Officials at Chicago-based Belly, a local business loyalty and rewards program, wanted to do something simple and innovative after Valentine’s Day to drive customer engagement.
Jenny Beightol, Belly’s Director of Words, told Loyalty 360 that she had noticed an increase in Belly visits the week before Valentine’s Day and company officials brain-stormed to come up with a way to increase overall customer engagement.
“ It was Friday afternoon and we wanted to put something out fast across all of our markets to drive more Belly members into our businesses,” Beightol said. “It needed to be simple, require minimal tech support, but still be engaging enough to attract our members’ attention. We’d noticed that easy social media campaigns had garnered support in the past so we just figured why not try this?”
The result? A promotion titled, “Give Us Your Face,” which asked members who wanted to become the “Face of Belly” for the week of Feb. 15-22. The promotion is simple: Use Belly the most through Feb. 22 and Belly will make that person’s face Belly’s Facebook cover photo.
Members were asked to use Facebook when they’re “bellying,” tweet Belly activity, and tag Belly on Instagram. And even if members don’t win, according to the company, Belly promises to “show you some extra love.” The member with the most Belly visits will be contacted via email on Feb. 22.
“In the email blast we sent out announcing the campaign, we included links to our Twitter handle and Facebook pages,” Beightol explained. “Members have just been tweeting and posting on our wall where they Belly the most.”
Members who engage with Belly on Facebook and Twitter this week have the chance to win Belly swag, like branded T-shirts, Frisbees, and koozies, Beightol said. “We are just trying to increase overall engagement.”
What prompted the “Give Us Your Face” promotion?
“Most of our members are connected to Facebook and Twitter and they enjoy using those social media platforms,” Beightol said. “The opportunity to be featured as the Face of Belly resonates with our members because they understand the power of social media. If our community was different, this campaign would have totally bombed.”
Belly has done similar promotions in the past, Beightol said, but none where the prize was being the social face of the company.
“This could be considered a psychological experiment,” Beightol said. “Why is having your face broadcast across the Internet so appealing for today’s average user? Pretty interesting in our opinion. Our goal was to increase Belly member visits across all of our markets. It was initially just supposed to be a weekend push, but we thought we’d extend it a week to make it more fun for all participants.”