Use Promotions To Put Some Excitement Into Your Loyalty Program

If your loyalty program has been active for a while, you might be looking for new  promotion ideas to help put some excitement into your user base. We’ve compiled some of our favorite promotion ideas below for you to try.

Idea #1: Host Activities For Your Members 

One of the first ways to jazz up your loyalty program is to expand opportunities for your customers to engage directly with your company. 

Consider your products and your brand. What kind of experiences could you add to your loyalty program? Can you create tutorials or classes to benefit your customers? Could you create quizzes or badge-earning events for your members to enjoy? 

REI’s lifetime co-op membership program is a great example. One stand-out benefit of this program is REI’s massive list of events, outings, and classes. These are open to anyone interested in participating but lifetime members get free or heavily discounted access to all programs.

REI’s outdoor school offers everything from video tutorials to in-person meetups. This has the additional benefits of letting the customer select their preferred level of engagement. There are also programs for every experience level, from brand-new hikers to experienced outdoorsmen. Customers can find resources for fixing gear, ideas for their next outing, and chances to meet members of their community.

Establishing similar opportunities in your loyalty program gives you another method for engaging your program members. It shows you want them to enjoy your products and rewards, and that you want to extend their enjoyment beyond monetary transactions. Additionally, it gives you a chance to build your loyalty community through social interactions between program members.

Idea #2: Run Promotions For A Charity Partner

Corporate social responsibility has become one of the central topics of discussion in business scholarly research and the mainstream media. Customers expect businesses to take more active roles in promoting the social and environmental well-being of their communities. These practices can also expand your loyalty program.  

Consider the trends in consumers shopping: 87% of consumers in a Cone Communications research study said they would purchase a product because the company advocated for a cause they cared about -- especially Millennial shoppers. Because market research estimates millennials will soon represent over 30% of the total market, companies should seriously begin building out their own social responsibility programs.  

One way you can begin is by partnering your brand with a charity or local philanthropic mission. Deciding on your brand’s social purpose and determining what kind of CSR fits with your organization is a massive discussion by itself. Regardless, make sure the mission fits with your brand. If you already have a charitable organization then incorporate them into your loyalty program.

One idea is to run a special promotion where every point redemption also donates a certain amount of money to the charity. For example, if a customer chooses to redeem 250 points worth of rewards, then your organization will donate $5 to the charity.

Another idea is allowing customers to convert their unredeemed points into charity donations, like how Citi did own with their point-sharing app on Facebook. By using Facebook groups, program participants can pool points towards a group purchase for a charitable cause.

Keep in mind: transparency is important. You should always make it publicly known how and why your organization donates to its chosen charity or cause. This can also help incentivize new customers to join your program!

Idea #3: Let Your Customers Reward Someone They Love

If you have a promotions engine within your loyalty program, you can create and run promotions of any type for any occasion. One of the more popular promotions are social recognition or sharing campaigns. Sharing or giveaway-type promotions are a great method for inspiring your community. Your program members have circles of friends and family they treasure. So why not surprise them with something they can use to delight their loved ones in return?

Oreo Mini Special Delivery Promotion

We know from first-hand experience people want to share the fun with their friends and family. Customers jump at the opportunity to delight the people closest to them. If you have an active customer community, give customers the chance to “reward” their friends.

Example: a user redeems for a high-quality item. After they do, they get a surprise notification offering to send a friend a special item too – just because! This way their friend can also share in the fun. You can customize these kinds of “surprise and delights” with any mix of free item, store credit, or discount. 

You can also personalize these surprises completely around your brand. Is your company’s anniversary coming up? Want to celebrate International Friendship Day? Your customers will love the chance to gain a reward for themselves and to show their friends and family they’re loved. 

If you’re concerned you might over-extend your available rewards, then make the reward a limited-time offer or an hour-long flash event. If you’re giving away physical items make sure to announce you have a limited amount. This can help generate urgency for your customers to participate. You can even post a countdown clock on your loyalty platform that decreases with every item given away!

If you're inspired to run your own promotions within your loyalty program but don't quite know how, we can help! The Brandmovers Promotions Engine is the perfect tool to help you build and execute promotions like sweepstakes, contests, instant wins, and more all within your loyalty program. Get in touch with us today to learn more.