GiftCard Partners Blog

It’s a social world out there!  And loyalty programs are firmly embracing the concept of social loyalty, an extension of loyalty programs that supports customers’ actions on social channels. As a marketing and incentive engagement company, are you including a social loyalty component in your loyalty program offerings?

A positive customer experience is something that every company strives for on a daily basis; experience is the main driver for loyalty. Happy customers are loyal customers and loyal customers are brand advocates. Oracle released a global survey of 1,300 senior-level executives from 18 countries that yielded new insights on succeeding in the ‘customer service era.’ Key findings from the survey included:

In the age of social media, a constant news cycle and a constantly connected consumer base, we all know how important it is to keep customers happy. Happy customers can mean free marketing and public relations in the form of brand evangelization through social media. Unhappy customers can have the opposite effect, casting a negative shadow on your organization's brand through social media or consumer reports. Customers are happy when they have positive interactions with your brand, and when the people who represent your brand, your employees, have a positive effect on the customers. When your employees become true ambassadors and do all they can to positively represent your band to consumers your employees are happier, your customers are happier, and your revenue will grow and gain potential. The importance of happy employees directly correlates to the happiness of your consumers and the strength of therelationship your consumers develop with your brand. Using employee rewards and recognition is a great way to ensure employees represent your brand appropriately, and develop positive consumer relationships. All levels of rewards can fit into an employee rewards program. From a small denomination gift card to a retailer like Boston Market, or Burlington Coat Factory for a well handled consumer interaction, to a weekend getaway for the employee with the highest promoter score, or lifetime value assessment. Employee rewards programs can be tailored to any budget, but their value proposition will always be felt in a big way. Happy employees, happy consumers, and measurably increased revenue.
For more information on using employee rewards to ensure happy consumers check out this article from xceleration.com

You may find it easy to attract new customers with the lure of incentives, deals or promotions. BUT, are you keeping them after that? A recent Forbes article,
Warning: Is Your New Customer Coming Back? 4 Steps You Should Take Now, explains that spending all that effort and time bringing in new customers may be costing you a lot more than it would keeping an existing one- in some cases 6 to 7 times more! Of course attracting new customers is a crucial part of your loyalty program that should not be abandoned but a healthy balance between attracting the new and nurturing the current can spell success for your loyalty program as a whole. Recognizing your current customers in a unique way can give them that sense of ‘special’ treatment that encourages them to stick around: Try Saying Thanks - Sounds simple enough but it’s sometimes forgotten that a thank you goes a long way. Try sending a ‘Thank You for Your Loyalty’ email to customers who reach the one year mark, five year mark, etc. Customers don’t always need an incentive or reward for being loyal, just a little appreciation. Use holidays as a way to appreciate your current customers- Sending out gift cards to
The Children’s Place on Mother’s Day, gift cards to
1-800-Flowers on Valentine’s Day, or gift cards to
CVS/pharmacy on a customer’s birthday shows how much their loyalty means all year round. Take the time to take a special interest in your customer, it’s got its rewards. Check out Forbes,
Warning: Is Your New Customer Coming Back? 4 Steps You Should Take Now to get more ideas on keeping your customers close.