Many businesses tend to focus their efforts on new customer promotions, but don’t forget that your long-term customers would also like something in return for their loyalty. It can be more costly to acquire new customers, so look after your existing ones to reduce acquisition costs.

“Remember, research would suggest that it costs 6-7 times more to acquire new customers than retaining existing ones…” Source

Loyalty programmes give businesses a competitive edge and improve customer satisfaction.

Examples

  • Reward status notifications
  • Monthly reward statements
  • Repeat order and recommendation emails
  • Exclusive benefits and offers
  • Event invitations

“87% of shoppers say they want loyalty programmes and 46% say they change the brands they buy to maximise loyalty benefits” Source

If you’re not currently running one it’s worth considering to retain customers and increase their lifetime value.

How to Implement

Use automated emails to trigger messages at specific points of the customer lifecycle. The trigger could be their 3rd purchase, a renewal or even after 2 years of custom. You could also include stages of loyalty, for example. If you want to reward customers differently depending on their loyalty, you can. A simple way would be to include some dynamic content and tailor the offer depending how many purchases have been made

Example

  1. 2 Purchases – 5% discount
  2. 3 Purchases – Free Delivery
  3. 4 Purchases – 10% Discount
  4. 5+ Purchases – 15% Discount & Free Delivery

Look after these customers and give them a reason to keep purchasing from you rather than your competitors.

Extra Advice

Use personalisation with dynamic content to tailor your emails specifically to each customer. You also want the opinion of your most loyal customers to ensure you continue to meet their needs, so ask for their feedback once in a while and make them feel valued.
For more ideas on the types of emails you could be sending, download our eCommerce Email Marketing Guide