If you hadn’t noticed, we’re living in turbulent times.

So it’s reassuring to learn that customer loyalty is alive and well, with a survey published in early 2021 finding that 57 percent of consumers remained loyal to their favorite brands despite the challenges of the previous year.

That’s fantastic news for brands, with research from KPMG revealing:

• 86 percent of loyal customers will recommend a company to friends and family;
• 66 percent will write a positive online review after a good experience; and
• 46 percent will remain loyal even after a bad experience.

But we can’t afford to be complacent.

However brilliant your product, affordable your prices are, and fantastic your customer service, there’s always another brand (or, more likely, hundreds of brands) trying to poach your hard-won customers.

So customer loyalty needs to be a constant focus of your marketing strategy.

That’s why I’ve once again dipped into our vast vault of e-commerce emails to round up this selection of killer customer loyalty email examples to help you build and maintain loyalty in your customer base.

The 7 Best Customer Loyalty Email Examples

1. Old Navy

2. Anthropologie

3. Brooklinen

4. L’Occitane

5. Happy Socks

6. Tuft & Needle

7. Joybird

1. Old Navy

Customer loyalty programs are an obvious solution to keep your audience coming back time after time.

Sure, there are a lot of loyalty programs around. But 52 percent of customers say they’re happy to join a rewards program for a brand they feel loyalty toward.

However, they aren’t a guaranteed win. KPMG’s survey flags up some challenges with persuading customers—especially those in younger demographics—to sign up. Indeed, one in seven Millennials doesn’t belong to a single loyalty program, while 69 percent find them difficult to join and earn rewards from.

What’s more, 78 percent of Millennials (and 75 percent of all consumers) would switch to a brand with a better program, which shows loyalty schemes can be something of a double-edged sword.

Given the findings of KPMG’s research, there’s no small amount of pressure on brands to build an attractive loyalty program and communicate its benefits effectively.

Old Navy shows us how to get it right.

Let’s break this down. For the program—Navyist Rewards—to achieve the desired results, it must:

• Be easy to understand;
• Offer a simple way to accrue rewards; and
• Provide rewards that are sufficiently attractive.

This customer loyalty email tackles each of those points. There’s even a section of the email that offers further, more specific, detail:

Earning one point per dollar spent is both easy to understand and a simple way to acquire rewards.

And the promise of members-only offers, birthday bonus points, and “special perks” makes the program sound even more attractive.

2. Anthropologie

One in three shoppers says retailers need to work harder to deliver more personalized experiences, according to data from Forrester Research. That proportion increases to two in five for households earning more than $100,000 a year.

Those eye-catching statistics suggest the key to long-term customer loyalty lies in leveraging data to create highly individual user journeys.

But things are never that simple. Forrester’s survey throws a spanner in the works by pointing out that 52 percent of shoppers worry retailers know too much about them, with 46 percent admitting they feel uncomfortable with the amount of information that retailers can collect.

What does this tell us? Perhaps it’s best to keep personalized experiences and rewards as un-creepy as possible.

Rather than congratulating your customers on their new haircut or that outfit they wore to the theater last Thursday, stick to something simple.

Anthropologie strikes the right balance between “personalized” and “creepy” with a customer loyalty email offering an exclusive birthday discount:

Sure, your date of birth is still personal information, but it doesn’t feel overly intrusive revealing it to a brand.

And while it might not be the most original example of personalization, sometimes it’s best to stick with the classics (so you don’t scare anyone off).

3. Brooklinen

We’re all guilty of occasionally suffering from “main character syndrome”—the impression that the world revolves around us and everyone else is just supporting our personal narrative.

So it’s no surprise that we enjoy it when brands make us feel like the most important person on the planet.

Singling out customers by crafting personalized communications and offers is a fantastic way to make them feel special and strengthen your relationship with them. And the stronger your relationships, the more loyal your customers will be.

Brooklinen clearly understands this. In this customer loyalty email example, the luxury bedding brand reaches out with a personalized product curation informed by our previous browsing habits:

The idea that a brand has taken the time to craft bespoke product recommendations just for us makes us feel like we’re a real priority (even though, as marketers, we know those recommendations are driven by an algorithm rather than a real-life personal shopper).

4. L’Occitane

One of the most impactful ways to demonstrate that you care about your customers and want to make them happy is to regularly ask for their feedback.

When consumers feel empowered to highlight the things they like and dislike about your business, they’re more likely to stick around.

That’s why customer surveys are a useful tool in building loyalty.

More than that, they give you a meaningful way of gauging how loyal your customers are. Analyzing historic customer data will only tell you so much; just because someone has bought from you three times in the last six months, there are no guarantees they’ll buy again.

Sure, you might not get very far by asking a customer: “How loyal are you?” But you can definitely glean their overall satisfaction from a customer survey.

And, as Qualtrics explains, high levels of satisfaction are “strong predictors of customer and client retention, loyalty, and product repurchase”.

Now, let’s take a look at how L’Occitane uses email marketing to drive survey uptake:

The beauty and skincare brand goes out of its way to make the survey feel personal.

It’s not just trying to improve customer service or streamline the path to purchase; it’s striving to curate your experience.

And rather than asking us to answer some generic questions, it wants us to share how we shop.

These personalized elements can be highly impactful, with research from Qualtrics showing that personalized surveys can increase response rates by as much as 48 percent.

5. Happy Socks

We’ve deduced that surveys are a valuable tool in your efforts to boost customer loyalty.

But while there’s value in simply showing you care about people’s opinions, your surveys are clearly going to be more valuable if you generate a lot of responses.

After all, if only a tiny fraction of recipients complete your survey, the data you generate won’t be substantial enough to draw any firm conclusions.

One way to boost survey responses is simply to send a follow-up email or two, just like Happy Socks does here:

Remember: your customers are busy. And, as much as you’d like it to be, your survey likely isn’t their number one priority.

Qualtrics recommends sending between one and three “gentle reminders” off the back of your initial survey email. Your campaign timings could look like this:

• Day 1: Send initial survey email
• Day 3: First follow-up
• Day 6: Second follow-up
• Day 10: Final follow-up

Each email should feature refreshed copy and creative so it doesn’t feel like you’re spamming recipients.

Of course, that’s easier said than done. Ultimately, you’re looking to drive the same action—completing the survey—from each email, so there are only so many angles you can take.

Happy Socks offers an incentive for completing the survey, which is one potential approach.

Another is to provide initial feedback on the data you’ve already gathered or the number of responses you’ve received. According to Qualtrics, this tactic “can really help to close the loop and demonstrate the value of the respondent’s contribution”.

6. Tuft & Needle

We know corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives can play a major role in customer acquisition, with 79 percent of consumers saying they make a particular effort to buy from brands that appear to align with their personal values.

The impact of CSR on customer loyalty is discussed less frequently—but can be just as significant.

Indeed, research published in the journal Sustainable Production and Consumption concludes: “High corporate abilities with well-executed corporate social responsibility initiatives lead to high loyalty”.

We’ve written a whole article about our favorite social responsibility emails, but here’s a good example from Tuft & Needle:

This is a super-effective customer loyalty email because it leverages a key issue for consumers: the environment.

According to Deloitte, climate change is the greatest concern for Gen Z and the third-biggest concern for Millennials. By highlighting its efforts to help the environment by planting trees in wildfire-affected regions, Tuft & Needle is tapping into an issue that’s sure to resonate with its customers.

Not only that, but the email also successfully ties in a commercial element: for every purchase made, it’ll plant a tree.

It’s a rare example of a brand demonstrating its CSR credentials while also driving sales, without coming across as pushy or insincere.

7. Joybird

Ever walked out of a store feeling delighted at the service you received?

Or been left overjoyed by a customer support agent who truly went the extra mile to answer your query or solve your problem?

I know I have.

And if you’re anything like me, after experiencing fantastic service, you’ll feel more loyal to the brand that delivered it.

This isn’t just a matter of personal opinion. Research from KPMG shows that customer service is the fourth-most important factor in building customer loyalty (cited by 56 percent of respondents), behind only product quality, value for money, and product consistency:

That means it’s in your interest to emphasize the quality of your customer service in your customer loyalty emails.

Home decor brand Joybird does this by explaining how it recreates the in-store experience for customers who don’t feel comfortable—or aren’t able—t0 visit a brick-and-mortar store.

By leveraging a variety of platforms (including phone calls for the less digitally savvy), Joybird makes it as simple as possible for customers to access its virtual showroom appointments.

It’s an excellent example of a brand going out of its way to deliver the best possible customer service, even when faced with significant external challenges (in this case, a terrifying global pandemic).

Conclusion

Clearly, there’s no such thing as a single customer loyalty email template that’s guaranteed to work for every brand.

From inviting your audience to take part in customer satisfaction surveys to demonstrating your corporate social responsibility credentials, there are lots of potential avenues you can take.

As ever, the best thing you can do is focus on your audience.

If you can make them feel special and give them a meaningful reason to buy into your brand, you’ll go a long way to building a loyal customer base.

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Rose & Rex’s VIP exclusive rewards

One of the biggest benefits of email marketing is the ability to segment your customer base and send different emails to different types of customers. For example, sending specific emails to your loyalty program members offering exclusive rewards is a great ecommerce email marketing strategy. You can then send an entirely different email to customers who are not members of your program, encouraging them to sign up. Or, you can take it one step further and send different emails to different VIP tier program members.

Take this email that childrens’ toy company, Rose & Rex sent to their VIP program members. It offers its VIP members a $25 gift card and early access to its Holiday shopping guides. Not only is there monetary value here, but there is also the value-added content that enhances the customer experience.

Why we love it:

• It uses loyalty program data to effectively segment VIP program members.
• It offers additional benefits to its most loyal customers through an exclusive gift card offer and holiday guides.
• Offering one of these exclusive perks is great. Rose and Rex takes it to the next level by offering both.

Caraa’s surprise bonus points

An important email marketing metric to measure is your click to open rate, or CTOR. This compares your click through rate (CTR), the amount of people who click on a link in your email,  and your open rate, the amount of people who open your email. CTOR is the percentage of readers who open your email that also click on a link. For example, if 100 people open your email and 20 of them click on a link, your CTOR is 20%.

Why are we explaining all this math to you? Well, you want to maximize your CTOR because it indicates effective email content and subject lines. Take New York-based handbag company Caraa for example. It is a great loyalty program email example with its surprise bonus points email. Customers are offered bonus points just because as an act of customer appreciation, increasing the likelihood of a high CTOR.

Why we love it:

• It’s simple, to the point, and beautifully branded.
• The copy really stands out and increases the incentive to redeem points, a key indicator of loyalty program success.
• It explains in plain english how much the reward it is offering is worth (1000 points = $10 off).

Nook Vibrant Kitchen's loyalty program explainer email

Explaining your loyalty program is essential to encourage new members to sign up and to remind existing members how they can interact with the program. One way to do this is through a loyalty program explainer website page. Another way is through a detailed informative email.

Nook Vibrant Kitchen, a plant-based meal delivery service, offers a great example of strong ecommerce email marketing with their loyalty program explainer email. It explains ways to earn, redeem, referrals, its bottle return program, and ends with a call to join the program. Walking through customers through your entire loyalty program journey from start to finish is a great way to eliminate any confusion.

Why we love it:

• It gives the reader all the important details right away.
• It shows customers exactly how they can earn points, redeem points, and outlines any changes to its existing programs.
• It flows in a logical order and the call-to-action (CTA) is clear–join the program.

Doe Lashes' points redemption email

If you’ve ever joined a loyalty program, earned points, and forgot about them completely, then this next email is for you. Points redemption emails are those that are part of your automated email cadence and are sent once a customer has earned enough points to redeem a prize.

This example from false eyelash brand, Doe Lashes, personalizes the email to show the customers’ specific points balance. For example, the reader knows that their 200 points have earned them a free Doe applicator if they redeem now. Doe Lashes takes this loyalty program email example to the next tier by also promoting their referral program and clearly stating that the reward for this is a free pair of lashes. We can’t think of a better duo than points programs and referral programs–well maybe except for lashes and applicators.

Why we love it:

• It’s the best of both worlds–covers their points program and referral program all in one.
• It explains (and shows) what the customer can redeem their 200 points for–a free lash applicator.
• It's personalized. Not only does it greet the reader by name, it gives specific recommendations based on her points level.

Smash and Tess’s double points campaign

If you were running a sale, chances are you would promote it as much as you can. The same thing goes for your loyalty program. If you are running rewards program campaigns, such as bonus points days or double points campaigns, then prompting them is key. A great way to do that is through ecommerce email marketing.

Smash + Tess smashes its double points campaign email out of the park here. Everything about this email makes the message very clear– from the text reading “Double the points. Double the fun” to the person wearing a signature Smash and Tess romper holding up the number two.

Why we love it:

• The message is clear: you can earn double the points, which will give you greater discounts, which you can cash in for more products (in this case, rompers).
• It’s visual. From the text border to the peace sign indicating the number 2, it’s obvious this is a Double Points Campaign.
• Even if you aren’t a loyalty program member, there is a clear CTA to join the program.

Sukoshi Mart 's VIP tier offers

Tiered loyalty programs give you important insight into who your most valuable customers are. In exchange for their loyalty, it's important to reward your customers through appreciation events. However, it can be expensive to offer sales or free products to all of your customers. That’s why leveraging loyalty program data to build targeted email segments is valuable.

Sukoshi Mart, an asian lifestyle and K-beauty brand, shows a great loyalty program email example targeted at their VIP program members. The email starts off the bat with tailored discount offers to different VIP tier levels. It then goes on to offer a free product to the first 50 customers who use the discount code. It wraps up with a subtle footer stating the personalized points balance for that reader.

Why we love it:

• It emphasizes the exclusivity of its VIP program and shows member appreciation through a members-only sale.
• It goes one step further and offers the first 50 customers an additional free product.
• The personalized rewards balance footer is a great way to encourage further loyalty program engagement.

Ella + Mila embedded points reminder

Email marketing is one of the most direct channels of communication you have with your customers. After all, you are appearing right in their inbox. Therefore, including a subtle nod to your loyalty program in every email is best practice. It doesn’t need to be bold and flashy–a simple embedded points balance reminder in your banner or footer will do.

Take this example from Ella + Mila that embeds the reader's points balance in the header. The email is actually meant to promote a nail polish color, but the subtle loyalty program messaging encourages the reader to re-engage with the program, increasing the likelihood that they click-through to the website, which may lead to a purchase. Win-win-win!

Why we love it:

• The embedded points right at the top of the email let customers know exactly where they stand on their customer loyalty journey.
• There is a link to their rewards program details so customers can easily see what they can redeem points for.

Hush’s loyalty program email banner

Email banners are valuable real estate on your customers’ screen because they are the first thing they read. Not only are points balances a great thing to include here for your existing program members, but including a call to join your loyalty program is a great way to target all of your customers. This can help turn your casual customers into loyal brand advocates.

Sleep and wellness brand, Hush shows a perfect example of this. Their email about their giveback program is prefaced by a double points campaign for anyone who joins their loyalty program. This demonstrates two types of loyalty marketing: direct loyalty program messaging and indirect value-added marketing by aligning with customer values. Coupling these together is a great way to give customers an incentive to stick around.

Why we love it:

• The banner copy does a great job to incentivize program sign-ups.
• The banner design contrasts the rest of the email effectively to make it stand out.
• The incorporation of their loyalty program doesn’t take away from the purpose of the email, which is a great cause.

Copper Cow Coffee’s visual rewards email

Email subject lines are the first step of a great email because nothing on the inside matters if customers don’t open your email. Once you’ve mastered that step, another essential ingredient for a winning email is nice, on-brand design. Copper Cow Coffee does a great job of this through brand colors, fonts, copy, and messaging.

Copper Cow Coffee takes the points redemption email to the next level by including visually pleasing examples of rewards that the reader is eligible for given their unique points balance. For instance, this reader has earned 1,000 points and can therefore cash them in for either $10 off, a 10% off subscription coupon, or a free 5-pack. This appeals to all types of customers whether they prefer cash discounts or free products. By making these clear, Copper Cow Coffee delivers a great customer experience.

Why we love it:

• It visually lays out the different reward options based on the readers’ points.
• There is a clear call to action to claim rewards, making the customer journey seamless.
• There are a variety of rewards that appeal to different types of customers with different shopping preferences.

Arena Flower’s rewards program sign-up email

Whenever you get a new customer to join your email list, you probably send them a warm email welcome. Well, this is the perfect opportunity to encourage them to join your rewards program through strategic ecommerce email marketing.

Let’s look at this loyalty program email example from Arena Flowers who sends out a rewards program sign-up email to their customers.  The message starts with a clear call to join the program and then outlines how it works from beginning to end. This gives customers all the information they need in one convenient spot so that they can sign up and start earning!

Why we love it:

• It starts with a clear call to join the loyalty program to make the email’s purpose clear right away.
• It’s completely on-brand and consistent with their website and loyalty program to create a seamless omnichannel experience.
• It runs through how to earn points, how to redeem them, and how to join the program, and ends with about CTA to join.

Start using email to promote your loyalty program

As you can see, email marketing is a great way to deliver curated and targeted messages to your most loyal customers. Whether you leverage ecommerce email marketing to encourage program sign ups from new customers or you use it to give gentle redemption encouragement to your loyal customers, you should be using email marketing.

Find out more about how to automatically integrate your loyalty program with your email marketing on our Smile.io Integrations page.

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