How to develop the best app for loyalty cards?
If loyalty apps are nicely and correctly built, being multiplied by the marketing strategy, they become powerful tools that can easily boost the ROI in a short time. It is easy to say, but if it is easy to implement? To begin with, let’s have a look at the elements that this “perfect app” has to include.
We at Celadonsoft offer the following list:
- User profiles
- Loyalty block/Reward opportunities
- Coupons
- Digital Stamps
- Points
- Push notifications
- News
- In-app map
- Analytical tools
I. User profiles in loyalty apps
As we have mentioned, personalization and accurate targeting really matter. The more precise they are, the more benefits loyalty apps get.
All the discounts and all sorts of benefits you offer to the customers are closely connected and are directly linked to the people’s activity and the ways they interact with the brand. It makes the following points not just necessary to consider, it makes them too important to neglect:
- Benefits should be linked to the person’s activity directly
- The user shouldn’t lose his activity points during his journey over the app
Possible impact:
If user profiles are used and settled properly, the user data can be protected and stored safely even in case the initial account itself was deleted. Another common cause of data loss is when the same account is used on different devices. What does it mean in reality? The fact that users will more likely become the repeated customers. This, in turn, leads to sales increase.
However, the data collected from the profiles and being analyzed opens immense possibilities, for example, the benefits can be tailored to the user’s unique experience. The profit is obvious-the benefits and offers to reach people who are really interested in them.
II. Loyalty block or your small business loyalty program
It is the heart of the app. Why? Because it brings together the opportunities, benefits, and rewards you can offer to the customers. It can be implemented in a lot of ways. Let's have a look at some of them.
Coupons
At Celadonsoft, we would recommend creating a separate coupon screen if you think about this option. The screen should provide a certain list of opportunities, for example:
- The list of all the coupons being available
- Offer expiration date and additional information
- Used coupons, marked clearly so they can be easily distinguished from the rest of the list.
As soon as a new app is developed and launched, it is easy to send the coupons to the users and keep them interested in interacting with the brand, however in buying the goods and services you offer.
Coupons have one advantage, though, which is underestimated-they save money because there’s no need in printing paper ones and distribute them somehow.
Digital Stamps
If you want to make your customers repeated ones but are not sure about the way it should be reached, try digital stamps. In short, they are a point system of a kind. It means that the users get “stamps” for this or that activity. Later these points can be exchanged for rewards and all kinds of benefits.
Stamps are an example of gamification, one of the most promising trends in marketing. The thing is, they encourage users to interact with the brand for rewards. They push the competitive button inside of the customer so he becomes engaged in active interaction.
As soon as the reward program apps are created, another possibility opens. It is related to behavioral patterns and helps to tailor user’s behavior to the rewards and offers.
Let’s take a simple example. Let’s say, you have a small shop with an average check of $7-8. But if you offer a Stamp for every $10 spent, many people will consider it is worth spending additional 2 dollars and get the Stamp. Nice, isn’t it? Your average check will become nice at the end of the day too.
Points
If you ask which reward system is the most popular, the answer will be just like that - the one with the points. Starbucks uses it, just for you to know. And these guys do know how to increase sales and average checks. However, people are familiar with it, they accept and know it, so it will be easy to implement the system in a Loyalty App for Small Business.
The point-related system is flexible and can be implemented for increasing the KPI of the brand, not just for brand loyalty establishment.
Points have a lot in common with Stamps and can be assigned for different activities. Spending some amounts and completing orders are not the only ways to get points. Encourage users to share brand-related content and create such content, and you can score your marketing goals pretty fast.
Also, one can consider Points as in-app currency, why not? Let users collect them, exchange them and buy some specific options or even merch.
III. Push Notifications & iBeacons
One of the important steps on your way to building a loyal audience around your brand is to keep the users interested in the services you provide and be informed about the news and updates. Use regular alerts to remind the users about the app, encourage their activity but keep the balance, because too many pop-ups and push notifications can do the opposite.
Also, this feature is among the ones, which can be in hand at the very beginning when you just start building loyalty. Let’s have a closer look at the ways it all can work for your mobile loyalty solution for small business:
- Keep the users updated and informed about new and active loyalty campaigns, including hot offers or new coupons in the shop
- Encourage purchases by reminding users to get their first stamps if they complete some tasks or spend some money
- Link notifications to the location. Now when the user passes, he will be informed about the offers and get the corresponding invitation.
- Send kind reminders for the users, who haven't interacted with the brand for some time. It seems vague, but it does work, so the users return to the product.
Also, keep in mind that target messages have to be worked on and processed with maximum attention. Make users accept the notifications and see how active they will become. The power of push notifications is underestimated, but statistics is like that - people, accepting notifications, are 3 times more actively interacting with the product.
But what about the impact on your business?
- Interaction with the brand becomes more active.
- Conversions will increase accordingly.
- Use push notifications and see with your own eyes that they really work better than retargeting. Try another approach and add targeted notifications to enjoy greater results.
- iBeacon is a tool worth considering because you can reach people who are just passing by, so the possible audience spreads on its own.
IV. News
Keep in mind that content sharing activity, like the rest of the implemented ones, has to be done on a separate screen.
Analyze the content and decide what to share. It can be industry insights, brand announcements, or specific offers and their promotion.
How will it impact your business?
- Brand engagement becomes stronger as the target audience and the users see the regular news about innovations being adopted.
- The best way to increase the chances that people will buy something is to inform them in this way about the ongoing events.
- If the content is valuable and interesting for the users, it will be shared via social media. This market reach will be expanded in a natural and native way.
V. In-app map
If you have some stores, add a built-in map to the apps your users can see the shop locations with the work hours at once. This can work for MVP, but if you want something more advanced, implement navigation to lead the customers directly to your doors.
How will it impact your business? If the map is integrated, the foot traffic to your store increases, it is simple and clear. If your target audience is active, if the goods or services are in high need for them, a map in the app can do the deed pretty well.
VI. Analytical tools
Analytics is the thing that has to be implemented and used. Nowadays the one who has data has the key to everything. Good analytics turns almost any data into such a tool, and the data can be of any kind:
- Demographics, including age, sex, and soon.
- The list of the goods the users buy most and least.
- Behavioral patterns. Knowing what goods are popular during the workdays and on the weekend, for example, you can send notifications and offers directly to the ones who will be interested in them.
How will it impact your business?
- Data-driven decisions can be implemented and used with the maximum profit for the organization, and the key to it is analytical tools. In other words, one can clearly see what goods have to be improved, which ones are popular and which ones are not.
- The better you know your customers, the better you can adjust the services you offer to the expectations of the target audience.
