(Hint: It’s not just discounts)
Loyalty cards are a popular tool for businesses to attract repeat patronage, increase brand awareness and foster meaningful customer relationships.
While this is great for consumers, it presents businesses with the problem of a highly competitive landscape, meaning that a loyalty card needs to offer more than just generic discounts to truly stand out and resonate with an audience.
So, beyond discounted products, what loyalty card features do customers actually value?
Personalised experiences
Almost every loyalty card offers some kind of discount and often these price reductions are generic, applied to the same products for every card holder.
Today’s consumers want more than that, after all, options are abundant.
To create genuine loyalty and engagement the best loyalty cards offer customers a personalised experience, tailored to their individual preferences.
This means going beyond basic discounts on products or services that a customer may likely have no interest in, and making your loyalty card intuitive.
Offer deals and recommendations based on the previous shopping behaviour of each customer, you could also grant early access to new products and provide exclusive birthday offers or free gifts.
By using the data to your advantage, you can set your loyalty program apart and give your customers a truly meaningful experience, encouraging further engagement with your brand.
Convenience
A loyalty program should be easy to join, navigate, and ultimately reap rewards from.
By integrating your loyalty card with mobile-friendly apps and intuitive interfaces you can allow customers to effortlessly track their progress and redeem rewards in any way that suits them.
Easy onboarding is also key, give your customers a simple sign up process by implementing take-one cards that they can register online or by scanning an in-store QR codes followed by a welcome email for that secondary interaction.
Provide your customers with clear step by step instructions on how they can access their loyalty program, track progress and claim rewards.
Having a long, drawn out sign up or claiming process can deter consumers from your brand but with seamless convenience, you can ensure that customers stay engaged without any unnecessary hassle.
Exclusive benefits
Of course there is an instant appeal to discounted products, but as we mentioned above, these are typically very common and don’t do much to help your business stand out.
Exclusive benefits for loyalty card holders go beyond the conventional, creating a distinctive experience that your customer will remember and value.
These can include early access to seasonal sales and new releases not available to the general public, member only events such as product launches and limited time promotions.
By offering exclusive bonuses to loyalty program members, you not only encourage initial sign up, but you also create a sense of urgency, encourage engagement and build excitement around your products and services.
Remember if customers are enjoying the rewards of your loyalty program, they are more likely to encourage others to get involved, which is a win-win for both your business and the consumers.
Emotional engagement
Building an emotional connection with your customers can be a game-changer.
A loyalty program should be about more than just transactional value, it should create emotional engagement from participants. This not only humanises your brand, it also allows you to build real bonds with your audience.
One impactful way to evoke emotions is by aligning your brand with social causes that resonate with your customers. Partnering with charities or supporting community initiatives communicates to your audience that your company cares about more than just profits and makes them feel good about making a purchase.
You can also introduce gamified experiences with points and badges to add a fun element to your reward program. Assign points for various interactions, purchases or engagements, allowing customers to unlock different levels and earn rewards or organise member-only contests and giveaways.
Arguably the most fundamental element of building emotional engagement is displaying appreciation, a simple ‘Thank you for signing up’ email or ‘Thank you for your purchase’ will make your customers feel instantly appreciated.
Transparency and trust
Transparency is key to building trust and loyalty from your audience.
Your loyalty program should be clear in its rules, giving customers precise instructions on how to earn and claim rewards, with any limitations or conditions that apply being abundantly clear from the offset.
Clearly outline how points are earned, the value they hold and the range of benefits available to manage customer expectations and also enhance the customers sense of accomplishment when redeeming rewards.
This transparency also extends to your data practices. Openly communicate how customer data is collected, stored and utilised within the loyalty program, emphasising your commitment to data security and privacy compliance.
When customers are aware of the guidelines governing your loyalty program, it instils a sense of fairness and understanding, reducing the risk of ambiguity and misunderstandings.
Loyalty cards from Certus Card Group
As a leading plastic and board card manufacturer, Certus Card Group has advanced manufacturing capabilities, meaning that we can produce custom designed cards for a range of applications. Our cutting edge printing technologies ensure that we can help you to create eye-catching cards that stand the test of time.
We have provided customised cards to some of the country’s most well known brands including Pets at Home, Wagamama and Cineworld. See our work here!
