'Net Features : loyalty builders

Building the Best Brand Advocate

Michael Garrity — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 20:00:00 GMT

As Web workers, we all strive to provide experiences for our customers that ultimately transform them into loyal and lifelong brand advocates.

But the truth is that the majority of customers don’t think much about the companies from which they purchase product, outside of the transaction cycle. In fact, for smaller and medium-sized businesses, finding meaningful support from customers can be a difficult task.

There are, however, some best practices that brands can follow to turn certain website visitors into their most valued customers.

Here are four that you should know:

Market, market, market
Success starts with getting your brand recognized – so market it. The best way to reel in those potentially permanent customers is to keep getting the word out about your business, casting a net wide enough to pull in as many people as possible.

This also means giving them a reason to notice you in the first place. Create promotions that incentivize their patronage, which can mean discounts, deals for a quantity of items purchased or additional accessories/items when customers buy a complementary product.

Evaluate interest
You may have many customers that stand out based on the number of orders they place, but there is always more to it than meets the eye. If these customers have a habit of buying only through promotions, or are only purchasing outlet items, they are probably not in line to become your top revenue generators.

That isn’t to say they don’t have value, nor that you shouldn’t continue to try to cultivate relationships with them. But they may never grow to become your most profitable customers, so instead focus on users who are always coming to your site to shop – not just when you are offering incentives.

Build relationships
The cornerstone of a good business is good customer service. If you want to create the perfect customer, it has to be a two-way street. This requires addressing any issues that your customers may have in a timely and efficient manner, always offering useful information and always being available as a resource whenever the customer may need you.

Brands are expected to take a more active role in giving customers personalized experiences that are relevant to their wants and needs. A little analysis goes a long way, and simply paying close attention to a user’s purchasing behavior should provide great baseline insights.

If you’re really interested in optimizing your connections and generally streamlining the process, try using a customer relationship management (CRM) solution. There are a number of worthwhile options out there, including Salesforce.com, Fiitfu and NetSuite CRM+, plus many others.

Show your appreciation
When it’s all said and done, the trick to creating a true brand advocate is to remember that people like to feel appreciated. This is especially true of your premier customers, as they’ve invested a lot in your business.

Once you’ve defined this top-tier segment of your audience, establish loyalty programs with them specifically in mind. Not only will they feel as if they are getting rewarded for being such dependable customers, but it will likely also increase repeat purchases.

Exploring Loyalty Programs and Their Many Benefits

Mike Phillips — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 21:30:00 GMT

Loyalty programs can be a highly effective way to build brand loyalty and encourage new brand advocates. From periodic discounts or rewards for promoting the brand, membership certainly has its benefits. And no one benefits more than the brand. But there is much more that a brand can do with loyalty programs and much more to be gained - including increasing time-on-site, page views, ad impressions and click-throughs, and direct sales.

Let's take a look at one such loyalty program, offered by Chicago radio station WXRT, at 93.1 FM and www.wxrt.com. Their program is called the VIP Lounge and features several outstanding uses of brand loyalty.

Focusing on the User

Below is an image of the home page after logging-in to the VIP Lounge. We first see the brand, clear and present, with the identifiable moniker of "93 XRT" and call-sign diamond in the logo. The page is immediately inviting as a place to relax and spend some time exploring - a nice touch with the couch and a personalized invitation with the welcoming video. Of course, the VIP's name is prominent, as is his or her status and balance of VIP points. Altogether, the user is made to feel very welcome and encouraged to explore the brand (more on that later).

VIP points are earned by interacting with the website and the radio station offline. The points can then be spent on promotional items - such as tickets to concerts or passes to events. For example, one entry for a free ticket to a local concert might "cost" 10 points. It's then up to the user to decide how many points to spend - the more points spent, the more entries and better chance of success to win the tickets. Instead of simply shipping a product when the user reaches a certain threshold, the user is given control of their loyalty. This gives them a reason to get excited and, more important, to come back and keep trying. Users can also spend their points on merchandise. Options.

Let's now look at one way for users to earn points. To the right is an image of blues legend BB King, who will be making an appearance at Chicago's House of Blues, a WXRT-sponsored event. On that photo is a call-to-action - 250 VIP points using the keyword "BB." By entering this code in the "Spend VIP Points" section at the VIP Lounge, the user earns 250 points that they can use to enter to win tickets to any number of WXRT concerts including BB King. Synergy.

Focusing on the Brand

Sure, we want our users to benefit from loyalty programs. More important, however, our brands and our bottom line needs to benefit. Going back to the VIP Lounge home page, we can see several important branding elements and opportunities.

The most striking element of the page is designed first and foremost for brand interaction - the red buttons. There are links to earning and spending VIP points, listening to the radio station live (cross-channel promotion), 'giveaways,' 'photos,' and the ever-important 'refer friend.' The referral is accomplished by an e-mail invite and rewarded by additional VIP points for each friend referred, and 10 percent of VIP points earned by those friends within the first seven days of their signup. In other words, the user becomes a loyalty program affiliate. Brilliant. There is also a prominent 'contact' button. After all, what good is being a VIP if you don't get personalized VIP treatment?

Also highly visible are a few direct revenue generators; in the casino ad, the "Big Holiday Concert" ad and another casino ad at the very top of the page (not pictured).

One of the most imporant features of this page and the VIP Lounge in general is the benefit to the website's statistics, which become highly relevant to prospective advertisers. By the time you reach the VIP Lounge you've already created a few page views. The multiple interactions available also encourage more page views and increased time-on-site, including photos and the video welcome message. Now, back to the BB King photo - this was the last of at least two dozen photos in the gallery. The gallery is promoted as offering 250 VIP points by looking for the keyword. So, the user must click through many other photos before reaching the last one, containing the keyword "BB." That's a tremendous way to get people to spend more time on the page, while giving something in return and even entertaining them.

Of course, a successful loyalty program requires promotion and maintenance. WXRT has more than 12,000 Facebook Fans and over 3,300 Twitter followers. The BB King promotion (along with all the others) are promoted heavily through both channels. Viral Marketing.

It should be noted that WXRT is no stranger to brand loyalty. The purveyors of "Chicago's Finest Rock" have been building a community and a following of Chicago music fans since about 1972. They have enjoyed loyal fans well before the Web had any impact on business, or even existed. But these elements are a fine example of brand loyalty objectives, benefits, and strategies that any business can employ.

WM Morning Wire: 10-28-08

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:52:00 GMT

Welcome to Friday, October 24th, 2008! Below are a few press releases that caught our attention this morning that you too might find interesting. If you have a news announcement you would like to share with the Website Magazine community, please contact Website Magazine editors now. If you're not yet a subscriber to our print or digital edition, sign up now - it's free and is the smartest thing you can do as a Web professional.

Loyalty Builders Announces Mathematical Marketing eSeminar Series
Predictive marketing and multivariate testing experts Loyalty Builders today announced a Mathematical Marketing eSeminar series. The series is targeted to marketers who are interested in adopting new and powerful tools and techniques to increase marketing ROI and move closer to true 1 to 1 marketing practices.

Unwired Appeal Launches TextLink™ Mobile Web Service
Unwired Appeal announced the launch of TextLink™, a new mobile web service that guides cell phones to mobile web sites. End-users simply text-message (SMS) the designated TextLink™ keyword associated with the mobile site and the full URL to the site is transferred back to the cell phone.

Cloud Computing Training: A One-day Crash Course on Cloud Computing for Business and IT Professionals
Cloud Computing Training announced by MomentumSI. The course introduces cloud computing concepts across a three-layered stack; software, platforms and infrastructure. Benefits, obstacles and examples are presented at each layer. Adoption patterns, investments and expected returns are also covered in the one day class.

Maponics Announces 50,000 Neighborhood Boundaries in 2000 US Cities
Maponics, LLC announced today a new record expansion of its neighborhood boundary data, which grew by an incredible 150% over the past six months to more than 50,000 unique neighborhoods. Now local search, real estate, social media and marketing firms all have access to the best neighborhood data on the market for more than 2000 US cities.

Niche Net Partners, L.L.C. Announces MADN -- Marine Advertising Network
Niche Net Partners L.L.C. announced today the first online advertising network dedicated solely to the marine industry, Marine Advertising Network (MADN). MADN connects marine advertisers and marine publishers through the internet providing advertisers with a targeted, yet broad-reaching online marketing medium, and marine web site owners and publishers with a vertical ad network to increase new advertising revenues.

oDesk says demand for Apple iPhone App Developer Jobs Up 500%
oDesk, the leading marketplace and global IT platform for outsourcing technology jobs to certified, freelance, Apple(tm) iPhone developers, announced that demand for iPhone programming jobs has skyrocketed by 500% over the past six months.

GotWebHost.com Introduces New Shared IP SEO Web Hosting Plans
Got Web Host, in its never ending quest to provide SEO web hosting for any economy or budget, is happy to announce a new array of SEO shared IP hosting plans. These new plans come with the option of getting 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 or 30 Class C IP ranges, and provide two IP's per Class C.

Adpole.com Launches Free ClickBank Affiliate Widget for Business Opportunity Blogs and Websites
ClickBank affiliate marketers that operate business opportunity oriented blogs and websites now have a new free tool they can use to boost their affiliate revenue. Adpole.com enables ClickBank affiliates to quickly and easily monetize unused space on their business opportunity themed blogs and websites while focusing on providing excellent content to their visitors.