FreshNetworks Blog

I’m a member of a number of different loyalty schemes. Virgin Atlantic, BA and Air France for airmiles, a credit card that gives me cashback every time I buy something and cards with a couple of retailers in the UK that give me money off future shopping.

One thing is common across all of these attempts to build my loyalty with the brands - they are market-based, transactional solutions. Am I really going to book my next flight on Virgin Atlantic for any reason but that I’ll then have enough miles for a return flight to Sydney? Do I use one credit card rather than another for any reason but that I’ll earn 1% cashback on everything I purchase?

The brands are effectively buying my loyalty and, to some extent it’s working. Through no conscious effort I susspect I only join the loyalty schemes that I think are financially effective for me. I am very loyal to the supermarket I do my grocery shopping at, for example, but don’t join their loyalty scheme because it’s not worth the effort - the chances of me getting somthing back rather than a real desire to be loyal to the brand or product for any intrinsic reason.

I think it’s disappointing that most loyalty schemes take this transactional approach. They are buying my loyalty rather than earning it and buildingit. There is another way you can build loyalty. Rather than take a market approach you can take a social approach. Make people feel like insiders in your brand and reward their loyalty by giving them access to exclusive events (of the ‘first to know, first to see, first to hear’ variety) or exclusive access to the brand (allow them to interact directly with the brand and feedback the impact of their contributions).

Building a social-based loyalty campaign is relatively easy and could be more cost effective than a marke-based loyalty scheme. It require a serious discussion about what a brand can offer its consumers - if you’re a broadcast media firm it may be previews or access to content before everybody else. If you are an FMCG firm it may be access to new products or products that are in testing so that people feel they are the first to try the new thing. But all businesses can find something - even if its just information or access to individuals in the business.

Whatever your product or service, people buy it; it is part of their life. Find why they use it, why they keep using it and then enhance their experience. Create a reason for them to keep coming back or add to their experience in a way that compliments the product. If you provide vitaminsm, for example, maybe offer tips and advice on healthy eating, exercise and beauty. Doing this online offers a great opportunity for brands to build a social-based loyalty campaign with a large number of people. Get it right and it could even be more effective than the transactional, market-based campaigns we see more regularly.

Take the supermarket I do all my grocery shopping at. I don’t think it’s worth my effort to join their existing loyalty scheme. If, however, they launched a social-based loyalty scheme, maybe one that gave me exclusive access to recipes from their celebrity chef front-man, I might be more enthusiastic