The greatest revenue-generating potential a loyalty program can tap into is from a brand’s segment of customers who visit sometimes, but not always.
Each segment of customers visits at a particular frequency. Customers with medium-to-high frequency are giving the brand nearly all their possible visits. Since they are already regular customers, getting them to visit more can be tricky. On the other hand, low-frequency customers are visiting occasionally, but other brands are being visited by them more frequently. The potential to move low-frequency customers into a higher-frequency segment is where the value of any successful loyalty program comes into play—as the goal is to steal visits from the competition.
If the value of your loyalty program depends on your ability to attract lower-frequency members, how do you do it? There are three key factors.
- Design a program for the low-frequency segment. Focus the design on low-frequency customers. They will need to understand the value proposition quickly and be compelled to join on the spot.
A well-designed program motivates customers to change their behavior. It will motivate customers early in their membership lifetime by rewarding them for positive behavior. Until members have experienced their first earned reward, they will be skeptical of the program. Make sure your small frequency rewards are desirable to the target audience.
- Make it easy for people to join and participate. Your best customers will eagerly join your program. They will download a mobile app, connect their credit card, complete a long enrollment form and possibly pay a fee. They know there will be a benefit in joining.
To compel low-frequency customers to enroll, the program needs to be easy to join. The more ways that customers can do so, the more likely the brand is to reach a critical mass of members. Offer multiple ways to join the program, such as through mobile apps, text-to-join, mobile-friendly registration web pages, kiosks, iPads in the store and even paper registration forms. We have seen incremental increases in new members with each type of registration process added to a program.
- Never stop enrolling new members. Growth beyond the first few months depends on attracting low and infrequent segments. They may not visit you during the first two months of the program, so if you stop enrolling at that point, you’ll miss them. Also, since new customers tend to visit with lower frequency in the beginning, you need to get them to join your program when they discover you.
Getting low-frequency customers into your reward program is the key to producing incremental revenue. Experienced partners know how to design the program to attract this group of clientele, employing ongoing enrollment campaigns that are designed to compel the infrequent group to join the ranks of the brand’s more engaged customer. Download the data brief “Target Low-Frequency Guests. Here's Why.” to learn more.
This post is sponsored by Paytronix