5 Unexpected Benefits That Happen After Launching A B2B Loyalty Program

In today's market, having a successful loyalty program takes more than a visually appealing dashboard and good rewards. However, if you put the research and work into your program and make it the best it can be for your members, then you will see benefits come from the program that you might not have expected. While there are some obvious benefits to launching a B2B loyalty program such as points and rewards, retaining customers and boosting customer engagement, there are some “overlooked” or “unexpected” benefits that will also lead your brand to long-term success and loyalty.  If you are thinking about launching a B2B loyalty program or currently in the process of launching, take a look at these 5 benefits you might not have thought of that you can expect to see once you have launched. 

1. Enhanced Quality and Quantity of Customer Data 

By implementing a loyalty program you are opening your company up to a world of new customer data. The data that you collect from your customers is crucial to being able to market towards them accurately and effectively. Zero and first party customer data is gathered when a member signs up for your program and will continue to be monitored and collected as they interact with your program. When you collect all of this information you are going to be able to segment your customers into groups and target different marketing campaigns and initiatives towards those specified groups. The more personalized your program is the better it will be for your customers and the key to personalization is through data! 

2. Competitive Advantage

These days it is crucial to stand out among your competitors and a loyalty program is important to having an advantage over others in your market. If customers are deciding between your brand and another one, but you are able to offer them a way to earn rewards just by shopping with you, then they will continue to choose your business over others. This keeps customer retention high which is important in this oversaturated market. A loyalty program also allows your brand to have fun and show your personality to your customers and reminds them that this program is a fun way to shop and they can only do that when through your brand. 

3. Increased Referral Business

If a customer is excited about the brand and your program then they are going to be your biggest advocate. People love to share their opinions whether they are positive or negative so ensure that you are making your customer’s experience a top priority to keep positivity surrounding your brand. Referrals are a great way to boost customer engagement while also getting your name into different audiences that might not have heard of you. Word-of-mouth marketing is a powerful driver when it comes to customer growth and customer acquisition. In fact, 92% of people trust word of mouth referrals from those they know, more than they trust all other forms of advertising. A great perk of this type of marketing is that it barely costs your company any money, if any at all. 

4. Stronger Customer Relationships 

Brands should always look for new ways to connect with their customers and a loyalty program is the way to go. The more that customers interact and participate within your program the stronger their brand loyalty will become and the more likely they are to have continuous communication with your brand. Loyalty programs are a great way to turn one-time customers into loyalty members. But customers don’t become loyal to one brand overnight, you have to continue to build the customer relationship and show them why they should settle down with your program rather than your competitors. 

5. Valuable Feedback and Program Development 

Having a place  to allow members to provide feedback and suggestions is really important to making sure your products and services are meeting the needs of your customers.  There are bound to be hiccups in your program and receiving this feedback will ensure that your company is diligent and on top of getting those issues fixed as quickly and seamlessly as possible. Excited and engaged members are more likely to provide you with feedback and suggestions rather than a one and done customer. This is why it is so important to be intentional in building that customer relationship because those are the members that will push your program to meet the needs of customers and be the best it can be. 

B2B loyalty programs provide companies with a number of different benefits. If you create a well-designed and seamless program then you have a powerful tool to build strong customer relationships and stand out among competitors. Loyalty programs create this bond and trust between customers and brands and that will be the driving force to getting these benefits out of your program. These are only 5 of the numerous benefits that you could expect to see after launching a loyalty program and the more you put in for your customers the more you will receive back!