Onboarding is one of the most important processes for helping your loyalty program succeed. If you don’t create a connection and engage with the customer from the very beginning, you risk losing them completely. And trying to get them back can be very costly, if not impossible.
A good onboarding process can accomplish a number of small wins that help your brand make a great first impression:
- Having good onboarding lets you start your customers' experience with your company the right way. They will feel supported and confident in their choice to choose your company and loyalty program.
- Good onboarding is your first chance to deliver on what you promise to your customers and establish trust.
- “Implementing a proper onboarding sequence has a trickle-down effect. Even a small boost in percentage of customer who stick around past the first day can lead to a larger increase in overall retention down the road.” - Access Development
To make a smooth onboarding experience, here are 4 types of onboarding emails you can use for your loyalty program. This allows the customers to feel special and cared for from the moment they begin interacting with your company.
Welcome Email
The Welcome Email is one of the first things that your new customer will receive from your company. This will go into more detail regarding the benefits, perk, and redemption options that your loyalty program offers to them. This will give them a taste for what to expect in the future. The welcome email could also prompt them to complete their profile but the main purpose of the welcome email is just to reiterate what their membership offers and how they can grow their program.
Make them feel like they just joined an exclusive club-because they did! And as a perk for joining this club, remind them what perks they will be receiving. It is also important to be clear, maybe overly clear, with what your company has to offer because you can’t always assume that the user will know exactly how to make use of your program.
Here is an example of a Welcome Email:
[Name],
Welcome to [Loyalty Program Name]! Now you can earn points every time you shop online, in-store, and through other member experiences. When you redeem your points you will receive fun rewards, free products, and special discounts!
As a thank you for joining our loyalty program, we have given you 50 points to help you on your way to your first reward.
Earn 50 more points by liking our Facebook and following [Brand] on Instagram
Check on your points balance and different ways to earn points by visiting your profile on our website. You can also check out our program member guide [insert link] and our loyalty program FAQs [insert link].
If you have any questions or need assistance with your membership - we can help! Click here [insert link] to get in touch with our customer service team.
Thank you for joining [Brand]!
[Signature]
Complete Profile Email
This email is sent shortly after the welcome email to prompt the members to complete their profile. Adding the link to finish their profile will make it quick and easy for them to do it right then and there. Making this as simple as possible for the customers will encourage them get started on earning rewards. It is also important that the fields that they have to fill out are related to the program that they just signed up for. Some of those could be their goals with this program, their age group, budget, buying timeline/process. This is also a great way to collect first-party data.
Email Example:
Hello [Name],
Welcome again to [Loyalty Program Name]! You're on your way to utilizing valuable member benefits and earning great program rewards.
You just have a couple more steps! Simply go here [insert link] and finish setting up your profile. As a bonus, you'll receive 50 free points to spend on rewards and products once your profile is complete.
If you ever have any questions our team is here to help! Click here [embed link] and we will answer any questions or concerns you may have.
Have a great day!
[Name]
First Reward Earned Email
Everyone loves to feel recognized, and by sending new members a congratulatory email, it will make them excited about their purchases and seeing their rewards. This is also a great way to let them know about additional offerings that are available to them now they have begun to earn benefits. By acknowledging these milestones, no matter how small they feel, it is a chance for you to actively engage with your customers and in return build stronger relationships. If your customers do not get emails when they hit milestones, such as a first reward email, then they could forget about the rewards that they are earning and won't be able to cash in on them.
Email example:
Congratulations on earning some points! Keep it up to hit some more milestones and redeem more rewards.
You have earned [number of points] so far. Click here to see what you are eligible to redeem.
If you ever have any questions our team is here to help! Click here [embed link] to get in touch and we will gladly answer any questions or concerns you may have.
Have a great day!
[Name]
First Membership Summary or Account Status Update
It is important that your company sends out account status updates so that your members can keep track of where they are in their journey to new tier levels. This email should show them all of the details of their membership including:
- Total points earned so far
- Number of points redeemed so far
- New offers available
- How many points they are away from redeeming new items
You can space out these emails however you like- monthly, bi-monthly- quarterly, etc. These emails are a great way to keep the members excited about earning points and seeing how close they are to meeting a new goal or how far they have come since they started. You could end this email highlighting different deals going on or coming up in the future.
Email Example:
Hello [Name]! ,
Thank you for being a loyal [Program Name] member! You've had a great journey so far. Here's a round-up of your membership activity below:
Total points earned:
Number of points redeemed:
New offers:
Points away from redeeming new items:
[Include any upcoming deals going on within their membership status]
Have questions? We can help! Visit our page or submit your question and we will get back to you!
Have a great day!
[Name]
To Recap
Setting up onboarding emails is a strategic and useful way to create a connection with your new customers right from the beginning. The different email templates above will give you a solid start for creating your own branded member onboarding process that will further help you build stronger customer loyalty.
Loyalty program communication is a vital part of a brand's overall customer loyalty strategy. To learn more about how Brandmovers can help you build out loyalty communication plans that support your sales and business growth goals, get in touch today!
