When choosing a loyalty company, many SaaS companies face the same challenge: how to choose one that fits what we do? Loyalty programs are a great way to reward your customers for engaging in behaviors that enhance your brand and revenue. But with so many options available, and a need to keep focusing on the core product, it can take time to choose the right one for your needs. Not all loyalty companies are created equal, and not all will be the right fit for your business.
This article will cover some crucial topics you should look for when choosing a loyalty company. We will also give tips on evaluating different providers and deciding which loyalty company is right for you.
Customer loyalty has always been important to businesses. Still, with a looming economic slowdown, and a resulting need to focus on current customers, loyalty programs have come into the spotlight. As consumers, people have come to expect loyalty programs in their everyday lives. For example, Starbucks gives you points toward future purchases. Walgreens gives you cash rewards at checkout. As business buyers, these rewards can be a source of surprise and delight. But only a few SaaS businesses offer a rewards program as an incentive to reduce churn and increase retention.
With so much choice and competition, businesses must find ways to stand out from the crowd and build a loyal following. In many cases, this comes down to providing an excellent customer experience. This means making it easy for customers to find what they're looking for, providing helpful and responsive customer service, and offering competitive prices. It should also include rewarding your customers for positive brand behavior like consistent product usage, user reviews, and referrals.
Web 3.0 and the rise of utility tokens have created new opportunities for startups to build loyalty. Token holders can access exclusive communities, content, product experiences, or live events. You can surprise clients with an 'airdrop' of tokens to reward your entire membership community at once. And loyalty NFTs can be exchanged for crypto or cashed out like any other NFT (although you can put in place smart contract rules governing ownership). By issuing web3 tokens, startups can create a sense of ownership, exclusivity, and belonging that encourages loyalty.
In a world where customers have endless choices, these incentives can be the key to building a lasting relationship and keeping customers on your platform.
Web 3.0 and the rise of utility tokens have created new opportunities for startups to build loyalty. Token holders can access exclusive communities, content, product experiences, or live events. You can surprise clients with an 'airdrop' of tokens to reward your entire membership community at once. And loyalty NFTs can be exchanged for crypto or cashed out like any other NFT (although you can put in place smart contract rules governing ownership). By issuing web3 tokens, startups can create a sense of ownership, exclusivity, and belonging that encourages loyalty.
In a world where customers have endless choices, these incentives can be the key to building a lasting relationship and keeping customers on your platform.
Loyalty programs are an excellent way for businesses to orchestrate behaviors that increase revenue and valuations.
There are several loyalty program types; the best type for a business will depend on its specific needs and goals. Different types of loyalty programs are:
Combining these three models' elements in one program is also possible. Consider consulting an expert in setting up loyalty programs to discuss your goals and brainstorm ideas for rewarding your customers.
When choosing a loyalty company, you must consider your business needs and goals and the actions customers take that drive revenue. Loyalty programs can be customized to fit the specific needs of a business, so it's important to choose a provider that offers the features and flexibility you need.
Here are some things to consider when choosing a loyalty company:
There are many benefits of using a loyalty company for SaaS businesses. Loyalty programs can help you improve customer retention, drive expansion revenue, and generate new leads. In addition, loyalty companies can provide valuable insights into your customers' behavior and preferences.
By offering rewards for customers who use the product in revenue-generating ways, a loyalty program helps:
With the rise of web 3.0, a new breed of startups is powering SaaS loyalty programs with utility tokens to provide rewards for their customers. Token holders form a community, and the community works together to increase the token's value (yes, if done right, it can later be swapped for real cash). This increases the value of your company.
The best loyalty rewards programs will offer a variety of tokens for their customers, including product usage, referral, content consumption, event attendance, or community participation. The possibilities are endless.
In Web3, replace points with tokens (also called coins), and you have a new way of rewarding customers. Instead of managing rewards, you give members NFTs. The difference is that you manually determine the value of reward points on your proprietary platform. In contrast, the marketplace determines the value of tokens.
Because of the psychological principle of loss aversion, once a member gets a token, they will be highly motivated to see that the token increases in value in the market (i.e., they don't suffer a loss). Therefore, members are more likely to act in ways that increase your company's value and its tokens.
Another popular model is the tiered model. Customers move up to higher tiers based on how much they spend with your business. Higher-tier customers receive more valuable rewards, such as early access to new products or VIP customer service.
Sometimes airlines or credit card companies add surprise bonuses for loyalty. In web3, you can also do this via Airdrops. Airdrops deliver a set of additional or bonus tokens into someone's account or wallet. Unlike traditional loyalty programs, which often require users to accumulate points over time, loyalty airdrops can be used immediately and instantaneously.
This makes them an attractive option for startups looking to build engagement and retention. In addition, because loyalty bonuses are web3 tokens, they can be easily traded or exchanged for other web3 tokens (note: rules can be put in place on a smart contract to vet who owns your tokens). As a result, they have the potential to become more valuable as a startup grows and gains adoption.
First and foremost, build the program on a solid foundation of web3 ownership principles with a partner that knows how to implement a web3 stack. Your vendor should have ideas about reducing the friction required for newbies to enter web3 (like creating a wallet). This will ensure that the rewards are adopted, quickly gain value, are transferable, and that the program is secure, scalable, and can handle many transactions.
You also need to protect the program from token flippers and scammers by creating a smart contract that verifies identity and requires holders to add utility, like owning and using the product, before they can hold a token.
Secondly, the program should use utility tokens to reward loyalty. Utility tokens work with smart contracts and APIs to govern the rules behind how a token is minted and the rules that govern its use. This will give users an incentive to participate in the program and will ensure that the program is sustainable in the long run.
Finally, the program should be designed with startups in mind. Startups often need more resources and need to be able to launch their loyalty programs quickly and efficiently. Implementing a SaaS loyalty program shouldn't interfere with the core mission of the product, development, and customer marketing teams.
Adding a loyalty program to your SaaS can take a lot of thought, time, and effort. Only a few companies are doing this for enterprise B2B apps. All the activity is on the consumer side. But remember, your business buyers are consumers, and most love their loyalty programs. At first, it might seem like a complex distraction that will pull you away from the core mission. Instead, consider outsourcing your loyalty program's creation, development, launch, and support to an expert.
It costs much less than you think and can be implemented quickly (in under 2 months). Think of loyalty programs as a hedge against a recession and your typical churn. Then, consider the value a dollar of retained revenue can mean to your overall valuation.
We hope this article has helped you narrow your choices and given you a few things to look for when making your final decision. But, of course, the best company for your needs is the one that can provide the rewards and features that matter most to you and your customers.
