Why Businesses Need a Message-Enabled Loyalty Program

A successful loyalty program is one that makes the overall brand experience better—as perceived by your customers. There’s significant opportunity to drive business growth, retention and customer satisfaction through loyalty programs as only 22% of Members^[1] felt their experience was better than non-Member customers. Only 29% felt the program made their experience with the brand better.

A message-enabled loyalty program can change this. Research conducted by C3Interactive found that 9 in 10 consumers prefer to interact with a brand’s loyalty program via text message. In fact, the study found that 64% of brands reported an increase in loyalty program membership and attributed it to the addition of mobile components, such as messaging.

Brands also reported that 27% of loyalty communications were experienced via SMS. While you may think that dividends, such as rewards and earning points are the highlights of a loyalty program, experience with the program was rated by consumers as the highest driver.

Take a look at the top five drivers of consumer satisfaction with loyalty programs and you’ll see four are based on experience rather than dividends.

1. Program meets needs
2. Enjoy participating in the program
3. Program makes brand experience better
4. Ease of redemption
5. Program consistent with brand expectations

Create a Message-Enabled Loyalty Program Focused on Better Experiences

1. Use Status Update Messages

Research also finds that anticipation of redemption is just as satisfying as redeeming the reward. But 57% of Members admitted they had no idea of their points or what they could do with them.

• Send periodic messages that update Members about their point balance
• Include a teaser about how close they are to reaching the next tier—and why that’s relevant to them

2. Help Them Set a Redemption Goal

Thirty-four percent of Members admitted they also did not have a redemption goal. With no intended use for their accumulating points, satisfaction with the loyalty program dropped to 43% for these Members.

• Use texting to survey them about what they want from a loyalty program and use those insights to craft new text messages that suggest redemption goals based on their preferences
• Get them to declare a redemption goal and send them messages with tips on how to reach it—as well as kudos for each activity that brings them closer to reaching it

3. Maintain Engagement After Redemption

Surprisingly, Members are most vulnerable to attrition after redeeming a reward. Receiving the reward can literally be a let-down which means you need a messaging plan to keep them engaged and get them to begin anticipating their next redemption goal.

• Congratulate them on their redemption and include a request for feedback in your message
• Send a message with tips or a link to content on how to get even more value from the reward/product they redeemed and/or complementary products they may also enjoy
• Help them set their next redemption goal

Customer experience is critical to customer loyalty and longevity. A message-enabled loyalty program allows you to be more responsive and relevant by incorporating personal details and addressing known preferences.

The Bottom Line

A messaging automation platform, integrated with your CRM provides a 360 degree conversational history of all incoming and outgoing messages giving you greater insights into what engages and drives repeat customer purchases and loyalty. By focusing your loyalty program on messages that drive improved experiences, it’s also possible to compete against other brand programs that offer richer dividends. Since 76% of Members agree that the program is part of their relationship with the brand, it’s a solid goal to prioritize improving your customers’ experience with messaging.

^[1] The Loyalty Report 2017
http://info.bondbrandloyalty.com/2017-loyalty-report