Why You Should Consider Offering a Customer Loyalty Programs

Customer loyalty programs are nothing new. In fact, small, medium, and large-sized businesses have been using them since the 1900’s. Arguably, one of the most famous loyalty programs to date just so happens to have been the start of the modern-day loyalty program. In 1981, American Airlines announced its Frequent Flier loyalty program, which set the wheels in motion for today’s version of the programs.

So are these loyalty programs simply a fad or is it something you should be considering for your own business? Before you make a decision you’ll want to read on.

What is a Customer Loyalty Program?

A customer loyalty program is very simple. In theory, it is a marketing tool that is meant to encourage repeat customers by giving them some sort of reward for doing business with you. The reward can be whatever you make it – discounts, cash back, prizes, or anything else you decide to award.

It is often referred to as “bribed loyalty”, which is true in a sense, but at the same time, it can be extremely successful.

Often people assume these loyalty programs are reserved for medium and large businesses, but in reality, any sized company can use a loyalty program.

What are the Benefits of Offering a Loyalty Program?

There are a number of benefits that a company can take advantage of simply by offering a customer loyalty program. Some of the top benefits include:

• A loyalty program can help your business to grow and expand. If your focus is on growing your company and gaining more customers, this can be a great way to go about it.
• A loyalty program can help with brand recognition and your reputation in general. These types of programs often lead to a boost in the brand’s reputation since customers feel valued and important.
• They can often result in an increase in sales. Customers will want to purchase more since they have an incentive through the loyalty program.
• Putting together one of these programs, managing it, and then offering the rewards is often very cost-effective and usually cheaper than you may originally assume it will be. It can be much more cost-effective to use a loyalty program to grow your customer base than to put together an expensive ad campaign.

How to Set Up a Loyalty Program

There is a lot involved in setting up one of these customer loyalty programs. You have to think about how you’ll market it to your customers, how you will be keeping track of customers and their rewards, how the customers will keep track of their “points”, what rewards you’ll offer, and how customers can redeem their awards.

With that said it may be best to call on the experts at 89 Degrees who can help you design, implement, and manage a successful and exciting customer loyalty program.

Start to Realize the Benefits First-Hand

A well-thought out customer loyalty program can prove to be incredibly beneficial to your company and your brand overall. If you decide to go ahead and set up a program, just be sure that it is well planned and executed so that all goes smoothly for your customers and you.