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You can’t create a transactional brand anymore — you can’t be only about the first purchase. Retention has to be top of mind.
Customer loyalty and engagement create a sustainable ecommerce business.
And that’s a fact.
According to research from Bain & Co, lifting customer retention by only 5% can increase profits between 25% to 95%.
But how do you build a loyal customer base that goes beyond a one-time transaction?
It starts with taking a customer-centric approach and cultivating relationships with your biggest fans to drive repeat business. It ends with choosing the right customer engagement dashboard.
Building a genuine connection with your audience is a game changer. It excites your customers about your brand and sets you apart from the competition, helping you avoid churn and a profit dip.
Here are five of the best strategies for boosting customer loyalty and your bottom line.
Create a loyalty program. Sounds like a no-brainer, right?
But if you opt-in for a rewards structure stuck in the dark ages, you won’t see enough retention to drive an uptick in revenue.
The secret to crafting an impactful loyalty program is to go beyond meaningless points and use personalization to create a customer-centric approach.
It starts with kicking “points for likes” to the curb.
Customers want rewards that matter with real, tangible value, like cashback and in-store credit, or creative perks like exclusive access to product drops or special collectibles.
Next, your loyalty program needs to go beyond cookie-cutter to thrive.
That’s where personalization comes into play.
A successful rewards program hinges on tailoring your perks and brand to match your customers' interests, making them feel like VIPs, and giving them enough incentive to keep coming back.
Let's look at an example.
Gardencup had a problem. Its loyalty program, the Gardenclub, wasn’t activating, the activities were boring, and it wasn’t driving engagement or revenue.
After strategic discussions, the brand decided to rebuild its loyalty program to hinge upon time spent on the subscription.
Its “power eaters” can earn 3%-9% cashback on every order. The more you spend, the more tiers you unlock, the bigger your discounts and rewards.
This shift makes the loyalty journey an exciting and immersive experience. Your customers feel genuinely valued, and it forms a hard-to-beat connection that boosts retention and sales.
It’s no secret.
Referrals are the lifeblood of any business.
But if you’re only asking your customers to refer a friend post-purchase or relying on the ‘Give $10, Get $10’ module in the footer of your website - you’re missing out.
To take your revenue (and customer engagement) up a notch, activate your customers in an omnichannel world with referral passes on their mobile.
No matter where your customers are (on the beach, at work, or in the gym), if your brand comes up, they can refer you on the spot with an exclusive code.
Hello, constant referrals!
TOKI can set up your branded Google or Apple Wallet pass and incentivize card downloads with kickbacks of your choice.
You can also set up a rewards activity to reward a friend for joining the rewards program. It’s a much smaller ask that gets your foot in the door with a new potential customer.
But the biggest business benefit?
Push notifications.
A branded Google or Apple Wallet referral pass means you can skip the chaos of email and SMS chatter and connect to your loyalty members without an app download.
Use the communication channel to remind customers about your referral program, highlight promotions, and use location-based pushes to drive more sales anytime, anywhere.
Scavenger hunts. Creative challenges. Polls. Surveys.
Each one is a powerful tool on your customer engagement dashboard to foster a sense of brand loyalty to drive revenue growth.
Let’s look at a few examples.
You’re launching a new collection for your activewear line. You want to generate buzz and engagement that truly ACTIVATES your audience beyond social media and email blasts.
Enter digital scavenger hunts.
It encourages your customers to explore your new product line, increasing product visibility and rewarding your day ones for taking part.
Challenges are a fun way to improve your retention and referral program.
Gardencup motivates its audience with three action items:
Lastly, polls, quizzes, and surveys are an invaluable opportunity to collect insights into your customer preferences and use zero-party data to improve your offerings and marketing strategies.
Add a quiz to your home page, a survey post-purchase, or poll your customers on their likes and dislikes.
By engaging customers through interactive content, you establish a more meaningful connection that extends beyond transactions, ultimately boosting customer loyalty and keeping your brand top of mind.
How involved is your audience with your brand?
If the answer is “not at all,” it’s time to switch things up.
Co-creation allows you to create a sense of brand ownership. This involvement nurtures a deeper emotional connection as your audience sees their preferences and opinions shaping the brand's direction.
Other benefits include:
RAIZE is an excellent example of co-creation done right.
The online bakery collaborates with its loyalty members on new cookie flavor drops. Using TOKI, those votes are weighted against their loyalty tier.
The result? Superfans get more votes and early access to exclusive drops. This collaboration translates to higher sales because members are invested in the process and eagerly awaiting the batch of cookies they helped to create.
On the other side, RAIZE gets to see what’s resonating with their real customers without relying on educated guesses.
Say goodbye to unsold inventory and hello to maximizing revenue!
Here are more examples of co-creation in action from some of the world’s top brands:
To have a successful retention strategy, you have to create relationships with your customers. Deliver value at every touch point, products and perks they actually want, and create a community — customers want to be heard, they want a connection.
Single-player loyalty programs are out.
Multiplayer is your strategic ace up your sleeve.
Why?
You’re creating a perk your competitors can’t duplicate.
By pooling your resources, you can offer more diversified and enticing perks, amplifying your value proposition and introducing your brand to new audiences.
That’s a powerful way to foster brand loyalty while expanding your reach and brand visibility.
But there’s only one small problem.
Well, two.
The answer to both those questions is simple.
TOKI.
The Smart Matcher feature on the customer engagement dashboard helps you search for alliance brands across the TOKI ecosystem. You’ll also receive AI recommendations to make the process easier, and setting up the loyalty alliance takes only three clicks.
That’s it.
Want to learn more about driving revenue with loyalty? Here are a few answers to the most commonly asked questions.
Loyalty programs increase revenue because you’re driving customer satisfaction and rewarding retention. The happier someone is with your brand, and the more valued they feel, the less likely they are to leave and buy from a competitor.
The key drivers are trust, aspiration and exclusivity, personalization, identity-led loyalty, and an enjoyable customer experience. A loyalty program helps you achieve each one.
According to a study by McKinsey, the top-performing loyalty programs boost revenue by 15% to 25% annually.
Generating revenue growth from customer loyalty doesn’t need to be rocket science.
By adjusting your strategy to a more customer-centric approach, you can create interactive and engaging experiences your superfans will love.
Embrace the power of personalization, challenges, brand alliances, co-creating with your audience, and curating a loyalty program that does more than dish out points for likes.
With TOKI as your customer engagement dashboard partner, you’ll have a comprehensive toolkit to help you drive more revenue while making sure your day ones always feel rewarded.
How much revenue, you ask?
Ready to try the modern loyalty playbook? Get started with TOKI for free.
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