By: Epsilon Marketing | October 10, 2018
Loyalty marketing has shifted from transactions to experiences. Though
we’ve been discussing the transition for well over five years now. It’s been
our strategic vision, an integral component of our marketing plans. So what’s
the difference today versus five years ago? Primarily, it’s the power of new
technology that allows us to implement our strategic vision and connect with
loyalty members to create lifetime loyalty through personalized experiences.
44% of shoppers believe that the rewards they’re
being offered are irrelevant, making it imperative that loyalty marketers
continue to evolve the value exchange of their loyalty program.
Experiential rewards are one way to create more value for
customers and now the focus of most loyalty programs. For example, marketers
are including bonus promotions within their programs that give way to exclusive
experiences and auctions. Further, new programs are launching exclusive tiered
structures where, in addition to earning points, members are given elite access
to special events and limited availability items. Consumers have come to expect
these relevant experiences and look forward to them, especially when they
involve an element of surprise and delight.
So how can you ensure that you’re creating and providing relevant
experiences to your members? Consider these three tips:
Get more personal
There's no doubt that consumers crave personalized experiences. In
fact, 80% of consumers are more likely to do business with
a company that offers personalized experiences. As advancements in loyalty
marketing continue, and marketers embrace the experiential component of
loyalty, the role of personalization becomes more important. And through
powerful technology platforms we’re able to do it effectively – in real time –
to create meaningful experiences for consumers. As Jeff Rosenfeld, Vice President of Customer Insights of
Neiman Marcus says, "Personalization is the new loyalty."
So how can marketers add more personalization to the experiential
loyalty program? By leveraging data insights to truly get to know members
through extensive analytics (predictive, modeling, etc.) and by developing
algorithms to understand behavior and act on these behaviors in real time.
Add an element of fun
Think of ways in which you can put the fun in fulfilling loyalty
experiences for members. For example, gamification is an effective way to
engage consumers, as well as employees and franchise owners, across
a variety of touch points. Gamification strategies can motivate consumers and
provide higher and more meaningful levels of engagement. Humans are hard-wired
to enjoy games and have a natural tendency to interact more deeply in
activities that are framed in a game construct. Starbucks, for instance, uses
gamification tactics to enhance the experience of its members. As members log
into the Starbucks Rewards app, they are greeted with ‘surprise’ bonus star
opportunities that generate excitement upon clicking on the app to uncover what
the ‘total surprise star reward’ will be. 100 stars might be offered for
visiting a Starbucks four times after 2:00 pm within a week. And the program
has proven results. Membership in Starbucks Rewards grew 11% year-over-year to 13.3 million active members
in the U.S., with member spend representing 36% of U.S. company-operated sales.
Be consistent
As you continue to advance your experiential marketing, remember
to be consistent with your messaging, offers and experiences in all channels.
Marketers can often become laser-focused on ‘channel success’ from marketing
efforts, but they can lose sight of the role of other channels. For instance,
consumers still crave the retail brick and mortar experience - in fact, 80% of clothing and shoe purchases still take
place in traditional brick and mortar stores. So think of ways you can offer
experiential loyalty rewards that are integrated across channels. Select
retailers, like Brooks Brothers and Nordstrom, are now offering customized
tailoring services as an experiential reward. To be consistent with this type
of experience, these retailers could also offer an online personal shopping
assistant to help select clothes from the new fall collection; then these
clothing items can be shipped to the store for free where the shopper
experiences in-store tailoring services. Each channel is related to one another
and consistency is key.
To learn more about powering lifetime connections in the retail
ecosystem listen to our recent webinar.
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