Channel engagement is a hot topic of discussion among B2B marketers for good reason. Quality channel partner and customer engagement have been proven to positively impact brand-customer relationships, leading to increased sales and stronger loyalty. However, the key to success isn't just boosting engagement in general - it's driving the right types of engagements that resonate with your various channel audiences.
Identifying and implementing the right types of engagement and engagement drivers can be tricky, but it will also provide a significant strategic advantage for your program. If you are looking to level up your channel or brand loyalty, there are some essential considerations before seeking out solutions:
Sometimes there is a disconnect between who, at which level, and when your target audience could benefit from a nudge, new information, or recognition during the loyalty process. It’s essential to categorize and analyze each different audience prior to launch. Identify each audience to understand the unique needs at every level of engagement, delivering a practical experience each time they interact with your brand.
Second to identifying audiences is understanding your audiences. To create optimized timing across program education, nurturing, and engagement, the individual needs of each end-user group must be understood. Understand, based on audience insights, potential roadblocks in the loyalty experience to create the most optimal path to engagement.
Here are a few common roadblocks to B2B loyalty engagement and how the right platform solves them:
The key to high enrollment rates is presenting the details, benefits, and mechanisms in a clear, simple format. With the right technology and management, suppliers and distributors can communicate with end customers through tiered user levels, not only delivering laser-targeted messaging and information but also strengthening core relationships that a lack of valuable customer data could otherwise strain.
It helps to know your customer: With the right platform, it becomes easy to build, track, and manage timely, customized, and automated omnichannel messaging. With communication integrations like sms text, mobile apps, and targeted promotions, brands can configure a system that puts the right information in front of the right people at the right time to drive program success.
The reward needs to be meaningful; the rate of return to your customer should align with their expectations based on their overall spend or purchases. Many programs fall short of meeting the customer's reward expectations.
The right type of engagement isn’t one-size-fits-all: rigid, static, or inflexible point systems don’t allow brands to customize rules to drive actions aligned with their business goals. Some objectives are to increase category purchases and average order value; others are to grow partnerships. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to a system as complex as channel loyalty. Disconnected or irrelevant point systems can create more problems than solutions. Advanced point logic allows brands to configure highly customized triggers and rules to automate the correct connections. The right solution will provide point-rule agility aligned with brand KPIs and objectives.
Building awareness is key to program success. Spreading program awareness takes thoughtful, organized action. A loyalty program is more than just a way to fast-track growth, retention, and revenue; it is also an opportunity to collect valuable customer data to make guided decisions as the business grows alongside the program. It’s imperative to align program management with marketing principles to mitigate and distill the influx of information, enabling effective scaling.
If you have an existing program, we have the tools to modify, adjust, and bolster your program with custom, flexible tools and configurations. To learn more about how Brandmovers' loyalty team can help you boost engagement within your channel program, reach out to us today!