LoyaltyLab

Social Loyalty: How To Do It Right

“Going social” no longer seems like an optional component of the loyalty marketer’s arsenal. Whether you’re engaging with your customers on Facebook, Tweeting out exclusive offers to your followers, or simply promoting campaigns, sales, and products via an opt-in email list, the social realm of loyalty marketing is steadily growing, and continually proving its worth with excellent results.

It’s clear that social is here to stay, and if you haven’t jumped on board, now, more than ever is the time. But the need to implement social in your loyalty program doesn’t mean you should take a one-size-fits-all approach. The ins and outs of social marketing are as delicate and subtle as any other branch of a finely tuned loyalty program — it’s more than email blasting at will, or signing up for a Facebook page and going after as many followers as possible.

We addressed this issue at length in a recent whitepaper with the aim of showcasing the best ways to address your social loyalty needs. In addition to addressing the overridingwhy (traditional media is in a tailspin of a decline, while web, mobile, and social are on a fast-moving upward trajectory), we spotlighted ways to move beyond the obvious means of interacting with your customers across social networks.

Facebook may be one of the most powerful tools to consider when implementing a social side to your loyalty program. The go to approach is to get customers to like a brand, like a campaign, or like a product. But one of the best things about Facebook and loyalty is the ample room it leaves to get creative. We’ve created Facebook campaigns for clients like Nine West with the base strategy of getting customers to like a page or fill out a short questionnaire with points, but further built this out by encouraging customers to really interact on Facebook, fostering a sense of community.

Another valuable Facebook tactic is building a brand program around an app that allows customers to interact with their friends and families while simultaneously promoting the brand, like Kraft’s Mac N Cheese app. By having an opt-in request come from someone you know, you not only build the connection to existing customers, you reach a whole new group of potential buyers.

While Twitter is a giant in the social sphere, and one that should not be ignored, the limited scope of its content makes it less of a fit than Facebook for really exercising creativity in your social loyalty. Still, it’s an important tool for alerting customers of flash sales, presenting exclusive deals and offers, and fostering a casual, back-and-forth level of engagement around certain products, keywords, or events.

Curious to learn more about the TIBCO Loyalty Lab approach to social? Read more about our thoughts and examples of some of our great clients at www.loyaltylab.com/clients. 

You Might Like:

• Webinar On-Demand: Success with Social Loyalty 
• Slideshare Presentation: Virgin America – Elevating Loyalty