What to Never Forget When Implementing a Loyalty Program

The numbers prove: loyalty programs fell in the taste of Brazilians. Whether they are consumers in search of discounts, benefits and other advantages; be entrepreneurs and companies that see loyalty as a way to improve the relationship with their customers and bring positive return to business. Data from ABEMF (Brazilian Association of Loyalty Market Companies) point out that the number of registrations in programs of this type in the country grows every year. There are already 320 million registrations, according to the latest study released by the association (3Q24). 

With this market boiling, companies that want to invest in loyalty often wonder about which way to go. What kind of program to adopt? How to actually transform relationships into businesses? The answer to all these questions is: depends. 

Before implementing a loyalty program, the recommendation is always to study your business, outline and understand your goals and objectives and know the profile of the customers you have and want to have. Despite the characteristics of a good loyalty strategy are particular to each business, there are some general rules that can help, and a lot, who is starting on this journey, or even who already has a loyalty program and wants to make it more effective. We list here some of the items that can not be forgotten along the way.

Engagement A loyalty program can have several goals. Bring more people to the store, increase the number of items in each purchase, earn on recommendations and brand promotion on social networks. What they all have in common is summarized in one word: engagement. In the end, what a loyalty program needs to do is engage and direct behavior, so that it is profitable to the business. So, always think about the behavior of your customers when designing loyalty strategies.

Data collection and analysis With so much technology available, there are countless tools that can help a company with data, information and insights about the business. Regardless of which platforms you will use, keep in mind that you can not help but track the progress and results of your program. Is your program even changing behavior? Customers are buying more? Recurrence has increased? Who are your most loyal customers?What are your preferences? All these are questions that can not go unanswered if you want to succeed in your loyalty program. In addition to measuring impacts, this type of information can help correct routes in case of strategy failures. 

Communication ' As in any relationship, presence and dialogue are key to the success of a loyalty program. Remember that engagement is built over time and needs to be “alimented”, through frequent interactions, listening, returns. But not only that. Communication needs to be relevant. Use the data you collect to establish that relationship. Show the customer that you know him, that you have prepared offers, conditions and experiences tailored to him, or even that you are attentive to his needs and desires. 

Rational and emotional The ideal value proposition of loyalty needs to bring together the two things, the rational and the emotional side. It is important, of course, that the customer feels “no pocket” the advantages of participating in the program, through discounts or redemption of a product with points/miles, without having to spend more for it. But it is also essential that he feels recognized, be part of a community, realize exclusivity and have good experiences.

Segmentation ^ People are different from each other and have different behaviors. Be sure to take this into account, and take care of the segmentation of your program. The possibilities are many. You can consider transactional, demographic and even generational aspects. But never judge your consumers as people with a single profile. 

And one last tip: no loyalty strategy can help you fix fundamental business problems. There is no loyalty program that solves if you have a bad product or service, if customer service does not work, or if the brand does not deliver what it promised. So, pay attention to these points so as not to harm the relationship with the public.

*Paulo Curro is executive director of ABEMF 'Brazilian Association of Loyalty Market Companies; Fabio Santoro and Leandro Torres are loyalty specialists, responsible for the loyalty training course, partnership of the association with Loyalty Academy and On Target