You probably already know all too well the critical role that customer retention plays in your brand’s success. It’s not enough to attract new customers to your business—in order to be successful, you need to keep existing customers coming back.
When you retain current customers, your business benefits greatly. Existing customers spend more and cost less than acquiring new customers would. And while high customer retention is far from easy to accomplish—especially with so many modern consumers willing to jump ship—there are tools and techniques to help you get there.
Let’s talk about customer loyalty software: what it is, why it’s beneficial, and how it helps businesses like yours build long-lasting customer relationships.
What Is Customer Loyalty Software and How Does It Improve Retention?
Remember the old-school hole punch and stamp loyalty cards used to build customer loyalty and increase retention? Those outdated techniques are a thing of the past. Instead, more and more businesses are exploring how software can help them build relationships and retain existing customers.
Customer loyalty software describes the technology that’s used to facilitate a brand’s customer loyalty program. Improving customer loyalty comes with some major benefits to your brand, such as:
- Keeping your brand top of mind: Forget about punch cards that get thrown out or lost at the bottom of someone’s bag. Customer loyalty software keeps your brand top of mind with modern and effective rewards.
- Increasing repeat purchases: Loyal customers are more likely to come back and make repeat purchases. Customer loyalty software drives repeat purchases by incentivizing loyalty with frequent, engaging rewards.
- Encouraging more spending: Customer loyalty software makes it easy for brands to encourage increased spending by upselling to existing consumers, directly resulting in higher profits and increased ROI.
- Instilling a sense of loyalty: By creating a personal connection between each individual customer and your brand, you can instill a sense of loyalty that not only keeps them coming back to your business, but also increases referrals.
Tips for Retaining Customers with Quality Customer Loyalty Software
While the benefits to using customer loyalty software are clear, not all loyalty marketing programs are equally effective. You can retain more customers with a strategic loyalty program and top-quality software that checks off every box.
Unsure of how to get started? Give these customer retention tips a try:
1. Ensure it’s user friendly.
The customer experience should always be top of mind when crafting your loyalty program. To offer the best customer experience possible—and hopefully build loyal, lifelong brand advocates in the process—make sure your loyalty program app is user friendly and intuitive, with a clean interface and easy-to-use features.
2. Use gamification to engage.
Who says customer loyalty programs can’t be fun? Gamification is a great way to engage consumers and increase program adoption. Gamified loyalty programs incorporate weekly challenges, unlockable badges, and other fun elements to incentivize certain actions and engage customers in an interactive way.
3. Make rewards attainable.
Research reveals the number one complaint when it comes to customer loyalty programs is that it takes too long to earn a reward. Another common (and related) complaint is that rewards are often too difficult to earn. Make sure your loyalty rewards are both timely and attainable, so customers are more likely to earn and enjoy them.
4. Offer exciting rewards.
The average consumer belongs to 14 loyalty programs, but actively uses just half of the rewards they receive. To stand out in the crowd, you need to proactively find ways to make your loyalty app extra engaging. A great way to do that is with exciting rewards that customers actually want, such as VIP upgrades, free merchandise or services, special discounts, free shipping, cash back, and/or charitable donations.
5. Personalize the experience.
Customer loyalty programs are centered around building close, lasting relationships with your brand, which is why personalization is key. Rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach that’s generic and impersonal, consider using data to customize messaging and offers for each loyal customer. For example, if a customer continuously purchases the same product from your brand, you might offer a discount for it in the future.
Boosting Your Brand’s Customer Retention with Baesman
Increasing customer retention is tricky business—but it’s far from impossible. Armed with the right technology and a strategic partner like Baesman, you can boost customer loyalty and build lasting relationships that benefit your brand for years to come.
Want to learn more about customer loyalty programs from the experts? Download your free eBook, Customer Loyalty Programs: What You Need to Know.
