How to Create an Exclusive Loyalty Program!

Very few retailers will dispute the value of a repeat customer, and many are even familiar with how to create a loyal customer with tactics like personalization and loyalty programs. But many people a have a very narrow minded idea of what a loyalty program looks like.

Traditionally loyalty programs seemed to be all the same. They either gave a customer a percentage back as points, and that customer could redeem that for a discount. Or, they gave shoppers something for free after a certain number of purchases. Like in the following example.

Example of traditional loyalty program

As you can see these programs are still popular today, but are not the only way to structure a loyalty program. Many retailers today especially those looking at luxury brand loyalty want to construct exclusive loyalty programs. These programs create an aspect of exclusivity and avoid discounts.

Tips to Create an Exclusive Loyalty Program

Before I get into some tips, I want to clarify what is meant by an exclusive loyalty program. I do not mean that you should only accept certain people or exclude shoppers from your program. What I mean is that you should make your program feel like it is providing exclusive benefits to your customers. Here is how to do just that!

1. Points Only Products

This is one of my favorite ways to create an exclusive loyalty program! A points only product is a product that is only available for purchase with points. This is a great alternative to providing a discount with your loyalty program.

Points only products work by creating a catalog of products that are not available to be purchased in any currency besides your points. This allows you to provide additional value to your customers in the form of a gift rather than giving them a discount on a purchase. Like this example from Strivectin.

You can make any product available to be purchased with points, but to create a truly exclusive loyalty program you should make some products only available with points. These exclusive products create desire in your customers that is stronger than the desire to get a discount.

Theory11 does a fantastic job of this by providing limited edition versions of cards that are not available for purchase anywhere besides as part of their elite program. Limited edition items are great products to offer as part of an exclusive loyalty program.

Another way to get customer engagement is to offer aspirational rewards. These are rewards that cost a lot of points and a customer will have to work very hard towards. An example of this is Juleps’s Mini-Cooper.

2. Experiential Rewards

Another way to create an exclusive loyalty program is with experiential rewards. These rewards are similar to points only products because you are offering something that can only be redeemed with points. However these rewards focus on creating an experience for your customers. A product has a lifetime, but a great experience can last forever.

I have seen experiential rewards offered in many ways, but the important thing is that the experience you provide matches your brand image and your customer demographic. You want to create an experience that will drive your customers to take action.

Some great examples I have seen:

Theory 11

What they sell – Cards for magic tricks and magic accessories

Experiential Rewards – Skype session with the team and one on one training sessions

These experiential rewards have all been redeemed but were available in the past. The site even had a meet up with David Blaine as a reward. All these experiences match perfectly with what they sell and stand for.

Sephora

What they sell – Cosmetics and supplies

Experiential rewards – Exclusive shopping events, invites to Sephora parties, and access to the beauty studio

Sephora does a fantastic job of motivating shoppers to engage with their program. I will discuss them further in the next section, but they are also doing a ton of other things right with their loyalty program.

Other Experiential Reward Ideas:

Meet and greet with the CEO or a Celebrity Endorser
Tickets to industry events or shows
Early access to sales and promotions
Vacations
One on one consultation (explain which products will work best)

Once again the important thing here is to match your experiential rewards to your brand and customer base. If you want to give your loyalty program an exclusive feel you will need to provide rewards that get your members feeling that way!

3. Status Based Tiers

Nothing gets a customer feeling like they are part of an elite club quite like status based tiers. These are tiers that separate your loyalty program members into groups. The purpose of this is to get members competing to be part of an exclusive group.

These tiers work best for exclusive loyalty programs when the tiers are tied to a status. You can show status with a special card like Sephora’s VIB card or Starbucks’ Gold Card. Or you can show status by providing upper tier members with special benefits unavailable to those in lower tiers.

Just be sure that you are actually creating exclusivity for those in the top group. You should aim to have your best 5% of customers in the top tier of your program. This ensures that those seeking the status will be motivated by the exclusivity.

You can read “Tiered Programs, Why They Are Great for Customer Loyalty” for more information about creating tiers in your exclusive loyalty program. I would also recommend looking into Sephora’s program for a great example.

An Exclusive Loyalty Program

Creating an exclusive loyalty program that does not focus on discounting is definitely possible! You just need to be sure that you focus on creating rewards and benefits that match your target audience.

Do your customer value having things before the general public? Offer them early access to ne products for their loyalty. Do your customer love being unique? Allow them to redeem points for limited edition items that are not available anywhere else.

There are tons of ways to create a loyalty program that feels exclusive. The important thing is to use tactics that will work for you. Good luck and if you have any questions feel free to reach out to me on Twitter.

Is a Loyalty Program Right For Your Store?

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Author: Alex McEachern

January 30, 2016

Brands & mobile advertising: Getting 7X more engagement and 4X more customers

JOHN KOETSIER

We’re in the middle of the most massive media shift in history, and brands are lagging behind.

While 2.1 billion mobile users have downloaded over 350 billion apps, time on device grew 76 percent last year, and we are spending more time on our phones than watching TV, brands have yet to completely embrace mobile advertising. That’s led to what Mary Meeker has called a $25 billion opportunity gap in mobile ads.

Above: Disney buit an interactive game-in-an-ad for Big Hero 6, which generated 14.8 percent engagement.

Image Credit: VB

But some brands aren’t waiting. And they’re discovering how to win.

Disney, for instance, discovered that with the right confluence of targeting and creative, outsized results can happen. The company achieved 7 times the average video ad engagement rate using smart audience targeting and great, interactive creative. And video ads already generate 5 times the engagement of static banner ads.

A national consumer goods company, working with Kroger, recently achieved a 3.7-times increase in the number of customers visiting Kroger go buy its product, after a geotargeted mobile advertising campaign that focused on factors such as device data, location history, and offline purchase data.

VB’s new Brands & Mobile Advertising: How to win report is available for
$499 on VB Insight, or free with your martech subscription

Part of the challenge for brands, of course, is the sheer complexity of the mobile ad ecosystem. The number of calculations that go into which ads you see in Facebook or Draw Something is staggering, with easily 11 separate steps happening in milliseconds, and handoffs between ad networks, exchanges, demand-side platforms, supply-side platforms, and data management platforms:

Today, VB is releasing a report on brands and mobile advertising that includes both the good (like the above examples) and the bad. There are five ways brands are failing at mobile advertising, and they include repurposing ads from other media, not using data, and using data inexpertly.

In fact, not using any data at all results in ads that are almost 800 percent less likely to be seen, engaged with, and tapped on.

The report includes 12 ways brands are succeeding, one of which is planned spontaneity: something we’ve seen from both Adidas and Oreos.

For instance, last year Adidas was in the enviable position of having two teams wearing its equipment in the final of the World Cup of soccer: Germany and Argentina. Minutes after the World Cup was over, a special commemorative jersey was available for purchase at Adidas.com. Unfortunately, no one knew about it, Onefootball CEO Lucas von Cranach told me recently.

That meant the response was nowhere near what it could have been.

This season, when German player Thomas Muller scored a goal in a game for his home club of Bayern Munich, Adidas had his jersey ready in seconds, just like at the World Cup. And this time, the company also had an ad and an offer live within seconds … which generated a massive 6.6 percent clickthrough rate to Adidas.com.

Other techniques brands are using include tracking and optimizing in real time, “moneyball” style tactics, coordinated campaigns with TV and offline media, and — of course — video advertising, which grew 600 percent last year.

December 16, 2015

2015: The Year that Push Notifications Grew Up

Posted by

Caitlin O’Connell

Push notifications are largely viewed as a great mobile marketing tactic, albeit one with great questions about their use and best practices. But are they having a significant impact? We decided to take a look at the state of push messaging in 2015 to find out.

Over the course of the year, push messages continued to improve app user engagement and retention and companies increasingly took the path to personalization. This is largely due to the the shift away from broadcast marketing to an increased adoption of a segmented push strategy, which uses all the data a company has about a user to inform a smart marketing approach. While push messages showed improvement around respecting user data, a recent consumer survey we conducted revealed that 52% of app users are already finding push messages to be an “annoying distraction.”

As more marketers turn to push notifications to communicate with users, the bar continues to rise for them to be hyper relevant (to avoid going the way of email spam). The good news: our data shows that apps are rising to match these higher expectations, and the results of their efforts are improving engagement and retention.

Push Messages Continue to Influence User Engagement

One of the most effective uses of push messages is to encourage inactive users to re-engage with an app. When crafted as a friendly reminder or helpful tip, push notifications can better position an app in the minds of users. The numbers are truly telling of just how effective push messages are in this pursuit for engagement. In 2015, users who enabled push notifications launched an app an average of 14.7 times per month, whereas users who did not only launched an app 5.4 times per month. In other words, users who opted in to push messages averaged 3x more app launches than those who opted out.

This represents a 171% increase in app engagement. In 2014, the increase in engagement between users who opted in versus those who didn’t was 88%. Push messages serve an important role in an app’s user engagement, and there are no signs pointing to a decrease any time soon.

Build Trust Before Asking For Permission

Before an app can reap all the engagement benefits push messages have to offer, it must get users to agree to receive them. This has shown to be more difficult over the past year, as the average opt in rate for push messages in 2015 was 49.8%, down from 52% in 2014.

The decrease in push opt-ins may scare some, but it is not a reason to panic. Rather, this is an opportunity to find smarter ways to get users to agree to opt in. One place to start: build trust.

We’ve outlined before just how important it is to build trust with users before blasting them with push messages. One way to do so is to give a user time to explore the app before asking him/her to enable push messages. The chart below shows that the average push opt-in rate improved when users completed more sessions in an app. Users who complete between 1 and 3 sessions in an app have an average opt in rate of 35%. That rate doubles to 70% when users complete between 4 and 6 sessions in an app.

It doesn’t take too long to establish trust with users, but try to not ask for permission to enable push messages as soon as the app is downloaded. In the beginning, users know very little about the app and therefore will not have a good idea as to what the push messages will be telling them, or the value that will be delivered.

Retention Continues to Thrive Thanks to Push Notifications

Push messages also help apps avoid one of their biggest fears: user churn. Utilizing push messages sets an app up to retain users both in the short and long terms. Push notifications remind users to continually return to an app, which helps keep it top of mind and strengthens relationships throughout the user life cycle.

On average, 65% of users returned to an app in the 30 days after the app’s initial download, if they have push enabled. On the other hand, for users who did not have push enabled, only 19% of them returned the following month. By the third month, one third of users with push enabled were still using the app, compared to only 11% of users who do not receive push messages.

In 2015, retention for apps in which users enabled push increased throughout the first 3 months following download as compared to 2014; this suggests that app marketers used push messages more and the actual messages were more effective.

Users Are Responding More to Push Messages

One metric app marketers use to measure the success of their push messages is the average click through rate. For 2015, the average for push messages was 10.2%, a two percentage point increase from 2014.

Increasing click through rates supports the idea that push messages are becoming more relevant to users. But with every relevant push, the bar has risen for all push notifications to meet users’ needs. As a result, apps must continuously learn about their audiences in order to better serve them.

Push Messages Increasing in Numbers and Intelligence

As push messages continued to benefit apps in more ways than one, app publishers sent them more and more. The number of push messages increased 64.25% since the end of Q1 2015, to an average of 51 push messages sent per app. These messages are sent to various audiences of the app, so users are not receiving all 51 push messages.

The average number of push messages sent per app has steadily increased every quarter since the beginning of 2014. While that could be viewed as negative, our data actually shows that as the volume of messages has increased, marketers have also gotten smarter. This can be seen below as segmented push messages have continued to increase while broadcast messages are starting to become a thing of the past.

Since January, segmented push messages have increased from 53.51% to 65.73%, while broadcast messages have decreased from 46.49% to 34.27%. Marketers have taken notice that users are more likely to respond to a message with information that directly affects them, as compared to a message that was sent to all of the app’s users. This puts the pressure on apps to be doing everything they can to gain as much insight into their audiences as possible so that their marketers can better customize the messages.

Personalization Leads to Conversions

The importance of segmented versus broadcast messages can also be seen in view-through conversion rates (defined as users who view a push message and then convert).

For view-through conversion rates, 1% of users converted from broadcast messages, while 3% converted from segmented messages. In other words, users are 3x more likely to complete a conversion event if the message incorporates some kind of personalization.

A Marketer’s Job Is Never Done

Push messages have grown in effectiveness since last year, but there is always more that can be done. The onus is on us as marketers to make sure that push messages do not go the way of email and become spam. As app publishers send more push messages, capturing the attention of users will become increasingly difficult. Marketers will need to focus more on what is working over time by continuing to test different messages, shifting the focus from vanity metrics to those that signify actual ROI and always use audience insights as the root of the message.

With that in mind, we’ll be kicking off 2016 with more data that taps into the current state of consumers’ views on push and reveals the data-driven marketing best practices for segmentation, personalization and measuring performance, as well as some benchmark KPI’s based on vertical platform and the size of the app. Stay tuned!

December 7, 2015

Attracting Local Traffic to Your Store

Attracting local traffic to your store is a reoccurring task on your to-do list. You want a flood of new and existing customers roaming through your shop everyday. So, what’s the best way to encourage more locals to check out your place?

Aside from a customer loyalty program, the answer is a combination of digital and old-fashioned marketing tactics. Here are four ways (two online and two offline) to increase your local awareness and get your register ringing:

Try Local Awareness Ads on Facebook

Facebook isn’t just for posting status updates, you can attract local customers through this social channel, too. Facebook has an advertising option called Local Awareness Ads. These ads target customers that are near your business. You can create ads that have specific calls-to-action that connect with customers. Take a look at the example below. People that live or work near the market see this ad and can click on the call-to-action to get directions.

Boba Guys, a bubble milk tea bar, had success with Facebook awareness ads. According to a case study on Facebook, the company’s ad reached up to 10 thousand people with each new customer acquisition costing just $1.

Get started with a Local Awareness Ad on Facebook’s Business site.

Set up a business profile on Google My Business

Help your customers find your business by setting up a profile page on Google. When customers search for your business, here’s what they’ll see:

It’s a nice display for your business. In a glance, customers see your address, phone number and hours of operation. Customers can also click on pictures, read reviews and get directions right to your shop.

How successful is this at generating local traffic? According to Google, 4 out of 5 consumers conduct local searches on search engines. After searching, 32% of customers visited stores and made purchases, and another 19 percent made unplanned visits and made purchases.

Here’s the best part: it’s free. Check out or update your profile on Google My Business.

Host a sale with a community connection

Of course, business owners can’t rely solely on digital options to attract local shoppers.

Hosting a sale is a common way to draw customers, but to really entice local shoppers to come in, give your sale a community connection.

Is the local school headed to a championship football game? Are the local firefighters building a new station? If so, offer game-day promotions during playoff week. A cafe could temporarily rename one of its spicy sandwiches to Fire Burner and donate a portion of the sales to support the new station.

Aligning your business with a local cause provides several benefits. For starters, a recent study shows 41% of Americans say they have bought a product because it was associated with a cause. That same study shows 85% of consumers have a more positive image of a product or company when it supports a cause.

In other words, customers reward businesses that support the community.

Plan product demo or sample event days

Don’t wait for your customers to come to you, go to them instead. Grab a calendar and call a team meeting. Plan to do at least two events that give customers the chance to see your product in action. Or, go one step further with a non-stop demo.

For example, teashop, Teavana, has a sample station permanently set up for customers to try its products. Cosmetic stores have artists on hand and offer consumers a free makeover to encourage customers to buy specific products. Cosmetic Promotions looked into the success of these on-going demos and found 35 percent of customers planned to buy products immediately, and 56 percent planned to return to buy products.

Of course, you can also take your demonstration digital. Create a video that showcases your product and upload it on your website. Need a little help? Check out this Forbes article that highlights eight of the best product demo videos and explains why each one is effective.

How do you attract local traffic? What works best for your business? Share your knowledge with the business community in the comment section below.

October 3, 2015

Capitalize on the Love of Mobile Apps

A recent study conducted by Oracle found that over 85% of young people “Millennials” (ages 18-34) own a smart phone. Marketers are rapidly moving in the direction of native mobile applications – or Mobile Apps. In the process marketers, and business owners in general understand that it is not adds that engage young people, its apps!

This consumer segment cannot be discounted when looking to take advantage of growth opportunities. That is where Mobile Apps come in, if you are a small business owner, you can now obtain a completely custom mobile solution, that in the past has been dominated by big budget corporations. There still exists today a misconception that apps are difficult to maintain, and expensive to produce, that is simply no longer true. The study shows that this group of people are using their smart phones for a wide range of uses; everything from paying a bill, interacting on social media shopping, and watching video. Another study conducted by Flurry Mobile Analytics, showed that 88% of time that people in general spend on their smart phones are spent in native mobile apps.

Top items millennials prefer to do or have in-app (by percentage):

74% – Purchase a product or service through a company’s app

65% – Flag issues or raise complaint/concerns that are submitted directly to the company

62% – Receive notice of upcoming deals/offers

60% – Advice on how to best use products/services received from the company

Always maintain your brands identity and continuity throughout all marketing channels. Try to incorporate functionality that would be beneficial to your users, for example: a Realtor may want to include a mortgage calculator, a Salon a calendar to schedule appointments, a boutique a gallery, and everyone should include some form of loyalty – its cliché but if you build it they will come. Just give them a reason to keep coming back.

September 22, 2015

IOS 9: APPLE SHUTS DOWN THE MOBILE-WEB GRAVY TRAIN FORCING PUBLISHERS TO PRIORITIZE APP DEVELOPMENT

Posted by: Daniel Finn

Apple’s support of ad-blocking technology in the upcoming release of iOS 9 puts the $70 billion global mobile ad market at risk, forcing publishers to rethink their mobile strategies.

Over the past few years, publishers have seen a large chunk of their revenues coming from ads served to users consuming content via the mobile browser. The main strategy concentrated on getting stories widely shared on popular social apps such as Facebook, which in turn drove users to mobile-optimized websites that served up ads.

However, Apple’s latest software update enables the use of content-blocking tools that will let users block ads in the Safari browser. Users who adopt the technology will be able to bypass banners, pop-ups, and pre-rolls, upending the mobile-web strategy that has allowed publishers to make money without charging end users.

With over 1 billion iOS devices out there – what does this mean for publishers?

Ad-Blocking on the Mobile-Web Drives Publishers To Promote Apps

One thing we know for sure is that publishers need to take the threat of ad-blocking on the mobile-web seriously. An August 2015 report from PageFair places the number of ad-blocking users at around 198 million worldwide and draws attention to the significant cost to publishers, estimating up to $22 billion worth of inventory was blocked in 2015.These figures are expected to rise dramatically over the next year when mobile users learn about the value of content-blockers beyond just stopping ads to include faster load time. For example, Crystal, one of the most hyped content-blocking apps, claims its users see pages load nearly 4 times faster with the app installed and use 53% less data.

So, are the days of enjoying free content on mobile gone for good? Not quite.

Apple is only allowing ad-blocking technology to work on the Safari browser, leaving publishers free to reap the benefits from the App Store. With this tactical move, apps will continue to work unhindered by the ad-blockers and, as a result, publishers will start aggressively pushing users to download their apps to bypass the ad-blockers.

Short-Term Pain (Reshuffling Focus) for Long-Term Gain (Better User Insight)

Although this shift requires new effort on the part of publishers, it will likely benefit their core business for the long term. Publishers will gain a much more granular view into their users, because of the richness of data that can be collected through apps. This insight will enable the creation of inventory that targets users based on the types of content they consume, the devices they use, their location, and demographic information – which could sell for a premium.

Balancing Ads with a Smooth App Experience

It is important to note that in an app environment, publishers will need to pay much closer attention to the balance between serving ads and creating a great user experience. App users are generally more valuable than the typical mobile-web visitor because of their expressed loyalty. A user downloads an app if they value the content and intend to consume it on a regular basis. The smartest publishers will work hard to embrace and retain their app users by constantly evaluating the impact that different types of ads have on consumption, social sharing, time spent in app, and user retention.

The Future for Publishers

Apple has once again flexed its muscles to shake up the mobile landscape. With this new policy in place, publishers will likely come out as winners. Publishers will create better experiences for their users through apps that are designed for iOS and create loyal audiences in the process. Furthermore, they stand to benefit from the granular data that can be collected via apps and the premium inventory to be created from it.

August 27, 2015

7 Stats That Show Mobile Marketing Is The New Leader

Mobile marketing has been one of the most explosive technology waves since the internet was invented and shows no signs of slowing down. Mobile-commerce sales are booming and areforecasted to reach $100 billion in 2014. Businesses across a wide range of industries are implementing mobile strategies to grow their companies. Are you planning to join the mobile marketing world and jump on the app trend? There has never been a better time.

Below are some statistics to help you better understand the importance of mobile marketing today!

Mobile is now the leader.
According to predictions by Google, mobile searches (at 85.9 billion) will soon surpass desktop searches (84 billion) in 2015. Search ad spending grew, and desktop search ads only experienced small growth, supporting this prediction. By 2015, it is predicted that there will be 2 billion smart phone users globally. As of right now, 57% of the United States owns a smart phone. These numbers all add up to show ups that mobile and mobile devices are here to stay.
Mobile is local.
Currently, 40% of mobile searches are local, and 77% of them take place while the user is at home or at work. Mobile-on-the-go is crucial to everyone, and users are utilizing mobile in local areas, for local businesses.
Mobile has fast conversions.
81% of conversions from mobile search happen within five hours of the search. Searches are important because they lead to other actions like calls, visits to a business, and ultimately. Sales. Conversion is dependent upon you, the business owner, which means that you need to be available via mobile to snag those customers, and provide them with accessibility and great customer service/products.
Mobile presents new opportunities to connect.
What are the top five tasks that users need their smart phone for? Making phone calls at 83%, checking email at 74%, searches at 67%, taking pictures at 62%, and accessing social media at 57%. You can use each one of these tasks to help your marketing strategy. Tasks like email, social media, pictures of your products and services, and more, will all help you further your business.
Mobile peak times are growing.
Knowing when users are active is really smart. Most mobile searches take place during the time frame of 8pm to midnight, and mobile searches double during the holidays. Little facts like these can really help you base your advertising and marketing strategies around user habits, to make the most of your advertising dollars.
Mobile usage growth applies to everyone.
Mobile isn’t just for kids and teenagers anymore. As of right now, the 55-64 age group is the fastest growing demographic on Twitter, and for Facebook and Google+, the fastest growing demographic is 45-54. So what does that mean? You should find a way to tie your marketing strategy into those demographics, and adjust your social media and email presence to those groups.
Mobile apps are preferred.
85% of Mobile users are more comfortable with apps than mobile websites. iOS apps currently generate four times the revenue than Android apps do. When it comes to social media, Facebook is downloaded the most, followed by Google+, and Google Search. Using these statistics to help design your mobile strategy is really smart. When used in conjunction with the demographic information, you can customize your advertising and other strategies to bring in the most business.

These are just a few helpful mobile strategies and stats to help you along. Mobile marketing is here to stay and with these powerful stats we encourage every small business to get on board as soon as possible.

August 26, 2015

2015 Back to School Shopping Insights Every Small Business Owner Should Know

By: Colleen Corkery

Are you ready for an influx of Facebook and Instagram pics from life’s next big event? The event that affects parents, kids, businesses, and social feeds everywhere? We’re talking about back to school. Just how big is the back to school shopping season? Here’s a pop quiz for kicks:

Back to school generates more revenue than:
A) Father’s Day
B) Mother’s Day
C) Valentine’s Day
D) All of the Above

If you chose D, you get an A+ for being a top-notch business student. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF)’s 2015 survey, back to school/college is expected to collectively result in more than $68 billion in revenue this year. That’s more than Father’s Day ($12.7B), Mother’s Day ($21.2B), or Valentine’s Day ($18.9B) combined, making back to school the second highest revenue generating “holiday” after the winter holidays ($616.1B) – Now that deserves a gold star.

What’s motivating people’s back to school spending habits? The NRF says 40.6% of people are shopping for sales more often, 45% of people decide where to shop based on the coupons they receive, and 26.5% of people plan to redeem coupons using their mobile phones. This is why sending mobile-friendly promotions via email or text message (sms) is key.

As a business owner, jumping on the back to school sales bandwagon today will earn you extra credit. While the traditional season starts after Labor Day, August 24th is the new trending school start date. In fact, some kids on the East Coast are already back in school now!

If you’ve already got your sales, offers, and promotions in the (brown) bag, keep spreading the word. NRF’s survey shows that 42.8% of people will shop three weeks to one month before school, and 30% of people don’t plan to shop for back to school until 1-2 weeks before school starts.

Researchers from Eyeview also found that found 66% of students and 74% of parents believe localized messaging is “the most impactful” part of a promotion. This gives local, small businesses an advantage.

What exactly are people spending their money on? The biggest contenders for households with children K-12 include clothing ($8.59B), electronics ($7.78B), shoes ($4.63B), and typical school supplies ($3.85B). Families with college students are spending more on electronics ($9.93B), clothing ($6.56B), dorm furnishings ($6B, up 31%), food ($5.65B), personal care items ($43.73B), gift cards ($2.28B), and more.

What if your business doesn’t sell traditional back to school items like backpacks, supplies, or clothing? Don’t let that discourage you. Appeal to the emotions and actions of a parent or new college student (others will gladly reap the benefits): Provide deals on anti-stress methods like spa and gym services, or outdoor activities. Own a salon? Everyone needs a new back to school picture or ID – Offer a deal on haircuts or color. Parents or college students may be driving back and forth from school soon – Offer deals on auto tuneups, car washes, etc. Who doesn’t appreciate a deal on lunch/snacks, or a fast meal after work/school when making dinner won’t cut it? The options are endless.

As a small business, the back to school shopping season has potential for placing you on the revenue generating honor roll. With that, here are even more insights to consider when planning or managing your back to school sales and marketing strategies:

July 27, 2015

Increase Customer Spending: 6 Ways to Encourage Loyal Spenders

For better or worse, I am somewhat of a regular at the local casino. I don’t have TOO many vices, and I’m always extremely responsible – I have a pre-set limit of how much I’ll allow myself to spend per visit and have only exceeded it on a handful of special occasions. Many people I know will spend much more on bar tabs or shopping sprees in a day than I will spend in two weeks at the casino, and none of them will have a chance at striking it rich…but that’s enough of me trying to justifying a bad habit of mine.

Anyway, I am sometimes chagrined at the fact that I don’t see a lot of comps or freebies thrown my way. I’m there fairly often, and I know most of the dealers by name – where’s my free meal every time I sit down?

Then I’ll see someone who comes in maybe three or four times a year, but will plunk down an obscene amount of money on the table – many times over what my limit would ever be – and receive free meals, discounts on rooms, and all sorts of goodies. And I’m reminded that although I come in more frequently, there are a ton of other gamers that spend more money than I do. THOSE are the customers worth wooing in the casino’s eyes. The same principle holds true for small business owners.

What small business owners can do to encourage customers to spend more each visit

While regular customers are undoubtedly a good sign for your business and are absolutely worth your time to cultivate, at the end of the day you’re running a business. You need money to keep your doors open, and the more money somebody spends at your place of business, the more valuable they are to your success. With that in mind, here are a few suggestions to consider in order to increase customer spending per visit.

1. Build Loyalty

If you’re a fan of this blog (and c’mon, who isn’t?), you’ve no doubt heard us bang the drum on the importance of loyalty. That’s no coincidence – it truly is that critical, especially in today’s connected world of e-commerce where there are no shortage of other places your customers can go to buy what you’re selling. You can read other entries on how to gain loyal followers, but our focus with this entry is how to increase customer spending per visit.

Not only are loyal customers more likely to spend more money at your business because they visit more often, but they are also going to serve as your best test market to unveil new goods, new premium packages or services, and even higher prices on current goods.

You have already earned their trust and loyalty – the hardest part of the battle is over and you are the victor who earns the spoils. Try out a new premium, high-priced item with your most loyal consumers and inform them that they are part of an elite member of people that gets first crack at it before anyone else does. Not only will this make them feel elite and a valued part of your business (which they are), you will also be able to see how successful this new product or service you’re about to debut is. Keep in mind though, that loyal customers are MUCH less sensitive to higher prices than infrequent or completely new customers.

2. Package Your Goods

“Would you like fries with that?” is synonymous with package deals – burger purveyors from long ago realized the value of bundling their goods together, which is why you would be extremely hard pressed to find a fast food chain that didn’t offer some semblance of a value meal. Burger, fries and a drink may not be what you’re selling, but don’t overlook this tried-and-true mechanism of increasing customer spend amounts.

Some packages just make sense, plain and simple. If your business is in the outdoor and hiking/backpacking trade, you probably sell your fair share of sleeping bags and tents. You also probably sell a decent amount of backpack water purifiers and hiking poles. Many of your customers are probably purchasing an item or two for a backpacking trip – why not combine them and offer a slight discount on both? If your customer buys a winter-rated sleeping bags, why not offer to throw in a set of hiking poles for 25% off? They may very well be in the market for the poles as well, and a small discount certainly won’t break your bank.

Another tactic to consider when it comes to bundling is to offer extreme discounts on items that you’re struggling to move off the shelf. If you have a plethora of mosquito netting that you just can’t seem to offload, try offering it for 75% off with any purchase over a certain dollar amount. You may not be making as much (or any) money off the netting, but at least you’re reducing your inventory and making shelf space for something that will (hopefully) sell better.

3. Raise Prices

This is often seen as tremendously scary territory for small business owners – after all, consumers can be notoriously sensitive to increased prices and rightly so. But instead of viewing it as simply raising prices without cause, try and think about what kind of value and results you are providing to your customers, in addition to your goods and services. It can be wise to try and match your prices to be in line or under what your competition is offering, but don’t you feel your offerings are superior to theirs?

Try toeing the waters first with small increases – something as little as one to five percent on a basic or entry level item that is purchased often. Give it a few months or at least enough time to gather a large sampling pool. Compare this data to your previous, lower price and compare. Did people run for the hills in disgust at the increase in price? Odds are good they did not, but at least with measurable data you’ll be able to see if the increase was worth it or not. Experiment with different prices – as long as you give them enough time to find a foothold, you’ll find that the market will dictate the sweet spot in terms of pricing.

Happy and comfortable customers spend more, use that to your advantage

In addition to some of the more straightforward tactics mentioned above, there are a few seemingly non-sequiturs that are worth mentioning:

4. Smells Good in Here

If you run a bakery, cologne shop, or potpourri emporium, you can skip right over this – but for other small business owners, do not overlook the importance of a fragrant physical storefront. Studies by marketing services company DMX and the Smell and Taste Research Foundation have both shown that customers are not only more likely to make purchases in a pleasant-smelling environment, but are also willing to spend more money for the same item. The most popular fragrances to open up the ol’ wallet? Coconuts, flowers, and tropical gardens.

5. Let the Sunshine In

People tend to be happier in sunshine, and when people are in a better mood, they tend to spend more. A study conducted by the University of Alberta found strong empirical evidence that customers who shopped in an area with more natural light were more likely to make a purchase and spent more per visit – in some cases, as much as 56% more. Take advantage of sunny days and consider splurging on one-time upgrades such as skylights or additional windows.

6. Chill Out

The expression “Don’t sweat it” is usually uttered to someone who is worried or stressed about something – that’s because when anxiety or apprehension sinks in, our heart rate tends to increase, which in turn increases or temperature, and thus causes the body to respond by perspiring to cool us down. Whether or not we realize it or not, when we’re warmer, we are perceivably less likely to make complex decisions (such as decide if something is a good deal or not) than we are when we’re cooler.

Translation? People spend less when they are hot, according to a study conducted by Virginia and Houston universities. When the hotter months roll around, don’t be a miser and try to skimp on the AC – your bigger utility bill may very well be offset by bigger purchases from your customers.

If each loyal customer buys just one more item than usual, it will add up

Not everyone that is a patron of your business will turn be a big spender – most just simply aren’t going to frequent your place of business often enough to even qualify, and many that do won’t have the budget or spending habits to fit the bill. Try not to think of the above ways to reel in “big fish” that will bring in half of your month’s revenue each time they stop by. Instead, think of them as ways to turn somebody who usually purchases three items for around $20 into someone who usually purchases four or five items for $25 or $30. It may not seem like much at the time, but it all adds up and more importantly, adds to your bottom line.

July 24, 2015

How to Write the Perfect Welcome Email

By Ryan Diess from Digital Marketer

Congratulations! You have a new email lead.

Now what?

First, know that your new lead is as excited to hear from you at this moment as they will ever be… what will you do with that power?

Indoctrinate.

Take this opportunity to…

Introduce yourself/your company
Set expectations for what they will receive
Restate the benefits of being a subscriber/lead
Get them to make microcommitments
Open a loop

If you craft this Indoctrination email properly you’ll be much more likely to convert this lead to a customer.

Let’s take each element of the welcome email in turn…

Introductions

Your welcome email (in most cases) should come from a real human being… not the company. The CEO (or other face of the company) is a good person to put in the FROM line on an Indoctrination email.

It’s as simple as stating…

“Hi, My name is Ryan Deiss and I’m the founder of Digital Marketer. I wanted to take a second to say hello and welcome you to the family.”

Set Expectations

Tell them exactly what to expect from you, when and how often.

Say something like…

“Here’s what you can expect from us…”

Then, simply list everything they will begin receiving from you via email (and otherwise) now that they are a subscriber.

This includes letting them know, in a subtle way, that you will be sending promotional email.

Restate Benefits

While you’re telling them what they should expect, restate the benefits of these communications.

Something like this will do the trick…

“I know this is going to be an absolute game changer for you because…”

Don’t expect your new subscriber to connect the dots. Hit them over the head with the benefits and take advantage of their attention to build excitement and anticipation for future communications.

Make micro-commitments

In future emails you’ll be asking your subscriber to do things such as read a blog post, download a white paper or buy a product.

An Indoctrination email is the time to start training your new subscribers to make small commitments.

The first microcommitment is to ask them to whitelist your email address. Create and link to a page on your website that gives clear Whitelisting instructions (see ours at digitalmarketer.com/whitelist-instructions/).

Let them know that they run the risk of not receiving your emails if they don’t whitelist you.

Second, ask them to connect with you elsewhere. This is where you can increase engagement with your new subscriber on social media. We’ll talk more about why “engagement” is so critical to today’s email marketer in a second. (Hint: We aren’t talking about fluffy, hippy marketer “engagement” metrics here)

Say something like…

“Take two seconds and join us on [FACEBOOK, TWITTER, YOU TUBE, LINKED IN].”

Opening Loops

Do you know why your favorite TV drama ends every episode with a cliffhanger?

Because it creates tension. And tension creates attention.

The human brain craves conclusions and a good email leaves your subscriber on the edge of their seat — anxiously looking for your next email.

It’s called “opening a loop” and your Indoctrination email should contain one.

Try something like…

“As an added bonus for subscribing, I’m going to be sending you my best [white paper/blog posts/case studies/tools, etc.] It’s about [DESIRED RESULT]. Be on the lookout for an email from me tomorrow.”

“Do you know the #1 reason why [INSERT A RIDDLE/REASON WHY/ETC]. I bet it’s not the reason you think. I’ll give you the answer tomorrow but for now…”

Then, set up a second email that closes the loop… and, perhaps, opens another.

How to Stay Out of the SPAM Folder

I saved this for last but it may be the most important purpose of your Indoctrination email.

Engagement. And I mean engagement as judged by Internet Service Providers and email clients, particularly Gmail.

The primary metric used to determine whether your future emails will make it to the Inbox or the SPAM box is Engagement.

When subscribers take actions like…

Open
Click
Favorite/Star
Reply

… they are much more likely to keep getting your email.

Many of the elements of this Indoctrination email are intended to increase these engaging actions.

Opening loops increases open rates. Whitelisting increases deliverability. Clicks on social media links increases click-through rates.

The perfect welcome email not only creates new prospects that are indoctrinated to you and your business… it also ensures that future content and promotional emails get delivered.