Successful Strategies for Boosting Digital Loyalty

It’s impossible to improve digital loyalty without having a well-thought-out strategy. Simply hoping for the best and adapting to problems as they emerge can be a risky way of doing business: it’s much smarter to plan ahead so you know exactly what your future will look like. Additionally, planning ahead can maximise the boost to your digital loyalty.

If you’re looking for an effective loyalty strategy, why not try one of the examples we’ve suggested in this article? There are six different tactics listed below that each have the potential to massively boost the digital loyalty of your audience.

Points-based Loyalty Programmes

Almost every industry will have an example of a points-based loyalty programme, simply because it is easy to implement and appeals greatly to customers. From restaurants to airlines, the general idea of a points-based loyalty programme is that a customer makes a purchase from the business, which earns them points on that business’ brand app or website. Later, they can use their accrued points to receive benefits from the business.

Points-based loyalty programmes are an effective loyalty strategy that directly promotes digital loyalty by rewarding both engagement with the business and the use of the business’ digital products (e.g. their brand app or website). However, the success of the programme depends on the level of value offered. Customers are unlikely to make repeated purchases if it costs a significant number of points for a fairly small benefit, or if the benefits in general are low-value.

Gamification

Gamification is the concept of employing game-like aspects to unrelated systems. In this case, gamification refers to adding things like point scoring, competition with others, and rules of play to your loyalty programme in order to build digital loyalty. Gamification is rapidly becoming a highly popular loyalty strategy because of its effectiveness, which is tied to the growth of the video game industry over the last two decades.

Points-based loyalty programmes are actually a very simple version of gamification, but now businesses are taking the next step and adding other game-like aspects to their brand apps, such as badges and rewards for completing certain tasks or being able to compare your points to those of your friends or others in your area.

Value-Based Loyalty Programmes

Businesses commonly use digital products to boost brand loyalty. One of the most common ways this is implemented is by turning the digital product into a channel through which a business can offer customers more value. While other loyalty programmes focus on encouraging repeat purchases from customers, value-based loyalty programmes instead seek to build digital loyalty by encouraging customers to engage with the business in any way they can.

In value-based loyalty programmes, customers can access additional value from the business (like free gifts or discounts) by interacting with the business on social media, or (if applicable) helping to build community around the business’ brand. Although it’s trickier to quantify (and therefore reward) these alternate forms of engagement, value-based loyalty programmes can offer a much more holistic strategy for boosting loyalty.

Personalisation

One of the reasons customer loyalty is so important is that it helps build your brand reputation. Loyal customers are likely to tell their friends and family about your business and how it has benefitted them. One of the things customers are most likely to spread the word about is the level of value your company offers—by providing personalised benefits to customers, you can offer the best level of value possible.

Personalisation is only possible if you have a solid understanding of your customers’ preferences. This can be achieved through tactics like customer avatars (which only really provide a generic idea of what customers like) or by gathering data on buying behaviour, spending levels, and product preferences through their customer profiles on a brand app. Once you understand what individual customers like, a great loyalty strategy is to send them discount codes for their favourite products or free gifts similar to their previous purchases.

Creating Tiers

An advanced loyalty strategy is to segment your customers into different tiers depending on their loyalty. Higher tiers receive better benefits, but access to the higher tiers requires greater interaction with your business (e.g. making a significant number of purchases or being a long-time customer).

This loyalty strategy can be highly effective as it incentivises customers to engage with your business in order to access the higher tiers. Obviously, the highest tiers need to offer significant benefits for the system to work (such as high discounts), but any losses from this tier will be offset by the high frequency with which these super-loyal customers will return to your business.

Increasing Loyalty With Future Platforms

The examples we’ve provided are perfect for increasing digital loyalty, but this means you need to have a digital presence before you can enjoy the benefits of these strategies. This is where Future Platforms comes in.

Our expert team can provide your business with any kind of digital product it needs, from sleek, accessible brand apps to custom-designed websites tailored to your specific requirements. We have extensive experience in a wide range of industries, from transport to luxury fashion.

If you’re interested in working with us, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Contact our team today to learn more about how we can help you engage with your audience and boost digital loyalty.