Customers’ loyalty cannot be overestimated. A loyal customer will come back to your store again and again and spread a word about you. He may write a good review or advise you to his friend. All this helps to build a strong community around your brand and achieve long-term sales.

But loyalty won’t be granted to you just because you exist, you should work hard to achieve a good attitude from your customers. This work should be carried out on different levels starting from pre-sales services and ending with customer support.

One more good way to build a community and achieve customer satisfaction is to create a loyalty programme. This is a programme that lets you provide members of your community with different special offers and discounts. Here are some tips for you that will help to build an engaging loyalty programme:

1. Keep it simple and transparent

People won’t spend their time on reading numerous pages on how to enrol in your loyalty programme. And they won’t do too many things to get involved.

Suggest them to register in one or two simple steps – and that’s all. Your existing customers that already have accounts can be introduced to your loyalty programme automatically, that will save their time.

2. Show benefits people get

If you want a person to enrol, you should clearly explain which benefits he will get. For example, they can receive special offers from you; discounts, priority support, etc. It all depends on your niche and goods.

3. Provide an opportunity to get more

We always want more, that’s our nature. To satisfy this need you can introduce levels of your loyalty programme. The higher a customer’s level is, the more benefits they get. Stimulate them to become your VIP clients.

Which actions should be rewarded?

Which actions should be carried out by your clients to earn points and/or levels? The choice of such actions greatly depends on the products you sell and on your business in general. Nevertheless, here are some suggestions for you.

Writing a review

Customer reviews are firsthand feedback from you real customers. This feedback is very important for potential clients who are considering your products.

If you’ve tried to ask your customers for reviews, you know how hard it may be as people are not likely to share their positive experience (most share only negative ones). Giving people points for reviews encourages them to share their feedback. This is mutually beneficial for you and for them.

Referring a friend

Advice from our friends is much more valuable for us than advertisements. You can use it by introducing a reward for referring friends to your store.

Share a product on social networks

Sharing your product on social networks means spreading a word about you. The more people will know about your brand, the more customers and potential clients you’ll have.

Spend particular amount

This is the easiest and the most natural way of earning points for future discounts as the initial idea of shopping implies spending money.

Combinations

You can use a combination of different methods which will help users to earn points in your store. People are different, and it’s better to provide several opportunities to choose from.

Don’t forget about competitions

Different competitions and games are a good way to give customers even more opportunities to earn discounts in your store.

Say, I’ve enrolled in your loyalty programme and earned a 10 per cent discount in your shop. The holiday season is coming, so I’m beginning to think about gifts I need to buy. Your shop will be a first stop for me, even if your competitors have a little lower price. I took time to register in your shop, became part of your community by participating in your loyalty programme which means I’ll come back to you.

See also: Business loyalty and building a strong customer base