Promote Rewards Program Through Email Marketing

Despite the advent of more advanced marketing technology in the last few years and its subsequent adoption by both marketers and customers, the relevance of emails has not waned at all even in 2020.

An Adobe Campaigns survey revealed that 61% of consumers would rather receive communications from brands through email versus any other channel.

Similarly, according to the Content Marketing Institute’s 2018 B2C Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends Report, 72% of marketers agree that email is their most successful channel for distributing content.

Also, it is important to note that despite what some marketers may sometimes assume, email is no less attractive to millennials.

According to the same Adobe Campaigns survey, this generation checks their email anywhere and everywhere - while watching their favorite TV show, while lying in bed, during their vacation, while talking on the phone, during a meal, and even when they’re in the bathroom.

In fact, it may be argued that customers today, fed-up with more intrusive forms of communication, find emails a much more comforting way to engage with their favourite brands.

Now, let us look at a few ways you can use Email to drive a successful loyalty and rewards program.

Engage loyal customers with personalised emails

As any marketer would tell you, personalised marketing is the way to go forward and emails are great for implementing a personalised approach because they are, by nature, a one-to-one communication channel.

The simplest example of such personalisation, of course, is a brand addressing its customers by their names -- a simple yet effective way of driving familiarity in a loyalty program.

Not that there is any limit to creativity in writing to your loyal customers an email, be it a simple Thank You for their continued business with you, or a birthday wish to show that you care about them.

For instance, take this rewards email by Topshop which would be really effective in showing a member that the brand remembers him on his special day.

Stay in your program members thoughts

No matter how great your rewards program is, it would not be able to serve its purpose if the customers don’t remember it.

An email rewards program manages better engagement with customers by regularly reminding them about the benefits they can reap (or are missing out on, in case of customers who have fallen through the ‘churn-machine’) as members of the rewards program.

If your emails are good enough, sometimes you may not even have to focus on the monetary benefits of your rewards program.

Some of the best email rewards programs actually connect with the customers by showing them the brand and its customers share a common set of values.

A good example of this approach has been implemented by Body Shop, which drives communication around the values that are relevant to the brand: environmental sustainability and a better society.

Be relevant through well-timed emails

One of the objectives of any rewards program is to encourage customers into using the rewards they have accumulated in the course of their journey with the brand. That can be tricky if you are not using email marketing.

Delivering a reward points email to a customer at the right time can help you in not just engaging the customer with your program, but also in driving conversions. How do you know the right time? Well, with data.

Industry leaders like Epsilon specialize in using marketing technology to help you understand your customers and the ways that you can use this understanding for implementing impactful communication.

As an example of staying relevant by using a timely approach, to encourage their customers for shopping with them, Nordstorm Rack sends them a creative email promising free shipping and easy returns.

Similarly, most businesses can use the knowledge of their specific domain and customers to convey the value of a rewards program through well-written and well-timed emails.

For example, consider a jewelry shop sending its customers email prompts to use their reward points on their anniversaries, a simple enough data that it can require them to provide while joining the loyalty program, but something that can go a long way towards ensuring continued business.

Sometimes, even a simpler approach, like informing the customers about the reward points they already have can also work for re-engaging them.

However, whatever be the specific way that you find most fitting for the nature and goals of your business, it is an undeniable fact that email marketing goes a long way towards successfully sustaining a rewards program.

So, whether you are working on the strategy of a new program or just looking for ways to boost up an existing one, be sure to use well-crafted, personalized, and value-adding emails to make sure your loyal programs stay loyal and regularly engage with your brand.