ORLANDO – What makes you loyal?
During his Wednesday workshop session -- “Turning Likes into Buys: How to Convert Your Digital Community Into Paying & Loyal Customers” – here at the 6th annual Loyalty Expo, Bob Gold, CEO of Gold Mobile, named the top two attributes in a successful loyalty program: Trust and credibility.
But, Gold told attendees, trust and credibility are not synonymous. Trust, he said, is a human belief that something won’t put them in harm’s way. Meanwhile, credibility is a company’s ability to “follow through” on a promise or “move you forward.”
“You need a high level of believability, which is trust and credibility,” Gold said. “A person needs to feel connected to your brand.”
Social media can make a huge impact on loyalty marketing, Gold said, but it has to focus on “you and your company and not be for the social platform. Use the power of social media to reach people, then get them into your brand. It’s not about going from 25,000 likes on Facebook to 100,000 likes. That’s good, but you can’t monetize it. You need purchases.”
What makes a person switch to a different brand? Price, recommendations, and a consistently better experience. People have to feel something directly from the brand. “Make them feel good,” Gold said. “That can be more important than price as far as loyalty goes.”
Rewards programs but they have a way to go, Gold said. “Just for walking into a store, you should get 20 rewards points. Place and time shifting are big. Engage, transact, and reward in a different place and time.”
Like a massage after a round of golf. “That’s where loyalty is going,” Gold said.