For decades, cards and rewards programs have been very popular with Canadian consumers. Most major chains have their own program and smaller companies have every interest in taking advantage of these programs as well.
In this article, we would like to share some simple tips that we apply at Freebees to help you make your rewards program effective!
1- Reward ALL your customers
It is known that a loyal customer will earn you more than anything you could invest in acquiring new customers. So, if you want to implement a rewards or loyalty program in your business, you shouldn't choose which customers to retain.
Some will tell you that it is useless to want to retain all your customers. This is true in a sense since not all of them will be returning customers, but how and above all why try to guess who will become a loyal customer?
Offer rewards to all your customers from their first visit. If you want to create quick consumer engagement, there's no point in telling them better luck next time because there might not be any.
The Freebees platform even allows you to offer an additional reward to the customer when creating his account to increase his interest in joining your program.
Your program's tools will no doubt allow you to reward your best customers more in the future, but your main goal should be to create a sense of belonging with all your customers, right from the start.
2- Advertize your program
As is the case with most large chains that use a program, it is important to make it known and seen.
Have your employees consistently talk about your program during the customer transaction. This step should be part of their routine and training. It should never be the client's role to remember to present their program card.
Use the visual tools offered by your program or create your own promotional material to highlight it. If you are active on social media networks or if whichever way communicate with your customers, it is important to include regular information on your program and your promotional offers.
If you use a network type platform like Freebees, remember to identify it in your publications, this will help increase the visibility of the publications.
3- Value good behavior
Beyond transaction-based rewards, your program can also be a tool to recognize the good deeds of your employees or customers.
Create contests for your most efficient employees or for your most active customers, whether on in-store transactions, actions on social media networks, subscription to your newsletter or other.
4- Forget discounts!
The main benefit of a rewards program is that it allows you to eliminate direct discounts at checkout as much as possible. Do not devalue your products, but rather give value to your program.
Rather than offering a 15% discount on a product, offer 15% cash back from your program. Thus, you receive 100% of the sale amount and your customer benefits from this generous additional reward to buy with you again.
5- Keep your program active
In order to keep the interest of your customers in your program, it is important to vary the offers and promotions on a regular basis. You need to get them used to looking for products that allow them to accumulate their rewards faster.
It also allows you to direct their purchases to the products that are more profitable for you or bring customers in at specific times of the day, week or year. If you need to have more traffic at the start of the week, you will create promotions with more generous rewards from Monday to Wednesday, for example.
6 - Use the tools at your disposal
The platform you are using probably offers you a multitude of tools that you only exploit in a small part.
Take the time to familiarize yourself with your solution and do not hesitate to ask for help or assistance if possible.
As your time is precious and the management of your rewards program should not be a burden for you, some companies like Freebees offer you marketing support services and ongoing training to help you get the most out of your program.
7- Offer flexibility to your customers
An effective program must be clear and easy to use. By limiting restrictions on rewards or the ability to use them as much as possible, you greatly increase the satisfaction of your customers.
Points programs where you have to make value conversions or redeem for specific products can often cause consumer misunderstanding and frustration.
Whenever possible, let your customers decide when and how they will use their rewards with you, with no restrictions or minimums to reach.
At Freebees, for example, the customer obtains cash back from the merchant that they can spend again on the products of their choice, like any other payment method.
You would like to create your program or you have questions? Do not hesitate to contact us by email at info@freebeespay.com or by phone at 1-888-509-0388.
