Creative Ways to Reward Loyal Customers
Everyone is familiar with the phrase, “You need to spend money to make money”. The same is true with rewards. You need to reward loyal customers to reap the rewards for your business. Rewarding customers is crucial because it instills brand trust and loyalty and keeps them coming back for more.
Why is it so important to keep loyal customers happy? This is easier and more efficient for your business than constantly finding new ones. Loyal customers are more likely to return to your business, spend more money, give great feedback, and refer others to your business.
It is important to always have customers at the heart of what you do. This will help you decide the best rewards programme for them. Although discounts and gift vouchers may immediately spring to mind, there are more creative ways to reward loyal customers.
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Provide gift vouchers to local businesses and reward loyal customers
Partner with local non-competing businesses to offer their gift vouchers to your customers and your gift vouchers to theirs. Not only does a partnership show your customers that you care about your community and other local businesses, but it also introduces your business to a whole new audience of people. It is important to select a business that has an audience you want to be in front of.
Utilise prize draws
Many of us love the idea of winning incredible prizes without having to do too much. Prize draws reward customers by giving them regular chances to win your products or services. You can get people to purchase your products/services to enter the draw, or they could sign up for your database, and you can use their email for email marketing purposes.
Invite customers who spend over a certain amount or purchase your products/services within a certain timeframe to enter a prize draw via email. You could run these prize draws weekly, monthly, or annually.
Have an early-access programme
Customers love feeling like they are in the in-crowd. Make your loyal customers feel like VIPs by giving them access to something exclusive.
You could give customers access to an early-release product or service. You could even invite these individuals to be part of a beta release for a product.
Or you could create an email list for Customers to sign up, so they are the first to hear about what’s coming up and new releases.
Hold special events
Celebrating your loyal customers with a special event creates a community that people want to be part of.
You could hold a ball, wine and cheese night, brunch, or a charity gala. Encourage people to bring along their friends and family so you can introduce your brand to a new audience.
Donate a portion of customer spend to charities
Customers are acutely aware of brands’ social responsibilities. They want to know the brands they support are ethical, treat their staff well, and support local causes.
Give back to your community and customers by allowing them to pick a charity from a few options you will donate to related to how much money they spend. Not only does this reward your customers, but it rewards your business by instilling goodwill and encouraging them to spend more to benefit others
Customer shout-outs
A great way to humanise your business and show your customers how much you appreciate them is to give them a shout-out on your social media.
This could include customer feedback, customer highlights, and user-generated content. You could even name some products/services after your loyal customers or hang their pictures in your store.
Ensure you get your customers’ permission before publicly sharing information about them.
Conclusion
Rewarding your customers will go a long way in creating brand loyalty, instilling trust in your customers, and growing your customer base.
Some creative ideas to reward loyal customers include gift vouchers from partnering businesses, prize draws, early-access programmes, special events, giving back, and providing customer shout-outs.
At Attain, we know our loyal customers and what they want. That’s why we use a SmartTrade loyalty programme to reward them. This programme allows clients to earn points through every dollar they spend, which can be spent on accommodation, products, experiences, or even a dream wedding.
If you want help with good customer experience to help drive your revenue goals, contact Attain today.
