There’s no doubt that the right customer rewards platform can help you build positive word of mouth, increase brand loyalty, and retain customers.
In fact, 70% of consumers would be more likely to recommend a brand with a good loyalty program, according to HubSpot. Today’s consumers value rewards.
You need a tool that ensures you get the engagement you need while automating the program’s management, keeping your data secure, and giving you flexibility as your program grows.
So how can you be sure you’re choosing the right customer rewards platform? Look for these key features.
Whether you run two campaigns a year or 20 feedback surveys every month, your customer rewards platform needs to keep up. Understanding the platform’s tracking and reporting capabilities enables your team to measure and refine your marketing goals.
Not only does visibility allow you to know how your money is being spent, it also helps you optimize your programs so you can increase participation and satisfaction even more in the future.
You should be able to track:
READ MORE: Top KPIs for Tracking the Success of Your B2B Promotional Gifts
Keeping the customer experience top of mind is key to any marketing effort, but especially with rewards. A positive, exciting rewards experience will result in more leads and brand loyalty. Your customer rewards platform should delight your users.
Your customers want to:
At the same time, your customers must be able to identify the reward email so they don’t accidentally delete it or miss it in the spam folder. Don’t settle for a program that doesn’t let you brand the email address for easy recognition.
In today’s digital business world, a customer rewards platform must scale to meet your customers’ and company’s changing needs. Look for a platform with options, like offering both instant rewards and points-to-rewards. This will allow you to pivot or test as needed to improve your results.
You should also consider what type of reward will be most compelling for your target audience, whether you want to persuade them to complete your survey, submit a referral, or attend a webinar. A large selection of rewards is key.
Choose a customer rewards platform with a wide range of options, including more generic digital rewards that can be used to purchase almost anything, like Amazon, Visa, and Mastercard. Ideally, your platform should also give your customers the option to choose their own rewards.
These days, you’re marketing to a global pool of customers. When you’re managing international campaigns, be sure your customer rewards platform makes it easy to reward those living in other countries. You’ll also want to be sure the digital rewards you’re delivering can be used by recipients. Giving your French customers a Visa prepaid card in U.S. dollars would be a waste of time, effort, and money. But a Visa card in euros? That’s another story.
Digital gift card availability varies from country to country, and many are accepted only in the country where they are purchased. Find a rewards management platform that can streamline this process so you don’t have to manually identify and deliver individual rewards to each country’s recipients.
The right customer rewards platform will minimize your risk by complying with all the appropriate privacy policies, including the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).
Also look for SOC 2-compliant providers, who have gone through an extensive auditing procedure to ensure they manage data securely and protect respondents’ privacy.
Just like any tool, your customer rewards platform should make your job easier, not more complicated. The dream? Eliminating manual processes to streamline the administration and distribution of rewards.
When you choose a platform that connects seamlessly with the tools you’re already using — SurveyMonkey, HubSpot, or Marketo, for example — it saves your team valuable time transferring information back and forth between your rewards and marketing programs.
No matter how well you publicize your rewards, there will always be some that go unredeemed for a number of reasons. Then what?
Make sure to choose a customer rewards platform that has thought this through on your behalf. Consider how they handle unused rewards and what it means for your budget. The last thing you want is for a large chunk of your money to be wasted, when those funds could be put to much better use on future marketing programs.
Now that you have an idea of what features to look for, here are some questions that may not be covered in a company’s marketing material. When doing your research, ask:
Ready to take a deeper dive into a feature-rich customer rewards platform? Contact us to set up a demo of BHN Rewards!
BHN Rewards puts the power of digital rewards to work for marketers, researchers, and HR managers. Don't forget to check out all the great content in our Resources section!
BHN Rewards puts the power of digital rewards to work for marketers, researchers, and HR managers. Don't forget to check out all the great content in our Resources section!
