80% of customers say they are much more likely to choose a brand that offers them rewards for being a good customer (and 89% of millennials say the same) and twice as likely to recommend the brand to others. But when asked, the majority of consumers say they are unaware if a brand offers any rewards. And for those that were aware, most of them didn’t sign up because of the long winded process; normally requiring filling in forms and either waiting in store for the application to be processed, or waiting for days for the plastic loyalty card to arrive in the post. (only to always leave it at home when out shopping).
Well, unlike plastic loyalty cards and paper coupons, digital loyalty cards & digital coupons (commonly known as Passes) can be promoted and distributed via a multitude of channels.
This article shares the most popular ways, and best practices businesses are using to promote their Loopy Loyalty stamp cards (s) and distribute passes.
1. Website Homepage
Adding a link to your loyalty program or offer sign up page on your website homepage is one of the simplest ways to promote and distribute a pass.
Place an “Add to Wallet” and “Save to Google Pay” button to attract most attention.
Once a visitor clicks or taps this button they can quickly and easily sign up, instantly be presented with their pass, and save it to Apple Wallet or Google Pay.
Best Practices for Promoting on your Website:
- Make sure the offer can be easily seen
- Have a clear call to action such as ‘Click here to sign up’ or ‘Scan this QR code to download this offer’
- Share the benefits of why they should download this coupon – they need to be incentivized
- Create an engaging image that can include the offer or what the pass looks like
- Include both a link and a QR code so that both desktop and mobile users can easily add the offer to their mobile wallet
2. Online Advertising
While you have to pay for them, online banner ads can be an easy and effective way to promote your loyalty program and offers to people that may not have heard your business already. By effectively targeting the right groups of people, and the right keywords you can place your offer in front of those who will appreciate it the most. People whom otherwise would not have easily found your business. This will not only enhance brand exposure but establish the basis of the relationship with that consumer.
Best Practices for Online Advertising:
- Make sure the offer stands out
- Tell them that they will be able to add the offer (or loyalty card) to their phone immediately (i.e. no hunting for emails in junk, or waiting for something to arrive in the post).
- Be direct and tell users to ‘Click here to save this offer to your phone’
- Include an engaging image that will excite, and entice customers to take action
- Run an A/B test to see which image and copy combination works best
- Use CPC (Cost per click) instead of CPM (Cost per impression) as then you are only pay for the adverts that generate new customers
3. Social Media Channels
Social media channels, such as Facebook and Instagram, are an extremely easy place to begin promoting your content. By sharing your loyalty program to people who are already familiar and interested in your business, you are nearly guaranteed to get results.
Visit the Loopy Loyalty Facebook and Loopy Loyalty Instagram Page for some great examples of how businesses are promoting their digital stamp card.
Best Practices for Promoting through Social Media:
- Have a clear call to action such as ‘Scan this QR code to download this offer’
- Give instructions in case customers don’t know how to save the offer (i.e. Click ‘Add’ to add this coupon to Apple Wallet, or even refer them to loyalty.is/123
- Share the benefits of why they should download this coupon – they need to be incentivized
- Create an engaging image that can include the offer or what the pass looks like
- Include both a link and a QR code so that both desktop and mobile users can easily add the offer to their mobile wallet
- Once posted, consider paying to boost the post to reach customers who are not already following your page.
4. Email Campaigns
Email campaigns allow you to target different segments of your audience who you think would be most interested in your offer. You can also cater the message to each different segment so that you can increase your offers download rate. Emails are also a good place to start your promotion because it can give you a good sense of what messages are converting vs which ones are not.
If you already have a loyalty program, and have collected the members email address, you can easily digitise your loyalty cards by sending the members a pass via email.
Best Practices for Promoting through Email Campaigns:
- Have a clear call to action such as ‘Click here to save this offer to your mobile wallet’
- Share the benefits of why they should download this offer – subscribers need to be incentivized
- To help educate customers, add a link to a page that shows them instructions/steps on how to add content to their wallet (i.e. for iOS and Android users)
- Include the ‘Add to Apple Wallet’ image badge or the ‘Add to Android Pay’ or ‘Add to WeChat’ image in the email and add a hyperlink with the pass URL
5. SMS Campaigns
By sending your loyalty card via SMS you can be sure that your customers are looking at the message on their mobile phone. Simply place the pass URL in the SMS to allow for easy activation and installation of the offer right into their mobile wallet. Extremely simple and effective.
Best practices for promoting through SMS campaigns.
- Get permission from each of your customers to send them texts (must be opt-in)
- Do not appear spammy
- Create enough value for the customer to appreciate the text message
- If you have defined segments, personalize the texts as much as possible
- Be clear that when they click the pass URL they will be able to add this offer to their mobile wallet
6. From your Mobile App
If you already have an app you can promote your digital loyalty card within your app. In the appropriate area of your app you can place the ‘Add to Wallet’ or ‘Save to Phone’ button. When the customer taps on the button the pass will load into Apple Wallet or Google Pay automatically.
Best Practices for promotion through mobile apps:
- Make sure the ‘Add to Wallet’ button loads the pass into the wallet automatically
- Use the customer information to personalise the pass
- Utilise the app deep linking capability on the back of the pass
7. In-Store
In-store promotion is different than the rest but equally important. In-store promotion is most likely going to be done through a QR code on some type of print ad, poster, or tent card that is placed around the store. This ad should emphasize the offer and be placed at locations around the store where the offer is most relevant.
You may also want to put QR code stickers on your products, so even when your customers leave your store with your product they can still join your loyalty program.
Best Practices for Promoting In-store:
- Place promotional signs throughout the store and near items that are relevant to your offer
- Include the QR code for customers to instantly scan to add the offer to their mobile wallet
- Place QR codes in places where people congregate – it does not necessarily need to be at the Point of Sale. For example QR codes on tables in restaurants, or QR codes inside the changing room.
- Include a URL just in case someone doesn’t have a QR code scanner; we recommend using a URL shortening service so easy for your customers to type into their browser.
- Have a clear call to action on the signage such as ‘Scan here to get your digital loyalty card’
- Train employees on how to add and use mobile wallet content across iOS and Android. (You can refer customers and staff to loyalty.is/123 to make it really easy)
8. QR Codes on Receipts
Not everyone looks at or keeps, their receipts. But for those that do, there is some fantastic real estate to advertise your loyalty program and offers. This will encourage and entice a customer to come back and visit again. Be sure to have your staff point out the offer on the receipt and encourage the customer to add the offer to their mobile wallet.
Best Practices for using QR code on receipts:
- Make the offer clear and concise
- Train cashiers to mention offer (direct them to loyalty.is/123 for assistance)
- Include a short URL on the receipt too
9. Staff Engagement
One of the most important steps to take is to train your staff to promote your loyalty program and offers. They should encourage each and every customer they come in contact with to download the offer or sign up for your loyalty program. They should also be able to answer any question someone might have about the offer. Staff engagement is one of the most effective promotion tools that you can use.
Best Practices for using staff engagement:
Make sure staff are well trained on how to use mobile wallets, including how to add it to mobile wallet apps on iOS and Android.
- Staff should let customers know that they can add a pass to their mobile wallet
- Direct customers to loyalty.is/123 if they are not familiar with mobile wallet, or consider printing instruction pamphlets
- Staff should also be able to explain the clear benefits of this offer to their customers
10. In-Store Wi-Fi
Another way to promote is through your in-store Wi-Fi. You can program your Wi-Fi so that automatically brings anyone who signs on to your website’s homepage, which has discussed earlier will feature your offer on it. You could also program your website to feature a popup that displays the offer, or allow them extra Wifi connectivity if they sign up for your loyalty program and save your card to their wallet.
Best Practices for using in-store Wi-Fi:
- Make sure the offer can be easily seen
- Have a clear call to action such as ‘Download this offer’
- Share the benefits of why they should download this coupon – they need to be incentivized
- Create an engaging image that can include the offer or what the pass looks like
BONUS: Distribute with NFC
If your payment terminals support the Apple VAS and Google SmartTap protocol, PassKit can automatically push an enrolment request for Apple Pay and Google Pay users that do not yet have the card installed.
This request can be to install an existing card or enroll as a new member (depending on whether a membership card was already presented during the purchase transaction).
Best Practices for using VAS and SmartTap:
- Confirm that your NFC terminal supports Apple Pay VAS and Google Pay Smart Tap
- If a customer is paying with Apple Pay or Google Pay and has presented the loyalty card already, you can automatically load the loyalty card into the wallet
- If they haven’t presented their card the customer will be presented with an enrolment request
- Use the option to pre-fill the enrollment form with information from the user Apple or Google (limited to name, email, city, postcode, phone)
- Inform and train your customer-facing staff, in case any customers have any questions
HOT OFF THE PRESS: Even if your payment terminals do not support Apple Pay VAS or Google Pay Smart Tap, you can promote and distribute PassKit Passes using NFC. Please get in touch if you’d like more details.
Have any other ways you promote your mobile wallet content? Please share your experiences, comments and questions below!
