Loyalty Programs are an essential part of every restaurant’s growth journey in this day and age. But just crafting and implementing a loyalty program does not do all the heavy lifting.
Restaurateurs today have to constantly work towards making their programs a delight for their customers so that they get more value out of them, and also attract more users to funnel in to make it more effective.
In this post, we’ll talk about how restaurateurs or restaurant brands can attract more users to their loyalty programs to set themselves up for sustainable growth.
Why Attract Users to your Loyalty Program?
Before we get into the weeds, you might be wondering if paying attention to loyalty programs and making efforts to attract more customers to sign up is worth it?
According to a study by pyments.com, about 57% of consumers would spend more at a restaurant with a loyalty program in place – that’s more than half of your customers.
It makes it extremely important for restaurants to realize the opportunity cost to have an effective and efficient loyalty program. Not only does it help in increasing brand promoters and lifting your brand, but at the same time it can help you grow your revenue at a much faster rate thanks to increased order frequency from your loyal customers.
How to Attract Users to Your Loyalty Program?
- Choose the Right Loyalty Program
- Attract New Users with Discounts and Offers
- Leverage Existing Channels
- Promote on Social Media
- Make the Sign-Up Process Smooth
- Feedback
1. Choose the Right Loyalty Program
Ensuring that you choose the right program is one of the most important steps in ensuring that your restaurant’s loyalty program will be a success. And, most of the restaurants get this part wrong.
There are mainly 4 types of loyalty programs you can choose from which are:
- Points per dollar
- Points per item
- Points per order
- Tiered Loyalty
Each of these determine how your customers will get rewarded for the business they bring into your establishment. And there is no one size fits all here. Depending on the type of restaurant you are, one program may be better suited for you than the other.
In order to craft and market your loyalty program, you need to ensure that the type you decide is what drives the most value to your customers.
Furthermore, choosing the right incentive that aligns with what you customers will find the most value in is key. This will keep your customers at the center of your loyalty program and drive the most value to them, setting your program up for success.
2. Attract New Users with Discount and Offers
A fool proof way to attract customers to loyalty programs is to offer them a discount or offer to sign up for your program.
Leading restaurant and ecommerce brands use this tactic to funnel users into their program, and drive growth by providing a one time discount to sign up for their loyalty program.
But restaurants should consider the discount very carefully to ensure it drives the most value, while still keeping themselves and their operations profitable. Here’s an example of how Mary Brown’s promotes their mobile app and loyalty program by offering exclusively app-only offers to their customers.
3. Leverage Your On and Off Premise Channels
Your existing channels are a great way to promote your loyalty program and encourage users to sign up.
If you have a brick and mortar establishment, using postcards on your counter, and encouraging your staff to share the benefits to customers that walk-in is a great way to increase adoption.
Another great way that restaurants can reach out to their audience is through flyers they can put into their delivery (marketplace and first party) packages. This gives your customers who are already aware of your brand, how to get more value, all while helping you grow your revenue.
Many restaurant brands also promote their loyalty program on their mobile app, if they have one, and highlight the benefits that users can get once they enroll into their loyalty program.
4. Promote your Loyalty Program on your Social Media
Social media is another great avenue where you can market your loyalty program. While the exact strategy you deploy will differ on different marketing platforms, the essence remains the same.
Coupled with a discount and an offer, it makes the pitch more appealing for your customers that are already following you on your social media.
Here are some tips you can use to increase your engagement on Instagram while you’re promoting your loyalty program there.
5. Make the Sign-Up Process Smooth
The ease with which your users are able to enroll in your loyalty program will dictate adoption. If there is any friction, or waiting times which prevent your users from signing up for your program, it can really hamper the growth, hindering the success of your well-crafted loyalty program.
Many leading restaurant brands auto-enroll users into a loyalty program when they download their app, or create an account on their first-party ordering platform. This removes any barriers which might occur on the user end which could prevent them from signing up.
Gamifying your rewards program by displaying upcoming rewards levels will encourage users to order again in order to start redeeming those rewards. Smooth Commerce does it by leveraging our platform’s native and built-in loyalty features which restaurants use to make it easier for their users, and increase adoption for their loyalty program.
6. Ask for Feedback
Asking for feedback is another great way to ensure that your users see the value in your loyalty programs.
You want feedback on the entire progress from signing up, the rewards and incentives that come along with the program, and/or the way in which they accumulate loyalty points. Feedback from users on those areas can be extremely valuable and give you data points on how to improve the experience for your customer. Adopting feedback and making changes to your program can result in more adoption and redemption of loyalty, thus creating more brand promoters.
Asking for feedback from users who walk-in to your establishment, sending out email surveys to users that are enrolled, and sending in printed surveys to takeout orders are some of the ways you can ask for feedback from your users.
Conclusion
Loyalty rewards should be designed to drive engagement across the customer lifecycle with the goal of increasing sales and customer loyalty. With so many options available to consumers, loyalty programs can provide an extra reason to choose a specific brand over the competition. In today’s economy all restaurant brands should pay attention to how they craft their loyalty program, and the steps they take to improve them and increase adoption.
How are you planning on attracting more users to your loyalty program?
About Smooth Commerce
Smooth Commerce is a digital ordering, customer marketing and loyalty platform for restaurants. We take ordering to the next level with personalized customer engagement, making your digital storefront the cornerstone of your brand. By solving more restaurant pain points in one digital platform than anyone else, we put you back in control of the customer’s experience with your brand to promote profitable sales growth.
If you would like to learn more or talk to a representative from Smooth Commerce about how our platform can help you meet your loyalty goals, contact us at learnmore@smooth.tech.
