Omnichannel Loyalty Programs: What are They and How to Create One?

With omnichannel loyalty programs that are well-designed, you can reach your clients in a fairly effective way to build brand loyalty. Here you can learn about what an omnichannel loyalty program is and how your company can create one.

Attracting customers and keeping them around for repeated sales can be a difficult thing. For this purpose companies use a variety of methods. Along with many other marketing methods, you can use different types of loyalty programs in this area.

Of course, relying on a single channel when running these programs may not always be the best idea. Basically, for making it possible for your loyalty program to reach customers through numerous channels, omnichannel loyalty programs can be utilized. Below you can find information about what these programs are, what channels are used for them and how to start one.

What are Loyalty Programs and How Do They Work?

When it comes to marketing strategies that are designed to attract and keep customers, many examples can be talked about. Among these strategies, loyalty programs can be useful when used properly. Simply put, these programs are mostly focused around creating loyalty to the brand.

A loyalty program offers various incentives to the clients to keep working with or buying from the brand. These incentives can be in the form of lower prices or certain rewards for shopping at the store. As a way of retaining customers, loyalty programs can be worth utilizing.

What is the Goal of a Loyalty Program?

Companies often create valuable goods or offer services for customers and aim to make a profit in return. Aside from the quality of the goods or services provided by the company, marketing can be another factor that can influence sales.

While it can be crucial to attract new customers, it is also important to retain the ones that company has. As its name suggests, a loyalty program is carried out to increase brand loyalty. In essence, the goal of a loyalty program is generating more sales.

What is an Omnichannel Loyalty Program?

B2C or B2B loyalty programs are utilized by many companies in order to keep the already existing customers. When carrying out these programs, companies can choose between the channels that they will use for this. They can do this depending on various factors like their resources, goals and capabilities.

Some of the examples of channels that can be used for a loyalty program are the company’s website, social media platforms and physical stores. In omnichannel loyalty programs multiple channels are used, instead of just one.

The Difference Between Conventional and Omnichannel Loyalty Programs

As time goes on, marketing strategies get more varied and more options are available in this area. While a conventional loyalty program is often quite simple, now it is possible to create more elaborate loyalty programs.

Basically the difference between an omnichannel and a conventional loyalty program is that in an omnichannel loyalty program you can use many channels. This can allow companies to create more detailed programs which may possibly be more effective compared to the traditonal approach.

What are the Channels Used in Omnichannel Loyalty Programs?

Before beginning to construct omnichannel loyalty programs, it is first necessary to know about the channels that are used in these programs. In a loyalty program where multiple channels are utilized, the company’s physical stores can be one of the channels.

Aside from the company’s physical stores, another channel in these programs can be the online assets of the company like its website and social media pages. Also, mobile apps can be used as another channel in loyalty programs. Now let’s take a more detailed look into these channels.

Build Up Your Online Presence and Use It for Your Loyalty Program

A strong online presence can be utilized in an omnichannel loyalty program. So it can be a good idea to develop online assets such as a company website, e-commerce, and social media pages. Then these assets can be used in the loyalty program to reach your audience. Through these channels personalized suggestions can be made to the customers.

Utilize Your Physical Stores for More Customer Loyalty

Although online shopping is very popular today, many customers still prefer going to physical stores for purchases. So even though a company’s online presence can be important, utilizing this channel shouldn’t be forgotten either.

In your physical stores don’t forget to take the necessary steps to improve customer experience. As far as the loyalty program, make the whole process easier and convenient in the stores for attracting more loyal customers.

Don’t Forget to Harness the Power of Mobile in Omnichannel Loyalty Programs

From online shopping to spending time on the internet and various apps, many people use their smartphones a lot for different purposes. Therefore, as time spent on mobile devices is fairly high for many people, utilizing this channel can be a smart idea for marketers.

A suitable app for the brand can be built for using this channel in an omnichannel loyalty program. Then the loyalty program’s points can be tracked through the app and many different types of relevant information. Also, the process can be turned into a game to make it more appealing to the customers.

Become a Bigger Part of Your Customers’ Lives

Instead of being very direct with your approach, you can build your omnichannel loyalty program in a more elaborate and indirect way. For example, by rewarding customers for various positive behaviors and appealing to their lifestyle choices, you may aim to become a larger part of their lives. As your customers see your brand more on more in different areas, a sense of familiarity can be developed.

Why Utilize an Omnichannel Loyalty Program?

Since retaining customers and generating more sales are aimed at with a loyalty program, reaching more people can be beneficial. Many channels can be used in a loyalty program and designing it in an omnichannel way can allow it to potentially reach a wider audience.

Limiting the program to few channels may have its advantages. However, by carrying out a loyalty program through all channels, more customers may use it. In turn, an omnichannel loyalty program can increase brand loyalty better.

How to Create Omnichannel Loyalty Programs

Firstly, establish whether an omnichannel loyalty program is right for your company or not. Then of course, focus on creating an understanding around the channels which will be used for the program. Also, remember to know your audience well and create a program suitable for your customers.

While developing your loyalty program, make sure to keep the needs of your company in this area in mind as well. Moreover, remember to decide on the goals and track the progress. In addition, consider the company’s budget for the program, too.

Omnichannel Loyalty Program Examples

As they can be a valuable tool for a company to retain its customers and generate more sales over time, many companies make use of loyalty programs focused around these goals. While some loyalty programs are done through a single channel, some of them are designed to be omnichannel programs.

In order to better understand what an omnichannel loyalty program is, it can be a good idea to examine some examples in this area. For instance, omnichannel loyalty programs carried out by Starbucks and Sephora can be good examples to learn about. So let’s take a quick look at these programs.

1. Starbucks

Since it is the biggest coffeehouse chain in the world, we can say that Starbucks may know a thing or two about marketing. As a method to keep its existing customers coming back for more, the company carries out a rewards program.

Instead of using a traditional card, Starbucks operates this program through its app. Along with making the points easier to track, the company gets access to various types of information, like the user’s product preferences, with this method. This allows the company to collect some relevant information about customers.

2. Sephora

Beauty products can be quite expensive and loyalty programs can be a win-win for both customers and companies selling such products. Beauty Insider reward program of Sephora can be a good example of a loyalty program that offers customers more than a traditional approach would.

In this program, customers are offered a good amount of versatility about how they can use the points they earn with purchases. For example, they can choose to spend their points on discounts, gift cards, or exclusive products.

Conclusion

One of the basic goals of a company can be to find customers and to keep them. Loyalty programs are one of the methods to retain customers for a company. In order to maintain already existing customers, you can utilize omnichannel loyalty programs, which use multiple channels.

Various options like websites, social media, mobile apps and physical stores are among the loyalty program channels that you can employ. You may use a combination of these channels in an omnichannel loyalty program and with a proper approach, you can achieve good results.

You can reach our previous article from https://www.apexloyalty.com/how-to-enhance-lifecycle-marketing-with-loyalty-programs/