5 Surprising Reasons Your Brand Loyalty Program Isn’t Working

Loyalty is a desirable quality that is thinning in the commercial world because of the intense competition in the marketplace. All product categories are overloaded with brands selling goods at different price points to grab a significant market share. However, customer churning is a constant challenge for businesses vying for the attention of their target audience. Since customer acquisitions require spending a huge amount on brand building and product marketing, entrepreneurs are now relying heavily on customer retention to grow their profits.

A loyal buyer can help increase sales through cross-selling, up-selling, referrals, customer reviews and brand advocacy. Their role has become prominent in the digital age because they offer social proof, which helps the brand gain credibility and trust among the digital audience. However, many businesses fail to incentivise their brand advocates and it leads to their turning away. Here are a few surprising reasons your brand loyalty program isn’t working. It is vital to identify these mistakes and rectify them to maintain a long-term bond with your customers.

1. Insufficient Communication With Loyal Customers

Building relationships is a constant endeavour. Businesses must create a loyalty program strategy to keep buyers engaged. This involves consistent communication with existing buyers to understand their feelings, pain points, and satisfaction levels. Regular interactions let the brand stay on top of customer’s minds, which requires sending messages through various channels. Many businesses send a thank you SMS or a season's greetings email and consider the work done. However, keeping the customers tied to the brand takes more effort.

Many budding entrepreneurs purchase a business for sale New Zealand to leverage the existing customer base. However, they often end up losing them to competitors because of a lack of communication. Buyers must be contacted often without spamming to make them feel valued and recognised by the brand for their constant support through repeat purchases.

Omnichannel loyalty program marketing is a must to keep the audience hooked on the brand. Businesses can also develop mobile apps to allow customers to browse products quickly and send them instant discount offers for instant gratification. Such initiatives will keep them engaged and prevent them from straying to other brands.

2. Making Collecting Loyalty Rewards Tedious

Loyalty programs can backfire for the business if not tested before the launch. It is vital to make the process of collecting reward points and redeeming them smooth and streamlined for the buyers. If they have to wait a long time to redeem the points or make several purchases to collect points, they will disengage. Complicated processes with several terms and conditions put off customers who may have been excited to be a part of the loyal members club.

Therefore, entrepreneurs should use focus groups to test the viability of the process and gather feedback. They must implement the suggestions and opinions of the users to amend the program features and make it more user-friendly and hassle-free. Redemption of points must offer an outstanding customer experience to buyers to stay loyal to the brand and make more purchases.

As a first step, you should make signing up for the program easier by asking for limited information. Customers should be given the details of the program in a few pointers for easy and quick understanding. They can be guided through the program with the help of friendly and patient customer service executives who provide the desired support whenever needed.

3. Creating a Standardised Loyalty Program

Customisation is the key to customer retention. It showcases the willingness of the business to maintain a long-term relationship with the buyers. It makes the customers feel special and emotionally connected to the brand because it understands their feelings and specific needs. Thus, using a standardised customer loyalty program for everyone will not work and make customers disinterested quickly. Thus, entrepreneurs must rely on customer data accumulated through surveys, CRM and customer service interactions to send personalised messages to buyers.

The loyalty program rewards and benefits must be tailored to their needs and desires. For example, if they have kept a product on their wish list, the loyalty program must offer a discount code for that product specifically. In addition, surprising buyers with offers and gifts on their special days can work wonders in retaining them.

4. Offering Insignificant Loyalty Benefits

Many businesses build a loyalty program but do not sufficiently incentivise customers. Insignificant rewards that do not resonate with customers are of no use and will not be appreciated. This reduces buyers' interest in continuing with the loyalty program and leads to disengagement. Also, many businesses offer incentives to loyal customers for transaction-based actions because they generate sales.

However, this approach is wrong and can make the customer feel exploited. If you have acquired a business for sale in New Zealand, you must make efforts to create rewards for various actions by customers that benefit the brand. For example, you could offer discount codes for posting a positive customer review, creating a video testimonial for the website, or following the brand's social media profile.

5. Using the Same Loyalty Program For Years

Loyalty programs cannot be boring in the digital age. Brands need to step up their game and provide an exciting ride to customers to make them stay. Many businesses use games like spinning wheels and contests for collecting rewards that are enjoyed by users. Using only one rewards scheme or an outdated process can turn customers away. The program must evoke feelings of thrill and enthusiasm by providing new offers at every stage of the customer lifecycle and touchpoints.

Thus, entrepreneurs who purchase businesses for sale in New Zealand must keep innovating and creating exclusive offers that astound customers. Technology and the latest trends can help them fill the gap, find new ways to stay connected with their audience, and offer incentives that take them by surprise. They must be provided with extraordinary experiences that stay etched in their minds and strengthen their relationship with the brand.

Wrapping Up

Brand loyalty is hard to build and maintain. If you are looking for business opportunities in New Zealand, avoid the loyalty program mistakes mentioned above. It is vital to make every effort to win over your customers’ hearts and minds with a diversified and innovative incentive program that keeps them engaged.