Small businesses are investing more of their time, money and resources by effectively strengthening relationships by implementing a loyalty program. If you are a small business owner that has not leveraged the use of a loyalty program, you should…and this is why:
The January 2014 report “Achieving Big Customer Loyalty” focussed on surveying 1,000 small business owners practices and released its findings; that it is imperative that brands create personalized experiences for their loyal customers. The results are astoundingly in favor of a business implementing a loyalty program. “Manta” reported that of 1,000 small businesses (members of Manta) surveyed, 50% of business owners reported 61% of their annual revenue came from repeat customers. Loyal customers were spending 67% more than a new customer. As a result, businesses were only allotting 14% of their marketing budget towards the acquisition of new customers. So it can be said, that future marketing dollars are better spent not by chasing a new customer, but by maximizing the value in customers they already have! Unfortunately, only 34% of small business owners have adopted a loyalty program for their business, and those that have are using the tired old punch card.
For any loyalty program to be successful, it requires mass adoption. And offering a another plastic card to a customer just doesn’t cut it in today’s high paced tech savvy world! I for one automatically balk at the request of a store clerk that is offering me another piece of plastic for my wallet. It is time to enter the world of mobile marketing…why not offer your loyalty program in the form of a mobile app? In doing so, it allows a business owner to not only offer their customer the benefits associated with a loyalty program, but it gives the business a way to reach their customer on a platform that is the most engaging, and on a device that they have with them 24 hours a day. The custom mobile app offered by Mass Mobile is a product that does just that! The businesses that adopt this type of high tech engagement, get the instant credibility of being found on the “App Store” , which in the past was reserved for large scale operations, along with the ability to market in way that is sure to have the message being sent, seen by the target audience. Push notifications have the ability to been on a users smartphone just like a text message…and these messages are opened at a rate of 99.8%. This is staggering when compared to emails sent by businesses getting open rates of between 15-30%. The question is no longer, will a business adopt a mobile app, it is when will they adopt it?
Small business owners need to engage with its customers to increase its sphere of influence and to create meaningful relationships by creating personalized experiences. “Every retail brand now understands that acquisition is just the first step, and that retention is a top priority for achieving profitability.” Since 89% of consumers already participate in some type of loyalty/rewards program, the time is now to implement your own marketing loyalty strategy. Ted Williams, BIA/KELSEY’S Professor of Strategic consulting, confirms that customer loyalty programs are starting to gain traction in the small business community and went even further to say that these findings align BIA/KELSEY’S analysis that over half of small businesses will launch customer loyalty programs by the end of 2014 to help their businesses be more competitive.
Don’t be left behind, grow your sales and be on the forefront of the new way to do business!