Ever since Amazon announced that it has touched 100 million Prime members, there has been a lot of discussion and chatter around subscription loyalty programs. Netflix also became very interesting when the officials reported 1.96 million new subscribers the very first quarter. Why do you think 100 million subscribers have raised their hands to sign up for this very successful program? Now, some can argue that Amazon lacks real customer engagement and Prime is primarily a convenience offering and more of a transactional relationship with their customers. Loyalty, however, is about high perceived value and when customers see that, they are more likely than not to become active brand advocates. It’s not about earning and burning points anymore, it’s a lot more about meeting customer expectations at every touchpoint in the customer journey. Prime members receive transactional benefits like fast, free shipping and experiential benefits like Prime video. A lot of brands are taking a page from such successful case studies like Amazon Prime by adding subscription services to engage loyal customers. Brands are waking up to the realization that the best way to thrive during uncertain economic times is to have loyal customers who keep buying and engaging with the brand. So, it’s more important than ever to envision new and exciting ways to retain customers in a world where choice comes easy and competition for customer’s attention, time and money is fierce. It’s a battle for sure but a strategic loyalty program will definitely help retain your most valuable and profitable customers.
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A subscription or premium loyalty program is a paid loyalty program where customers subscribe and pay a fee upfront in exchange for valuable rewards that can be redeemed right away. The goal is to put the customer at the center of the brand’s unique value proposition. Subscription loyalty programs increase brand equity. Customers love convenience services and instant gratification and will gladly pay for this high perceived value. This, by itself, will help maximize CLV. With this paid subscription you can offer premium rewards, discount coupons, or special deals for the selected customers. You can easily incentivize the most loyal customers and attract them to spend more on your products. Finally, you will want to capture and monitor customer feedback and behavior which will help you to define future loyalty and customer retention strategies.
Engagement based loyalty programs in the subscription industry is a great way to reduce churn, increase retention and build long-lasting relationships with customers, thus increasing emotional loyalty. However, it’s important to determine what matters to the customers most and then works to optimize this experience.