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www.antavo.com HOW CAN I KEEP MY LOYALTY MEMBERS ON BOARD? 9 real-life email examples to prevent customers getting bored

HOW CAN I KEEP MY LOYALTY MEMBERS ON BOARD?€¦ · 1. Why Communicate? 4 2. How To Communicate In A Loyalty Program 6 2.1. The Role Of On-Site Notifications 8 2.2. The Role Of Email

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Page 1: HOW CAN I KEEP MY LOYALTY MEMBERS ON BOARD?€¦ · 1. Why Communicate? 4 2. How To Communicate In A Loyalty Program 6 2.1. The Role Of On-Site Notifications 8 2.2. The Role Of Email

www.antavo.com

HOW CAN I KEEP MY LOYALTYMEMBERS ON BOARD?

9 real-life email examples to prevent customers getting bored

Page 2: HOW CAN I KEEP MY LOYALTY MEMBERS ON BOARD?€¦ · 1. Why Communicate? 4 2. How To Communicate In A Loyalty Program 6 2.1. The Role Of On-Site Notifications 8 2.2. The Role Of Email

Your loyalty program is carefully planned. The project

schedule looks like a piece of art. Even the awards

structure makes your colleagues cry with pleasure. You

can just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show while you

listen to the sound of your counter singing. Right? Well … it

depends. If you want to see all your hard work go down the

drain, don’t let us hold you back.

Otherwise, now is the best time to start communicating.

2015 Antavo Limited. All rights reserved. 2

Zsuzsa Kecsmar,CMO, Antavo

Introduction

Page 3: HOW CAN I KEEP MY LOYALTY MEMBERS ON BOARD?€¦ · 1. Why Communicate? 4 2. How To Communicate In A Loyalty Program 6 2.1. The Role Of On-Site Notifications 8 2.2. The Role Of Email

1. Why Communicate? 4

2. How To Communicate In A Loyalty Program 6

2.1. The Role Of On-Site Notifications 8

2.2. The Role Of Email Communication 10

3. Nine Email Examples To Retain Loyalty Members 12

4. Conclusion 23

In this part of our series, we talk about the why and how of communication from the specific perspective of loyalty programs that support customer activities. We examine both on-site (i.e., online store) and off-site (outside your online store but still on the Internet) options and provide you with a generous number of examples, tips, and instantly usable email templates.

2015 Antavo Limited. All rights reserved. 3

Overview

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1.

2015 Antavo Limited. All rights reserved. 4

Why Communicate?

Page 5: HOW CAN I KEEP MY LOYALTY MEMBERS ON BOARD?€¦ · 1. Why Communicate? 4 2. How To Communicate In A Loyalty Program 6 2.1. The Role Of On-Site Notifications 8 2.2. The Role Of Email

You know the deal: without communication there’s no engagement.And without engagement there’s no loyalty.

You have talk to your customers about the promise they signed up for.

There are proven methods for communicating in loyalty programs, system-sent notifications and automated emails being the most widely used. These tools are right at your fingertips — you just have to be sure that they are customized, even sophisticated to a certain degree, and are styled with your whole loyalty program in mind.

If you choose a software or a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) tool like we have at Antavo, it will have all the built-in functions you need to send out relevant messages automatically to the right customer, at the right time.

By communicating during the run of your loyalty program your customers get constant positive reinforcement, strengthening their engagement and motivating them to interact more and more, eventually ending up in a higher level of loyalty and hopefully, more sales.

2015 Antavo Limited. All rights reserved. 5

1. Why Communicate?

Page 6: HOW CAN I KEEP MY LOYALTY MEMBERS ON BOARD?€¦ · 1. Why Communicate? 4 2. How To Communicate In A Loyalty Program 6 2.1. The Role Of On-Site Notifications 8 2.2. The Role Of Email

2.

2015 Antavo Limited. All rights reserved. 6

How To Communicate

In A Loyalty Program

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2.

2015 Antavo Limited. All rights reserved. 7

How To Communicate

In A Loyalty Program

Now that you see the importance of communication, I’m sure you already have some ideas about which methods to use. Now, we will focus on two very specific ones in the context of loyalty marketing:

On-site: notifications

immediate impact

momentary

appear when a customer has actively done

something

short in length

can’t be retrieved

generic in tone

Off-site: emails

immediate or delayed impact

permanent

sent when a customer has actively done

something or sent when a customer hasn’t

done something

flexible in length

retrievable

personal in tone

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2.1

2015 Antavo Limited. All rights reserved. 8

The Role Of On-Site

Notifications

Let’s look at notifications first.

We will discuss two main categories, namely confirmations and calls-to-action. (A third category could be “error messages,” which are also part of a loyalty program, but they are hardly seen, and have roots in technical aspects. For example, I want to refresh my avatar pic in the loyalty program, but chose a wrong image format. Then the system says: “Oops, please use a .jpg or a .png image to upload.” See? These kinds of messages can appear in every kind of online software, not just a loyalty program. That’s why we won’t discuss them here.)

So, a confirmation is not just about, well, confirmation. Sure, it’s important to let your customers know that their subscription, registration, etc., was successful. But an often neglected but similarly important function of a confirmation message is to get your customers excited and hooked on consuming your content, whatever it may be.

Some examples:

You have successfully claimed your reward!

Congratulations! You have just reached platinum level!

Good job! You have collected 50 more points by watching this video!

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2.1

2015 Antavo Limited. All rights reserved. 9

The Role Of On-Site

Notifications

A call-to-action, on the other hand serves a slightly different purpose. Unlike a confirmation, it’s not meant to be a trigger for consuming an already-served meal ‒ it’s about getting your customers to sit at the table. It’s for provoking an immediate response in order to make visitors continue down a conversion funnel.

Some good call-to-action messages:

New rewards are waiting for you!

Joel just watched a video and collected 50 points ‒ you can earn them, too!

Cathy just entered our sweepstakes. You, too, should come and join her!

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2.2

2015 Antavo Limited. All rights reserved. 10

The Role Of Email

Communication

Why would you want to use emails at all if you can have all these sophisticated on-site notifications?

Well, there are some drawbacks: These messages are generic. There’s not much room for personalization, which from

a loyalty point-of-view, would be very nice to have.

There’s not enough room to say everything that’s important. Think about the size

of a pop-up message displayed on a smartwatch.

But by adding emails to the mix, you can reallyimprove the strength of your potion, since: You can reach customers who are not visiting your site.

You can reach them right in their inboxes.

You can remind them when they miss an important action or reward.

As an example, let’s say I have this obsession with collecting old books. Okay, maybe it’s not an obsession. Not yet. Anyhow, to make the whole process as convenient as possible, I run all my purchases through a well-known online book dealer and I get loyalty points for each one ‒ too bad that I usually forget about them. But then comes an email from the merchant, letting me know how many points I have, what I can do with them and most importantly, what the deadline is for using them.

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2.2

2015 Antavo Limited. All rights reserved. 11

The Role Of Email

Communication

But be warned, mixing your currently functioning email marketing with off-site loyalty emails shouldn’t create a flammable cocktail. To avoid finding yourself in the middle of a junk-mail explosion, stop and think:

Will your polite email reminders screw up your regular email marketing activity?

You know, your weekly newsletters, new product release notifications, and privacy

updates?

Is more really better? Usually, frequency and engagement are negatively correlated.

It still holds true even if you just want to be a caring host.

Do you take into account your customers’ expectations? You may feed them emails

for years they have a pattern they’re used to and it’s usually not wise to disrupt it.

After thinking through everything, let’s get to the point. What kind of loyalty emails should your consider using?

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3.Nine email examplesto retain loyalty members

2015 Antavo Limited. All rights reserved. 12

Page 13: HOW CAN I KEEP MY LOYALTY MEMBERS ON BOARD?€¦ · 1. Why Communicate? 4 2. How To Communicate In A Loyalty Program 6 2.1. The Role Of On-Site Notifications 8 2.2. The Role Of Email

There are two kinds of emails you can always send. The first type is when your customers do something; the second is when they don’t.

Email customers in the event of action

Goal: engage active customers

Content:

opt-in

reward claim

bonus reached

level-up

weekly digest

Email customers in the absence of action

Goal: re-activate dropouts

Content:

expiring reward

expiring points

new rewards availability

we miss you

3.Nine email examplesto retain loyalty members

2015 Antavo Limited. All rights reserved. 13

Page 14: HOW CAN I KEEP MY LOYALTY MEMBERS ON BOARD?€¦ · 1. Why Communicate? 4 2. How To Communicate In A Loyalty Program 6 2.1. The Role Of On-Site Notifications 8 2.2. The Role Of Email

Subject: Thank you for signing up.

Hi Beth,

Welcome to our loyalty program. To make this experience fun for you, you can now collect points by completing various tasks like watching dress-up tutorials or reading articles about the new clothes trends for summer.

Your points are convertible to special rewards which you can check here.

Also, it’s worth having a look at our leaderboard to see how you are doing.

Have fun.

Best regards,

The team at My fashion.com

2015 Antavo Limited. All rights reserved. 14

Example Objective

9/1. Opt-in

To give a warm welcome.

To educate.

To reward the very first action.

A warm welcome is very important because it con-firms sign-up, sets expectations, and increases deliverability.

Tip

Include pictures of the most trending rewards or the latest ones that will catch the reader’s attention.

3.Nine email examplesto retain loyalty members

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Subject: Wow, you’ve got a reward!

Hi Adam,

Congratulations! You have just successfully claimed the autographed childhood nunchaku of Chuck Norris! We can imagine how excited you are, so we will send it with your very next order.

Any questions? Then please, don’t hesitate to reply to this email.

Best regards,

The team at Martial Arts Addicts.com

2015 Antavo Limited. All rights reserved. 15

Example Objective

9/2. Successful reward claim

To confirm.

To instruct.

By sending an email stating that the customer has received something makes you look like Santa in your customer’s eyes.

Tip

It’s very important to be as detailed as you can about how the customer will get their desired reward. You don’t want a disappointed loyalty member right?

3.Nine email examplesto retain loyalty members

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Subject: Awesome! You have reached the daily bonus!

Hi Martin,

Good job! You just reached your 1000 points daily bonus! Don’t forget to come back tomorrow as well! By doing so, you will have a chance to grab one of our Diamond Awards:

1. A set of study cards containing 50 000 Japanese kanjis you will probably never learn!

2. A DVD copy of the director cut version of the inspiring and emotional movie “Godzilla’s childhood”! (English subtitles, of course.)

3. A studio poster with all the Sesame Street char-acters in traditional Japanese costume entirely shot in the dark and signed with black ink!

Keep up the good work!

Best regards,

The team at Samurai masters.com

2015 Antavo Limited. All rights reserved. 16

Example Objective

9/3. Bonus reached

To notify.

To let them know this can happen all

over again.

To make them come back to your

website.If announcing a reward is the beginning of a beautiful relationship, frequently telling your customers about their minor achievements is like flirting. The emphasis is on frequency and small but positive messages - the rest is consumer psychology.

TipAlways include a list with images of the de-sirable rewards. A SaaS tool like Antavo can generate a preview of the latest rewards or the trending ones – you can then insert it in the email’s body.

3.Nine email examplesto retain loyalty members

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Subject: Wow! A new level unlocked!

Hi Chris,

Congratulations! You have just reached the Jedi master level in our loyalty program. Keep up the good work by collecting more points and doing even more fun activities. You can reach the Padawan level in 350 points.

Will you accept this challenge?

Best regards,

The team at Body Builders.com

2015 Antavo Limited. All rights reserved. 17

Example Objective

9/4. Level-up

To confirm.

To get them to visit your website.

The main point here is to make your customer feel good by letting them know about their accomplishments. A satisfied customer can be more easily engaged and engagement is the key to loyalty.

Tip

Always include a brief description of the next level that the customer can unlock.

3.Nine email examplesto retain loyalty members

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Subject: Here’s your weekly recap

Hi Joel,

You have been so active in the past week! Here are what awesome things you have achieved.

The awards you have claimed:- A free meal for two at the trendiest sushi restaurant in town. - A short 500-page introduction to the traditional Japanese tea ceremony - Light-speed learner Level 3: One word a week.

And you’ve completed some fantastic activities:• Watched the 13-part tutorial series on “How to hold a Japanese calligraphy pen before starting to learn to write” • Wrote 17 reviews.• 35 person find your reviews useful.

The total points you have: 10 500! To reach the next level, you only need to collect 10 000 more!

Have a similarly great week next time!Best regards,

The team at Learn Japanese in 5 months.com2015 Antavo Limited. All rights reserved. 18

Example Objective

9/5. Weekly digest

To inform.

To make them feel good by logging their

achievements.

The thinking behind this tactic is to remind them of their achievements, which in turn will motivate them to keep participating.

Tip

The frequency of sending out a digest like this should vary. It depends on the complexity of activities, the toughness of earning points, etc.

A SaaS tool will automatically generate a rewards and activities list for you, too.

3.Nine email examplesto retain loyalty members

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Subject: Act now or your reward expires

Hi Margaret,

You have only two days left to enter the “Win a professional photo session for your child” sweepstakes.

By entering multiple times you can increase your chances of winning.

If you don’t have enough points to enter, check out our activity list and make sure that you are among the chosen ones.

See you soon!

Best regards,

The team at Toys for my kid.com

2015 Antavo Limited. All rights reserved. 19

Example Objective

9/6. Expiring rewards

To create an air of urgency by

emphasizing limited time and/or stock.

To remind.

To get them to visit your website.

To aid them in getting value.

This tactic functions mainly by building up positive emotions on the customer’s side by making them feel cared for.

TipUse this kind of email in those rare cases when you have a once-in-a-lifetime kind of special reward that you know customers will go crazy about.

Bonus tip: Talking about these kinds of rewards in your general newsletters can help attract new loyalty members.

3.Nine email examplesto retain loyalty members

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Subject: Your points will expire soon

Hi Nancy,

We are sad to see that you haven’t logged on to our site for more than 30 days. Check back soon since the 4 600 points you have already collected are about to expire.

All you have to do is visit us and log back in. You may even find some new rewards worth shooting for.

Best regards,

The team at Book lovers.com

2015 Antavo Limited. All rights reserved. 20

Example Objective

9/7. Expiring points

To remind.

To make them feel the need to do

something.

To get them to visit your website.

Besides the positive effects of your customers feeling cared for, you are trying to build up a conditioned reflex here: if you log in, you can keep your points.

Tip

You should send this kind of email to customers who have not logged in for a specific period, for example 30 days. To make the log-in action more attractive, you could include images of 3 or 5 top trending rewards as well.

3.Nine email examplesto retain loyalty members

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Subject: New rewards for you

Hi Sarah,

We just wanted to let you know that we have come up with some new rewards for our most valued customers ‒ like you!

Here’s a quick taster:

• A personal training session with the best

beauty vloggers

• An Ice-Queen make-up package

• A product-testing opportunity for our newly

released pink rouge

Want to see more? Visit us!

Best regards,

The team at Beauty Experts.com

2015 Antavo Limited. All rights reserved. 21

Example Objective

9/8. New rewards availability

To remind.

To get them to visit your website.

To create an atmosphere of urgency.

Making your loyalty program customers feel truly valued compared to other customers is a situation where brand advocates are born.

Tip

This tactic can work for actively engaged customers as well. Plus, you can include these kinds of messages in your general newsletter sequences for acquiring new loyalty members.

3.Nine email examplesto retain loyalty members

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Subject: We miss you!

Hi Joel,

It’s been quite some time since you last visited us. Check back soon since the 3 500 points you have already collected will expire in 2 days.

Do you know about the exclusive rewards waiting for you just to claim them?

And if you are after a reward previously out of reach, check out our activity recommendations to find the shortest route to get it!

If you have any questions, just give us a shout!

Best regards,

The team at Sport lovers.com

2015 Antavo Limited. All rights reserved. 22

Example Objective

9/9. We miss you

To re-activate the customer, to get them to visit you again. To create a sense of urgency.

You can mix and match this tactic with methods previously shown. For example, when a customer

doesn’t log in for a specific amount of time. is in passive mode. has points that are about to expire. probably doesn’t know what they can do

with the points they’ve already collected.

Tip

Use this tactic only as a last resort. Save it for an opportunity to get back customers who have dropped out.

3.Nine email examplesto retain loyalty members

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2015 Antavo Limited. All rights reserved. 23

4. Conclusion

Having seen how on-site and off-site communication tools can help you in your loyalty campaigns, finding the perfect mix is up to you. While we have emphasized email this time, it doesn’t mean that on-site notifications should be neglected. Think about messages and emails like two facets of the same crystal - and this crystal will hopefully be your very own communication program.

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I hope all this has helped you to become even more confident in how to keep loyalty members actively engaged with your program.

Please don’t forget that you are not alone. Get in touch with us for further advice, support, and help with any questions or enquiries on how loyalty programs can advance your business.

We’re just an e-mail away.

Zsuzsa Kecsmar, CMO, Antavo

[email protected]

2015 Antavo Limited. All rights reserved. 24

Contact us

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www.antavo.com