To celebrate the success of its customer loyalty program, PartyLite held a Facebook Contest in September that culminates with a PartyLite private suite at the P!NK concert Dec. 5 at TD Garden in Boston.
The Facebook contest ran from Sept. 3-30 and allowed any U.S. citizen 18 or older to enter by liking the PartyLite Facebook page and entering the contest for a chance to win a trip to the P!NK concert on Dec. 5.
PartyLite’s Facebook contest was held to celebrate the incredible success of its customer loyalty program – PartyLite Preferred. Three people will win the opportunity to invite a friend of their choice to join the private party with them. What’s more, each winner will receive $1,000 toward personal travel and accommodations for themselves and their friend.
Although Preferred membership was not required to enter the contest, PartyLite encouraged everyone to sign up as a PartyLite Preferred member to start earning 20% rewards on all purchases – rewards to apply to future full-priced, online purchases. Membership is free and no purchase is required to join. What’s more, PartyLite Preferred members receive secret and exclusive special offers on candles, candle holders, scent warmers, and other home fragrance products every month.
PartyLite is touted as the world’s No. 1 party plan company selling candles, candle holders, flameless fragrance and wax warmers, as well as holiday and home décor available in 21 countries through nearly 45,000 independent PartyLite business entrepreneurs. PartyLite is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
Joan Connor, Vice President of Ecommerce & Marketing, PartyLite North America, told Loyalty 360 that the Facebook contest sparked a 300% increase in customer enrollment in September, compared to August.
The PartyLite Preferred program launched in the U.S. in July 2011 and in Canada in October 2012. The North American membership now exceeds 350,000 members – and is growing steadily.
“We also run monthly promotions to engage members and incentivize them to host home parties,” Connor said. “Members are also offered product ‘sneak peek specials’ giving them access to new products before any other customers. The goal is to let Preferred members be cheerleaders for the new fragrances.’’’
One of the ongoing objectives of the Preferred program is to tie customers to their personal independent PartyLite consultant, and give them a reason to engage that consultant’s website to shop for more candles and seasonal candle holders and accessories, Connor explained.
“The loyalty we’re building is between the customer and their personal PartyLite consultant,” she said. “The loyalty program administered by PartyLite is just part of a valuable eBusiness package offered for just $20 a month to every independent PartyLite consultant in North America. The package also includes a personalized shopping website maintained by the company and an email marketing program called Candle Connection. The email newsletter looks like it comes from the Consultant and includes links to each Consultant’s website where Customers can click through to shop, enroll in the Preferred program or find out more about products and the PartyLite business opportunity.”
Connor is pleased with the success of the PartyLite Preferred customer loyalty program.
“We are pleased with the results achieved so far and are always looking at new and exciting ways to recruit, reward, and engage our loyal customers,” she said. “We aspire to make PartyLite Preferred a better experience for our independent sales force and for their customers. We recently created a robust customer database, giving us the ability to create targeted behavioral marketing and messaging, increasing the relevance of our marketing and improving response rates.”
Preferred members shop more often and spend more online, Connor said. For Partylite’s U.S. business, Preferred member sales now account for about 50% of its total business. Preferred member orders tend to be at least 10% higher in average order value than non-Preferred. What’s more, Preferred members place 10% more orders per month than non-Preferred members.
“We will continue to offer great rewards and great incentives to build excitement with our sales force and with our customers,” Connor explained. “The program has yielded strong results and has grown quite quickly. We want to continue that momentum by introducing new and exciting promotions and exclusive rewards for existing members – and give our ‘non-preferred’ customers a reason to join in the fun, which is one of the reasons for the PartyLite Preferred Private Suite Party at the P!NK concert in December.”
How did the P!NK concert come about?
“In observing the 40th anniversary of PartyLite this year, we wanted to honor our past while also extending our brand and broadening our appeal to younger generations,” Connor said. “Also, we recently upgraded the Preferred program with new benefits and wanted to get the word out about that, too. So, we created a ‘brought to you by’ type of campaign to raise awareness of the loyalty program.”
What’s more, Connor said P!NK has a unique ability to appeal to a broad generational range – from ages 18 through 40s.
“That’s a sweet spot for us in identifying our current candle lovers,” she explained. “We wanted to get the word out to even more in that sweet spot by encouraging them to enter the Facebook contest. P!NK coming to Boston, the nearest location to our Plymouth, Mass., worldwide headquarters, helped seal the deal since we want to throw a party in the PartyLite Preferred private suite at TD Garden in Boston.”
Connor said PartyLite chose Facebook for its contest because it’s the highest referring channel to PartyLite.com in the U.S. and PartyLite.ca in Canada.
“When we want to reach out beyond our current loyal customer base, Facebook – integrated with all our social channels, actually -- is our go-to medium,” she said. “Nearly all of our independent PartyLite consultants also use Facebook to engage current customers and attract the new, so launching and promoting contests and special offers on Facebook that they can share makes it easier for them grow reach and attract and retain engagement – and business.”
What’s more, Connor said PartyLite challenged its 13,000 independent consultants to acquire 20 or more new Preferred members enrolled during September so they could be entered to win an invitation to the private party.
The party in the PartyLite Preferred Private Suite at the Dec. 5 P!NK concert will be hosted by two fun-loving PartyLite staff members. Besides food and beverages, Connor said there will be “fabulous” bling gift bags for everyone to take home and P!NK’s latest CD.
“We will also write up their experiences and share it with all our Customers to encourage them all to become Preferred members,” Connor added.