A winning loyalty campaign is multifaceted. It might include traditional loyalty programmes (point collecting), social engagement, email marketing and should always involve exemplary customer service. In this, the latest blog in our hospitality marketing series, we take a closer look at email marketing and ask, how can it be used to build loyalty?
Relevant messages to different targets
Successful email marketing is rarely achieved via the distribution of blanket emails. Why? Because what appeals to one customer is kryptonite to another. That’s why email marketing must be built on a solid base of customer understanding and conversations adapted to suit the target segmented targets.
To separate audiences, first look at basic demographic information, click through and open rates. Beyond this, divide by buying behaviours including purchasing patterns, social engagement and other online activities. It is this rich vein of data that will provide the detailed understanding you need to successfully target your audience and gain their trust and loyalty.
Add videos to your emails
By now you will know that pictures attract the attention of an audience better than text, and that video is the current power-tool for engagement. Make the most of this knowledge in your emails.
Email content shouldn’t just be a way of communicating news updates, it should reflect the personality of the reader and trigger them to take action. By adding video shorts or even links to videos, you will provide a much richer platform to complement those necessary, if wordy, updates. Customers will increasingly look forward to your emails and enjoy reading them.
Encourage social engagement
There are few people without a social media profile in the modern world, whether that is on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or Renren. Be aware of the platforms commonly in use by your audience and encourage loyalty by making sure the relevant buttons appear in every one of your emails. Many businesses use a row of icon buttons at the bottom.
Cross-pollination like this motivates readers to become social followers and from there you can interact with them more frequently and personally, sharing interesting content and closely nurturing their loyalty. Similarly, use your social platforms to get people to sign up for email newsletters if they haven’t already!
Reward loyalty
For some, the idea of rewarding a customer for their loyalty is now old-hat, but you’d be surprised how few take advantage of email marketing to reward loyal customers. Making it clear from the subject line that there is an offer associated with an email will facilitate higher open-rates and encourage audiences to take action. Having a tangible reason to engage, interact or make a purchase will naturally encourage more to do so.
At this point, remember to keep your rewards relevant and segment your audiences so that they receive offers that are of interest. There’s little point emailing a customer that only orders vegetarian food with an offer for a free meat-feast pizza. Doing so will damage loyalty, not build it.
Mind your Ps and Qs
Who doesn’t like it when a person thanks them for their hard work, help or, in this case, purchase? If you haven’t been sending emails thanking customers following their purchases, it’s time to start. You don’t even have to wait for their purchase, if you have long-term customers and subscribers to your emails, send them a message thanking them for their ongoing loyalty and custom. Make that email personal with a signature from the store manager or another employee and you will further boost your likeability score.
Why not spice up that thank you further with one of the rewards we discussed in the previous paragraph? A no-strings offer will do wonders for building loyalty with newer customers. For long-term clients, you might even consider asking for an online review alongside your thank you. Finally, return to that customer data and see if you hold information such as birthdays; contacting a person with a thank you and a special birthday offer is a great way of building a long-term and meaningful relationship.
As part of the Preoday service, all clients receive free marketing consultations with our expert in-house team. If you’re interested in launching an online and/or mobile ordering service but are unsure how to market it to customers, get in touch. We’re here to help.
It’s not as catchy as: ‘When is a door not a door?’ (answer, when it’s a jar) but it speaks to the idea that in-car collection, and the technologies that support it, are flexible enough to bend to the needs of a business and its guests.
Delivery can be daunting to the uninitiated, and it might be tempting to sign up with a third-party ordering aggregator that offers the service, such as UberEats, but other options could suit your business and brand better. Here we present three different ‘levels’ of delivery, starting with the most basic – and cheapest method: doing it yourself.
