Hence, when executed correctly, they bring customers back to businesses again and again, maximizing the return visits and...

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Loyalty programs have proven to be an efficient marketing tool in driving businesses to the zenith via customer satisfaction. They make customers happy with exciting rewards and then remind them to come back and redeem the rewards. Hence, when executed correctly, they bring customers back to businesses again and again, maximizing the return visits and sales revenue.

For many businesses, convincing clients to come back is the hardest hurdle one must overcome to succeed. Loyalty programs are also tools for understanding the behavioral and attitudinal features of the customer. There are ways to reward a customer, but the best and most effective way is a loyalty program.

When employed appropriately, loyalty programs can trigger a repeated purchase and turn first-time buyers to brand loyalists. Giving back to your customers is incredible, but with trust dwindling, it begs the question; does a loyalty program work?

So in this article, we will be discussing everything loyalty programs, including benefits, impact on retaining customers, types of loyalty programs, and how they work?

So if you are ready, let’s get in the business.


What is a customer loyalty program?



The ability to endear your customers to return again and again is customer loyalty. A strategy put in place to ensure they return for your product and service is the loyalty program. The main reason for a loyalty program is to build a customer base that can help you grow your business.

Loyalty programs have been around for more than three decades with the ‘Frequent flyer program’ introduced by American Airlines. It was to give the frequent flyer more attention than the rest. Today, loyalty programs have extended to travels, vacations, shopping, rentals, financial services, and everything else.

With that said, loyalty programs are marketing strategies that aim to make customers more loyal by developing an open and personal relationship with them.


Why is a loyalty program so crucial to a growing business?



Loyalty programs are marketing options that companies should employ to build loyal customers. The idea is to boost brand recognition and keep the customers happy while driving revenue up.

Loyalty programs are great at converting customers, increasing their spending and loyalty to the brand. It is also a passive system of marketing via word-of-mouth. So if one person is satisfied, they will tell their friends and family members, creating more profit for the business.

Other benefits are:-

  • Increases customer retention – Customers will stick to your brand if they are getting good value and appreciation for their loyalty
  • Customers feel valued and loved by the brand
  • Improved brands recognition and reputation
  • It is a great way to win back customer and welcome first-timers
  • It stimulates customers to spend more and gain more loyalty reward
  • It enables brands to build loyal customer bases anywhere they establish
  • Provides detailed insight to sections of the business that needs more work to improve
  • Allows brand to create advocate from their loyal customer to speak on behalf of the brand like influencers
  • Increased customer-brand interaction

 

Types of loyalty programs and how they work

While we know loyalty programs work, companies need to determine which one is best for them. Below are types of loyalty programs and how it works.





This type of program encourage customers to buy more for a reward. For example, the buy two get the third free increases sales but allows customers to feel rewarded for their efforts dealing with you. It is the simplest loyalty program and the easiest to build a loyal base with increase referral.

So if you are looking to boost sales or introduce yourself to the world, this is the loyalty program for your brand. The only disadvantage to this program is the inability to collect customer information to alert them to another get free/reward program in the future.





In this type, customers get points for purchasing or spending a stipulated amount in a business. These points are then exchanged for rewards or items at the store or listed out by the companies.

In some instances, customers gather points throughout the year for a movie premiere, retreats date for two or a day at the spa. To keep such a loyalty program going, companies should surprise loyal customers with gifts or rewards to keep them interested in gathering points.





Now, most customers love this type of reward program. Customers under this loyalty platform earn cashback when they reach a stipulated spending limit; they are gifted money back. This extra cash gift can be spent immediately or used or something in the future. The cashback loyalty program encourages more spending and is a remarkable way for stores with large or frequent customers.





This tests the patience and loyalty of the customers. In this program, the more points they get, the higher their loyalty level. So once the customers gain a particular point, they are more recognized by the company. The tiered program works exceptionally well as motivating customers in the lower tiers to purchase more and get better rewards.





This is a fun competition that allows customers to engage in a game-like scenario. It will gain the customer points, cash, or reward.

For example, a customer buys a newly introduced product at twice the point of another previous favorite. It strengthens the brand’s image, and it is an entertaining way to cut advertising costs and gain more customers.



Other loyalty programs are the hybrid program, paid program, VVIP paid loyalty program, partnership program, etc.

Loyalty programs work and are an effective marketing strategy to attract and retain new customers. Deciding which loyalty program is efficient for your brand or business will determine how much advantage you will have over your competitors. Note that regardless of the loyalty program of choice, the result is to increase sales, customer interaction, profits, and retention.

Remember, a loyalty program should always be about the customer first. The instructions must be clear enough for the customers to understand and participate in them.

So to answer your question, yes, loyalty programs work. And it is a strategic way to interact with customers.



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]]> How to Reward Customer Loyalty? https://advocadoapp.com/2019/01/07/how-to-reward-customer-loyalty/ Mon, 07 Jan 2019 09:14:00 +0000 http://droitthemes.com/wp/saasland/2018/11/14/we-craft-marketing-digital-products-that-grow-businesses-copy-2/ Every customer who has made a commitment to buy from you repeatedly deserves a special treatment. Rewarding them not only makes them feel that they are special to you, but also increase the chances they will purchase from you more often. Here are few ways you can reward your customers: Points and cashback Multi-tier membership...

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Every customer who has made a commitment to buy from you repeatedly deserves a special treatment. Rewarding them not only makes them feel that they are special to you, but also increase the chances they will purchase from you more often. Here are few ways you can reward your customers:

  • Points and cashback
  • Multi-tier membership
  • Birthday treats
  • Sending reminders at the right time
  • Provide added value to your customers

Rewarding your regulars demonstrate an act of care, put a big smile on your their faces and have them coming back to your business again.

A customer’s loyalty is their voluntary willingness to interact or purchase from a specific company regularly. This loyalty can emanate from a number of things; mostly, it is the customer’s desirable experience with the business or a brand that increases their odds to make repeated purchases from the brand.

The importance of loyal customers stems from the data that a loyal customer spends approximately 67% more on products and services than new customers. Hence, even though the loyal customers make up to 20% of your audience, they bring up to 80% of the business revenue. Moreover, it is five times easier to retain a customer than gain a new one.

This is the reason companies focus largely on their regulars, understanding their interests and dislikes. Loyal customers will continue to buy from the business and spend more over their lifetime than others.



The Reebok Experience

Just like every other popular brand, Reebok has its own way of rewarding its customers. While Starbucks rewards mostly with gifts, Reebok found an alternative method that is less costly and effective. This sporting goods company gives VIP experience, training and wellness program, partner rewards, and much more for every purchase they make over an interval of time.

The company grasps the importance of loyal customers and members even get points for their every transaction and interaction with the brand. As the points gradually accumulate, the rewards also increase. The brand even goes as far as to provide access to partner events and product releases.



Rewarding Customer Loyalty

Rewarding customer loyalty is a small step in the larger growth of your business. Your excellent services and experience are always rewarded and recommended by your customer, fruitfully. There are a number of ways you can reward customer loyalty.


1.   Points and Cashbacks for Loyal Customers

The classic way to reward customer loyalty is to give cashback and points on their purchase and interaction. You can offer cashback to the customers after a certain amount of transactions or purchases. Customers can earn the extra advantage of getting a return on their spending and the additional perk that it offers over a period of time.

Giving points on a regular basis can encourage customers to continue shopping with you and gain more points. In fact, you can make points collection like a game where there are levels of exciting prices/gifts that the customer can redeem once they collect certain points.

If you are an F&B or a retail business, points or cashback are made for you!


2.   Create Multi-Tier Membership

Creating multi-tier membership as a mode to reward customer loyalty can be beneficial for both the customer and the business. You can create a free membership at one level, and other levels can be paid versions with extra perks and benefits. If you are new to these multi-tier memberships without any social testimonials you can begin with a free membership at the beginning for potential customers to gain their trust.

A multi-tier membership program gives you an opportunity to reward your customers based on their spent. The more they buy from you, the more rewards they get. Multi-tier membership is an excellent fit for service-based businesses such as spas, beauty parlors and hair salon.


3.   Birthday Treats

Showing your customers that you care goes a long way to bring them back to your shop. Peek into your customer data and make your customers feel special on their birthday or their birthday month. Many brands now provide birthday offers to their customers and have them visiting their shop/service center frequently. So, if you are not giving birthday treats yet, you might be missing out!

According to an internal survey, special offers on the birthdays can bring up to 66% customers back to the businesses.


4.   Sending Reminders at the Right Time

Sending reminders to redeem offers, avail of amazing discounts, and what’s new in the market is a part of a loyalty customer program. Your customers wouldn’t want to give up their points or fail to avail of discounts just because the offers expired. Hence, it is very important to send reminders at the right time.

Simple text messages that reminds customers to use the cashback before it expires can bring back up to 33% of customers. In order to redeem this cashback, they will spend more at your business. Hence, reminders play a very important role complete the cycle and generate more sales.


5.   Give Value to Your Customer

Everyone wants to feel valued and cared for. What do you have that others don’t? Ask yourself self-introspective questions from a customer’s perspective. Questions like would you choose this program or membership? Is the experience satisfactory enough? Am I valued here? Why should I choose this and not the other program?

These valuable questions will help you set apart in customer loyalty and help you grow your business. Making your customers feel welcomed should be your priority. In this competitive world, the only thing that can keep you at the top is to provide something that others don’t.

For example, if you are a gym, you can add value by sharing healthy recipes with your customers. A pet-grooming business can share more information on how to take care of the pets at home. The enriching information once in while not only makes your customers feel that you care for them, but also keeps your brand on the top of their minds.



Final Words

Excellent customer service goes a long way to show the customers that you care. In return, these customers will become loyal members of your business. You can build a relationship with your customers.  Loyal customers recommend your business to friends and families. The word of mouth marketing and loyalty customer programs go hand in hand. Hence, building a relationship with your customers can become the biggest source of generating leads.

Rewards and money backs are not the only way to make your customers feel good. You can plan exclusive experiences, limited vouchers, rare discounts that are otherwise not available to others to run your customer loyalty programs.


The post How to Reward Customer Loyalty? appeared first on Advocado.

]]> What Is The Importance Of Brand Loyalty In Marketing? https://advocadoapp.com/2019/01/05/what-is-the-importance-of-brand-loyalty-in-marketing/ Sat, 05 Jan 2019 09:59:00 +0000 http://droitthemes.com/wp/saasland/2019/01/14/bloke-cracking-goal-the-full-monty-get-stuffed-mate-posh-copy/ The 21st century is a fast-paced era that is not constrained by many boundaries. Ours is a free world, where we make our choices largely as free creatures. When something fascinates us, we try to hold on to it. But as soon as we find the next shiny thing, we tend to forget about our...

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The 21st century is a fast-paced era that is not constrained by many boundaries. Ours is a free world, where we make our choices largely as free creatures. When something fascinates us, we try to hold on to it. But as soon as we find the next shiny thing, we tend to forget about our last favourite. Such is human nature.

However, this way of life that is practiced by common people is not very healthy if you view the situation from the perspective of someone who is a manufacturer or seller. This is why brand loyalty is crucial, and why it is a strategy that all smart marketers must follow! We shall discuss it in a little more detail in our next section.



What is brand loyalty?

Brand loyalty can simply be defined as the tendency of customers of purchasing products from the same brand over and over again, rather than switching to other choices. Loyal customers follow your brand and focus on buying from you, regardless of the costs or convenience. It is basically the representative of your customer’s commitment to using your services.

So, for example, consider you run a company that manufactures shoes, and 70% of your customer base returns to you for buying a new pair of shoes. Based on these figures, it can be said that you retain a good lot of your customers and that you have got yourself quite a followership.


Why is brand loyalty crucial?

Brand loyalty is an important concept in the world of marketing. Understand that presently we are living in a world where customers are flooded with choices. They have more alternatives available to them than they can try in one lifetime. So, when they come to you, it is not about their need but rather about a chance that you have got. Now it is up to you to convert that chance into an opportunity for your business by winning the loyalty of your customer. Only when you will have happy and loyal customers on your side, will you be able to survive the brutal cut-throat competition that is prevailing in the marketplace.


What is the power of brand loyalty?

Brand loyalty is a very old strategy used by marketers. When a brand thrives, it is mostly this factor that is responsible for its success. The figures that we have acquired from various sources are proof of the same-

  • Hubspot found in a survey that about 93% of the customers are more likely to purchase from a brand to which they are loyal.
  • One is required to make about 4 to 5 times more expenses in finding new customers than what he spends on retaining them.
  • According to the data by Brands Key, if you boost brand loyalty in your consumers by even 7%, you can shoot up your lifetime profits by 85% percent.
  • In that study, it was also revealed that increasing your brand loyalty by 3% can cut back your costs by 10%.
  • Current customers are likely to spend about 67% more on your brand as compared to new customers.
  • According to 65% of the consumers, if any brand offers them exceptional customer service, they are more likely to purchase from that brand again. 

 


How can you make loyal customers?

Now that we have established that customer loyalty can ensure the survival of a business, let’s move to our next step, which is to determine how you can earn the allegiance of your customers.

If you wish to make a cult of customers that are loyal to your brand, then in order to do that you must offer your consumers quality goods. If your customer will get good products from your store, they will feel satisfied, which, in turn, will ensure their loyalty.


Just like quality products, good customer service also goes a long way in retaining consumers. So, if your brand will treat your customers in the right manner, hear their grievances in time, and solve their problems without giving them much trouble, their loyalty will be yours.


In the age of digitalization, it is not very hard to win the heart of your customers. You can easily create for them a reward program where they win a certain number of points for each purchase or recommendation. Your customers can later redeem these points when they make another purchase.


You can win your loyal customers by promising them certain benefits. You can create a loyalty app for this purpose which can be downloaded on a smartphone. So, every time your customer completes one step of the loyalty program, offer him some reward.  This will ensure his return time and time again.


Conclusion:

Thus, in the present market, brand loyalty is a tool that can keep your sales soaring if you know how to use it. You can use the few options that we have suggested above to make it possible.


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]]> Do Restaurant Loyalty Programs Work? https://advocadoapp.com/2019/01/03/do-restaurant-loyalty-programs-work/ Thu, 03 Jan 2019 10:12:00 +0000 http://droitthemes.com/wp/saasland/2019/01/14/interdum-luctus-accusamus-habitant-error-nostra-nostrum-copy/ According to Hospitality Technology’s Customer Engagement Study, 45% of diners will select a restaurant if they belong to its loyalty program. So yes, loyalty programs do work in restaurants by: Making customers feel important & rewarded Bringing customers back again & again Helping the restaurant gain competitive advantage Increasing return visits, and in turn, increasing revenue...

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According to Hospitality Technology’s Customer Engagement Study, 45% of diners will select a restaurant if they belong to its loyalty program. So yes, loyalty programs do work in restaurants by:

  • Making customers feel important & rewarded
  • Bringing customers back again & again
  • Helping the restaurant gain competitive advantage
  • Increasing return visits, and in turn, increasing revenue
  • Making them your advocates
 

 

How are loyalty programs useful:

Loyalty programs are the magnet to attract and retain loyal customers. In today’s world, people are interested in trying new things, so they switch their restaurants every now and then. However, there are techniques to convert your restaurant visitors into loyal customers. Loyalty programs are at the top of the list. As a restaurant owner, you will agree it is more beneficial to retain existing visitors than to attract new ones. They already know your restaurant; all you have to do is persuade them to keep visiting. 

It is true that loyalty programs work but it is also true that sometimes they don’t. The elephant in the room is how to make your loyalty program work? How to ensure that your customers are loyal to your restaurant? And how to take advantage of these programs? Let us find the answers and learn the art of successful restaurant loyalty programs.

 
Tips For An Effective Restaurant Loyalty Program:-

1. Keep it Simple & Meaningful 

The Loyalty Programs are for retaining and reinforcing. If your restaurant loyalty program is difficult to understand then customers might just skip it. In today’s digital world everything is running fast, even the memory. If you want your customers to enrol in your restaurant loyalty program and remember you then offer a simple and meaningful program. For example, instead of burdening them with a plastic card manage your program digitally and save data on your system. Offer a pleasant experience to your customers, don’t confuse them with complex proceedings. 


2. Sign-Up Gifts

If you want people to sign up and come again later then offer an instant incentive. People might doubt coming there again just to avail the loyalty program benefits so offer them a discount on the current bill. This might ignite their interest and increase the number of sign-ups for the loyalty program. The offers that work the best are those items which is lower at cost to you, but higher in perceived value.  For example, a coffee or an ice cream.


3. A Special Welcome at Every Visit

Loyalty program members appreciate the special treatment. Train your staff to greet them personally and even offer a special welcome such as free drinks to start their experience. Give them whichever seats they like or seat them in the finest corner of your restaurant. The bonus of this step is that regular customers might also be attracted to the loyalty program after witnessing the special treatment the members receive. 


4. An Exclusive Access

Your restaurant loyalty program should be like an exclusive club. The members should enjoy some out of the reach benefits. This will encourage more and more people to join. Customers love to get what no one else can get. This is the reason why limited-edition products work so well in the market. Organize events at your restaurants just for the Loyalty program members. Reserve a few dishes in your menus and few seats in the restaurants only for the members. Provide them with the password to the WIFI connection. This will help you attract the millennials. You can also distribute coupons to only the members. Special discounts for special people.


5. Birthday Treats

Who doesn’t like discounts, that too in the most special month of the year? Birthday treats are one of the most effective ways to bring the customers back, and a must have for every restaurant. Based on our internal study, a right birthday promotion can bring back up to 66% of customers.

So wait no more, set your strategy and surprise your loyal customer on his/her birthday. Invite them with friends and family, and for them to celebrate at your restaurant.


6. Promoting your Loyalty Program

People will join your restaurant loyalty program only when they will know about it. You have to promote this program both inside and outside of the restaurant. For internal promotion, employ a push strategy. Train your staff to sell your loyalty program and to influence the customers to enrol. For external, you can use local media, pamphlets, billboards, etc. Make sure your target customers know that you will provide them benefits in return for loyalty. 

 

Conclusion:

So now you know how to start an effective loyalty program. The mantra is to provide value to your customers and make them feel important. Invest your time and effort in improving their experience with you. In return, they will come to your restaurant over your competitors, they will spend more to get a better offer, they will bring new customers, and most importantly, they will stay loyal to your restaurant. Restaurant loyalty programs work wonders when you plan them strategically and offer the best to the members. Remember to take feedbacks and improve your restaurant loyalty program for better results. 

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