Consumers are often looking to save time and money, and engage with brands, or shop with companies they feel loyalty toward. Businesses have come up with a variety of methods to benefit their brands as well as their customers’ bank accounts, thus creating the rewards and loyalty programs, coupons and discounts, and giveaways we all know and use today.
REWARDS AND LOYALTY PROGRAMS
Rewards and loyalty programs are just two of the ways consumers can reap benefits from brands or businesses they most frequently shop. They give customers points in exchange for the amount they spend at the store. Tracking points on consumers cards, or bank accounts by using their phone numbers or emails, persuades more customers to join their program due to the easy accessibility. These programs encourage customers to return to the store and are ultimately designed to turn them into a faithful customer. Rewards and loyalty programs benefit both the shopper and the store because the customer saves money and the store gains a loyal buyer or repeat customer. Because brands use shoppers’ phone numbers or emails for these programs, it’s important not to inundate accounts with an annoying amount of emails and text messages and to look for ways to create custom experiences that will engage consumers. Rewards and loyalty programs are smart for almost any business, whether it be a big brand name store like Target, or a small local shop like our partners Baby BuYou Children’s Boutique.
COUPONS AND DISCOUNTS
Coupons and discounts may be the most well-known way to save consumers some money, considering they have been around for longer than most of us have been alive! An offer of “Buy One get One Free!” or “50% off the whole store” can be pretty tempting for shoppers. You also may have heard of an evolving type of coupon called groupons which are similar to coupons, but are usually only valid for 24 hours. Digital coupons have become more common as consumers rely on smartphones for information and transactions. While paper coupons have a redemption rate of about 3-5%, digital coupons have a much higher redemption rate of around 50%. Brands have to determine if coupons are an investment they want to use to engage with shoppers, as they can drive traffic to purchase, but often don’t create brand loyalty.
GIVEAWAYS
Giveaways are awesome ways for brands to promote themselves and to reward their customers for engaging with them. They are effective for increasing awareness, social media followers, and brand engagement. Giveaways are especially great for start-ups or new businesses to get their name out and create some buzz. We worked with our partners Beach House Beverages to do a giveaway for free merch in exchange for following their Instagram account, liking and commenting on one of their posts, and tagging some friends in it. This increased their followers and engagement on social media , as well as purchases of their products.
With so many options for consumers, rewards and loyalty programs, coupons and discounts, and giveaways are some of the foundational ways to develop brand awareness and loyalty.
Contact us today to see how we can help you build your brand and engage with your shoppers!
