Angela Sanfilippo, CMO for omni-channel loyalty and engagement platform PunchTab, offered 10 guidelines for companies seeking to launch an omni-channel loyalty program during the Sept. 12 Loyalty 360 webinar titled, “Omni-Channel Loyalty: Why It Matters and What It Means For Your Business”.
Sanfilippo offered the following guidelines for companies considering an omni-channel loyalty program:
Define goals and KPIs
Define target audiences and consumer segments
Define incentives and rewards strategy
Forecasting and modeling
Define rewards model, currency, and rewards
Define consumer experience
Build strategic framework (acquire, engage, activate, retain)
Define data and reporting framework
Analyze results and behaviors
Analyze
PunchTab works with many consumer packaged goods companies and retailers, Sanfilippo said, and there is considerable potential that exists within the connected customer and “having information always available at our fingertips. It leads to an increased competitive environment.”
As a result, differentiation is critical, Sanfilippo said.
“We know consumers are using multiple devices when they’re shopping,” she said. “We see this trend only increasing and blend more than ever as omnichanmel has evolved into being customer-centric rather than channel centric. There has been a fundamental shift in how we approach consumer discovery.”
Sanfilippo said launching an omni-channel loyalty program is about identifying connected customers and “building out” the opportunities to continue an ongoing relationship with the customer.
“You can implement a technology solution that allows you to track behaviors across all these channels so you can connect the dots and optimize engagement opportunities,” she said.
Sanfilippo refers to PunchTab as a next generation loyalty platform that aims to reward customer behavior before the purchase by leveraging social sharing, user-generated content, and awareness campaigns. She said that 80% of consumers are more loyal to omni-channel retailers.
“Traditional loyalty programs don’t reward loyalty,” she said. “They reward spend. Next generation loyalty programs will reward customers’ behaviors and increase frequency, which is designed to drive retention.”
Consumers are 2.5 times more likely to convert when engaged on multiple channels, she said, and omni-channel loyalty programs can drive preference and a competitive differentiation.
“Moms and Millennials are very likely to engage in a loyalty program,” Sanfilippo said. “Consumers want value and loyalty programs offer additional value to them.”
Loyalty program types include subscription-based, credit card-driven, consumption-based, club prices, Loyalty 3.0/Omni-channel loyalty, and coalition.
“Once you figured out what type of loyalty program you want to use, it comes down to analyzing results and optimizing over time,” Sanfilippo said. “Figure out customer surveys and external research to augment your analytics, and see how you can accelerate those results.”
When measuring program impact, consider insights, participation, awareness, acquisition, engagement, purchase, and what percentage of the customer base your company has penetrated with the loyalty program, Sanfilippo said.
She offered some additional tips:
Crawl, walk, run. Focus on smaller, incremental wins.
Leverage data insights
Utilize campaigns as a testing ground
Boost acquisition and engagement with campaign pulses
Think about how to engage audience over time, not just during registration
“Focus on being anywhere and everywhere the customer is,” Sanfilippo said. “Don’t reward every activity, but track every activity.”