A business is only as good as its engagement. If you’re not enticing customers to stick around day in and day out you’re practically begging them to visit your competitors.

This is a fear any brand will have if its goals are in the right place, so let’s cut to the chase and talk about what constitutes a proper loyalty program. These are vital elements to encourage your customers to keep bringing you business, giving them goodies and rare opportunities that a casual visitor won’t be able to take advantage of. This can manifest as smart digital marketing, a digital driven contest or user data insights to give your business a leg up on what’s hot. Not sure which one to use to create your very own loyalty program? It’s time to brush up on what artificial intelligence and old-fashioned techniques can do for not just you, but your entire client base.

Online Games

A loyalty program is necessary to encourage repeat customers in a business. Repeat customers not only guarantee a steady stream of income, they save you a lot of effort when it comes to outreach. That doesn’t mean this marketing technique can’t be fun. Over 70% of people have played a game online, with this percentage fairly constant among old and young demographics. HubSpot recently found that running a mobile contest can increase the number of entrants by eight times. We’ll find out more about that on the next point…

Digital Contests

Similar to the first point, digital contests are a great addition to any trendy loyalty program. They get people talking and generate enough excitement to potentially attract new customers. Studies have shown the ideal duration for a good online contest is between 25 and 60 days — on one hand you don’t want a contest that doesn’t give people enough time to enter, but you also don’t want it to last too long and risk losing appeal. New online contest campaigns have been found to gain a nearly 35% audience increase on average, which is no paltry sum for any business size or model looking for more tips!

Social Media

Never underestimate your social media campaign. Digital marketing will be bare bones without the aid of the most popular social media platforms to spread your message and engage with customers on a more casual level. The Social Media Examiner found 90% of marketers saying social media is very important to their business, with sites like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram remaining some of the most beloved choices. Hire a savvy social media manager to post regularly, keep up with trends and make sure your loyalty program is always the talk of the town.

User Data

Thinking of digging in a little deeper? Then try looking up user data insights. There are basic programs you can use alongside your social media and digital marketing strategies to better sum up exactly how effective your business is. Analyzing text, recording daily progress and keeping a close eye on engagement will help you know where your efforts are going and why. A 2017 study by HubSpot’s State Of Inbound report found over 60% of the 4,500 marketing professionals stating generating traffic and leads was their companies most significant marketing challenge.

Creating A Smart Loyalty Program

Feeling more caught up? Let’s put this knowledge to good use. Social fantasy games are a fun and effective way of bolstering your loyalty program, letting repeat customers generate points toward products or services they want on their own time. Studies have shown gamification strategies increase your brand engagement metrics by a staggering 100%, sometimes 150% if you keep the ball rolling! Digital contests are a short-term delight that will have people talking months after the fact and, of course, no business model is complete with an active social media account.

With data analytics and a good loyalty program on your side, your business will have no choice but to succeed.