Loyalty Program

Do you know what's better than a paying customer? A paying customer that keeps coming back!

Your store's Customer Lifetime Value is one of the most important performance metrics you should track, because it gives you a projection of how much money you can expect to earn from each customer over their relationship with your store. It will also come in handy while setting up this scenario, as we will see in a minute.

To put CLV in perspective, just consider this simple calculation: if you manage to turn a one-time client into a recurring client, you're effectively multiplying your gross earnings while also increasing your store's profitability, since your Customer Acquisition Cost stayed the same.

There are four ways to increase CLV. You can try to:

• Increase your Average Order Value (e.g. using up-selling techniques);

• Increase the Average Orders per Customer (e.g. using automation scenarios such as After Sale, Cross-Selling or Viewed Products);

• Increase your store's Average Profit Margin (which only you can do); or

• Prolong your Average Retention Period (the average time between your customers' first and last orders).

The Loyalty Program scenario is perfect for that last method. When done correctly, it can keep your customers buying from you for longer periods since the more they spend, the more incentives to come back they will receive.

NOTE: In the Loyalty Program scenario, the reward is always a discount coupon.

Let's learn how to set it up!

How to set up the Loyalty Program scenario

To begin, log into your Mission Control and go to ENGAGEMENTS > LOYALTY PROGRAM. The first page will show an overview of how the scenario works, so click on the NEXT: ADJUST button or select ADJUST from the progress bar on the top of the screen to continue.

Step 1: Adjust

In this section, you will determine how many automated messages you will send, and which accumulated order value thresholds must be reached in order to trigger them.

NOTE: Before we move forward, it's worth knowing your Customer Lifetime Value. This information will help you determine how many thresholds you show apply to your Loyalty Program, and which values they should have. You can easily check your store's CLV on your General Overview dashboard.

You can have up to four thresholds, and each will trigger two messages: a reminder of how much that customer needs to spend in order to achieve the next reward; and the reward message.

For example, let's say you have set up three thresholds ($200, $500 and $1000). A loyal customer's shopping journey might look like this:

• First order: $150 – message saying "you're only $50 away from a reward!"

• Second order: $80 – first reward message ($200 reached)

• Third order: $120 – message saying "you're only $150 away from a reward!"

• Fourth order: $260 – second reward message ($500 reached)

• Fifth order: $110 – message saying "you're only $280 away from a reward!"

• Sixth order: $70 – message saying "you're only $210 away from a reward!"

• Seventh order: $230 – third reward message ($1000 reached)

There is no right or wrong way to determine your thresholds. Consider your CLV, the rewards you will offer and your general Marketing strategy, and start with your best guess. You can always monitor the scenario's performance and optimize it later on.

Apart from the number of thresholds and their values, you can also determine two additional parameters to avoid spamming your customers:

• Send message after: how long (in days and hours) you wish to wait after a purchase to send a Loyalty Program message.

• Send no more often than: the minimum amount of time (in days and hours) between each Loyalty Program message.

To continue, click on the NEXT: LANGUAGE button or select LANGUAGE from the progress bar.

Step 2: Language

On the LANGUAGE section, you will see on the left side an overview of your customers (audience size, number of languages, and most popular language).

Based on this information, you can choose whether you want to send your Newsletter in only one language (Single language), or more than one (Multi language). You can choose as many languages as you want.

NOTE: Language information is collected automatically by edrone from your customer's browser language settings. This means that it is not linked to a specific location. For example, if a customer lives in France but their browser is set up in English, they will be considered an english-speaking customer.

Click on the NEXT: SENDER button, or choose SENDER from the progress bar.

Step 3: Sender

Here, you will set up who is sending the emails: Name, E-mail, and Reply-to E-mail. You can input new data, or choose from a predefined sender (for example, the same sender you have previously used for other newsletters).

Click on the NEXT: DESIGN button, or choose DESIGN from the progress bar.

Step 4: Design

On this section, you will design your email. Click here to learn how to use the new Drag 'n' Drop Editor.

You will need to create different emails depending on the number of thresholds you selected on Step 1 and the number of languages you determined on Step 2.

NOTE: It's possible to add dynamic elements to your emails. In this scenario, you can show the products that customer has already purchased using the PURCHASED element, or you can show off your best selling products using the BESTSELLERS element.

To continue, click on the NEXT: COUPONS button or select COUPONS from the progress bar.

Step 5: Coupons

This scenario requires the use of coupons for the reward messages, and you will need a different set of coupons for each threshold.

You can choose between Static (same coupon for all customers) and Dynamic (each customer gets a unique coupon). We recommend using Dynamic coupons whenever possible.

Your coupons must be uploaded as a CSV file. If you need help with creating them, there are several free online coupon generators.

Once your files are ready, select each threshold from the drop-down menu on the top-left corner of the screen and click on UPLOAD (CSV). Select which column contains the coupons, check the box if you wish to ignore the first line of your file (column titles, for example). If everything is OK, click on CONFIRM COLUMN. A green confirmation message should appear at the top right corner of your screen.

Click on the NEXT: REVIEW button or choose REVIEW from the progress bar.

Step 6: Review

Send a test email to double-check if everything is working properly. When you're ready, click on the RUN button, and you're done!

Step 7: Reports

To view your Loyalty Program's performance, go to the REPORTS section on the progress bar. Here you will find the main metrics such as Engagement revenue, Sent, Opened, Clicked, Orders, Orders with Coupon, Unsubscribed, and CTR.

Need more help?

If you have any further questions about the Loyalty Program scenario, please do not hesitate to contact us at hello@edrone.me

Not exactly what you’re looking for? Try one of these:

• General Overview dashboard

• Engagement Scenarios

• [BLOG] Using Marketing Automation to boost Customer Lifetime Value