To make a difference, to be a distinguishable brand, to build meaningful relationships with customers – that’s what it’s all about nowadays for retailers, whether they’re retailers of private label supplements or something else. These goals are not primarily achieved through price differentiation, though, especially if margins are thin and competition abounds.
Where a brand’s true strength lies is in incentivizing already existing clients to engage and purchase repeatedly. While brand exposure plays an important role in that, what can really win over customers is a loyalty program. Read on to learn how you can make your customer loyalty program a success.
What You Need to Know About Customer-Loyalty Marketing
All too often companies focus on acquiring new customers, because they believe that’s what drives business. But, as it turns out, “loyal customers can account for up to 84% of total store visits.”
Furthermore, loyal customers are found to drive up to 80% of a business’s revenue. They are far more likely to make repeated purchases, spread the word about a business, and they cost far less in terms of acquisition and marketing. So while acquiring new customers is important, investing in your already-existing customer base and turning them into advocates is crucial. So, how can you help them become your advocates?
#1 Get to Know Your Customers
Prior to offering any program whatsoever, you need to know who your customers are. That happens by building databases and, over time, acquiring information about who these people are, what they buy and how often.
You can acquire such information through forms or purchases on your website, or through subscriptions for an already existing loyalty program. Carefully building lists of repeat customers and segmenting them into different categories is your first step.
#2 Offer Personalized Service and Rewards
Shoppers rarely buy everything from one retailer and that is fairly normal. But by analyzing their purchasing patterns, you can assess what they’re likely to buy elsewhere. Then you can proceed to offer it to them in addition to what they are already buying.
On top of the purely material benefits that customers may be getting from your loyalty program, you can add a personal touch by including customized notifications, email newsletters, or even holiday and birthday greetings.
#3 Make Sure Your Program Actually Makes Sense
When devising a customer loyalty program, you have to know what you’re trying to achieve and what the best way to get there is. Are you aiming at converting relatively new customers to more loyal ones or are you marketing to an already established group of advocates? The amount of effort you invest in these groups is different, and so are the approaches.
An important consideration, for example, is that price perceptions differ among these groups. Loyal customers tend to have a more favorable price perception, in exchange for the targeted offers and bargains they receive. Newer customers who have not yet warmed to your brand are more likely to opt out if your customer loyalty program does not seem favorable to them (i.e. it doesn’t offer enough in return for what they are asked to give).
#4 Go Beyond Your Store
Engage your customers beyond the store and its shelves. For brand advocates, value extends beyond getting a good deal — it’s about receiving good service, recognition and treatment that acknowledges them on a personal level.
For example, why not start a campaign on social media? You could ask followers to tweet about your brand or you could even initiate a selfie campaign. You can then share the best submissions with your whole network and thereby offer a purely non-tangible ‘credit’ to customers who participated. Such recognition builds loyalty.
#5 Stick to What You’ve Offered
Once you’ve made the decision to launch a program, you should stick to it. That’s why you have to carefully study your customers first in order to come up with an offer they can’t resist. Customer loyalty programs can be based on a points system, an upfront fee, a subscription or in cooperation with another local business.
In line with sticking to the program you’ve started, you should also consider offering rewards that don’t have an expiration date. Knowing that one can make use of an offer at any time gives customers a strong incentive to come back to your store.
Start Your Customer-Loyalty Program Today
Customer loyalty programs make sense at every stage of a brand’s development, no matter your company’s size. And if you’d like to offer particular supplements as part of your loyalty program or create a private label for a certain supplement, we can help you.
Private Label Supplement offers you high-quality supplement stock formulas, as well custom formulas, depending on your marketing needs. Want to order today? Call us at 855-209-0225 ext. 2 or email us at sales@privatelabelsupplement.com to get started!
All my best,
Stefani Thionnet
Stay focused and never give up!
