Grow Customer Relationships with a Best-in-Class Loyalty Program: From Unknowns to Brand Advocates

Loyalty programs are relatively new for Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs), and many could face challenges with program design or execution. The following steps can enable your brands’ marketing specialists to deliver a best-in-class loyalty program that engages your customers and guides them from unknown to becoming brand advocates.

Step 1: Refine the value proposition

To create a compelling value proposition for your loyalty program, you should think about both the types of customer behaviors your brand wants to reward and the methods of offering those rewards. While many loyalty programs primarily base rewards on customer spending, offering incentives for non-monetary actions like frequent visits or interactions with the mobile app can set a program apart from the competition.

‍Step 2: Design a simple experience

Once you have polished your loyalty program's core value proposition, it's essential to bring it to life through a captivating experience across all platforms, including the mobile app. Users should find it simple to navigate the app, accumulate rewards, and redeem their perks. Incorporating gamification can elevate this experience. For instance, some QSRs offer rewards to customers who succeed in a custom-branded online game.

Step 3: Incentivize registration

After creating the loyalty program, it's important to encourage sign-ups by streamlining the registration process and clearly highlighting the program's benefits. By enrolling loyalty members and securing their informed consent, your brand can gain a comprehensive and evolving understanding of its customers, enabling a more tailored and personalized experience.

However, one major disadvantage of requiring customers to sign up before placing an order is the unnecessary friction it creates in the ordering process. Mandatory sign-ups can lead to frustration, abandonment of the cart, and a negative first impression.

To enhance the customer experience, the app should allow guests to place their orders first and then, while they wait for their food, offer the option to sign up. This approach allows users to experience the app's convenience and value firsthand before being asked for a commitment.

Step 4: Understand your customers

Loyalty programs offer data-driven insights that can reveal a complete, 360-degree view of the customer. When a customer enrolls in a loyalty program and gives consent, you can utilize their purchase history, like previous orders, along with non-purchase data, such as app interactions, to deliver more intelligent and focused communications.

Step 5: Personalize promotions

Consumers desire a customized experience across all channels, with a strong preference for personalized promotions within that experience. To remain competitive, QSRs must provide the right offer, at the right moment, through the appropriate channel. By leveraging the comprehensive customer insights gained from a loyalty program, you can create dynamic segments and effectively deliver personalized offers that gradually boost spending activity.