Keep Customers Engaged with Loyalty Rewards Using Direct Mail

How does your business stand out from the crowd and keep its customers coming back for more?

Unless you offer a completely unique product or service, it’s unlikely that you have no competitors. Offering a customer loyalty program allows you to retain customers by creating incentives to stay with your business instead of choosing a competitor.

Learn how you can retain and reach out to customers via direct mail using a customer loyalty and rewards program. We’ll also share simple tips to make your direct mail customer loyalty program as effective as possible.

Why start a customer rewards program?

Customer rewards programs give your business something extremely powerful: a compelling reason to interact with its customers. Having a reason to contact your customers allows for a greater degree of flexibility in your direct mail campaign.

It also creates a higher response rate. Since you’re remarketing to a warm audience that has already had a positive experience with your business, your response rate is likely to be far higher than it would be for a completely new campaign.

There’s no audience quite as good as customers you already have. Starting a loyalty program lets you retain customers longer, increase your business’s average revenue per customer and create a stronger bond with your target market.

How should you structure your loyalty program?

Customer loyalty programs can take several different forms. Some companies use a points-based system where customers are rewarded for shopping. Other companies mail coupons, discount deals and special offers to their existing customer base.

Both models can work extremely well with the right strategy and execution. There’s no “perfect” customer loyalty program for every business – the right reward to offer customers ultimately depends on the lifetime value of each of your customers.

Using direct mail effectively for customer loyalty

When used effectively, direct mail can be an excellent channel for talking with your customers and building a relationship. A steady stream of direct mail postcards can strengthen your relationship with customers over a period of months and years.

The effectiveness of your direct mail customer loyalty program can depend on how you execute your campaign. These four simple but effective tips can help you get the most out of your direct mail customer loyalty efforts:

•       Start by introducing your program. A postcard or letter explaining how your loyalty program works creates familiarity with your target audience, which can lead to higher response rates for the duration of your campaign.

•       Segment customers based on their purchases or spending habits. There’s a significant difference between a customer that spends $100 per month and someone that spends $1,000 a month.

•       Don’t just offer discounts and price-based benefits. If your product doesn’t sell based on price (for example, a luxury good) it’s often better to provide additional value for customers, instead of better pricing.

•       Focus on building a relationship with your customers. Surveys and other non-promotional pieces strengthen your business’s relationship with its customers by showing them that their opinions are valued.

Since you’re marketing to an audience that’s already familiar with your business, the value of hard-sell sales tactics isn’t all that high. Focus your customer loyalty efforts on staying connected with your customers and you’ll experience the best results.

How could your business benefit from a customer rewards program?

Loyalty and rewards programs aren’t just for big businesses. From local cafés and restaurants to independent retailers, all businesses can benefit from building their relationship with customers.

How could your business benefit from a customer loyalty program? By keeping in touch with your customers through direct mail, you can increase retention, create lifetime loyalty, and drive a measurable improvement in your company’s revenue.