One of the biggest challenges that businesses face is trying to attract customers to buy their products or services and maintaining customer loyalty. Without enough customers, businesses cannot earn a profit and will eventually be unable to meet costs and stay afloat.
While this is something that all businesses must manage, for those in highly competitive industries, more effort and resources are needed to stand out from the crowd and maintain a competitive edge. This is where bonus schemes and loyalty programmes come into play and there are a few different types that companies can use depending on the nature of the business and what they have to offer.
Here are some of the most popular types:
No Deposit Bonuses
In the online casino industry, a no deposit bonus is a very popular offer that casinos use to entice new players. There is huge demand for online casino games, however in recent years the industry has become highly competitive as more game operators have joined the market.
With a no deposit bonus, the site user opens an account with the online casino website and then they can start to play games. The bonus may come in the form of free spins that can be used on slot games.
This type of bonus is beneficial to both the casino and the player. For the player, they get to try out a new casino and new games without having to risk any of their own cash. For the casino, it is an opportunity to entice new players and certain conditions are attached to the offer to prevent substantial losses for the casino.
For instance, the offer is often only applied to certain games and the amount of cash the player can win using the bonus is capped. There are usually also wagering requirements that the player must meet and they only have a set time period to use the bonus in.
It is the casino’s aim to keep the player as a casino even after they have finished using the bonus. They will then start to deposit their own money to play with and in the long term the casino is very likely to profit from this.
Points Based Loyalty Cards
Deposit bonuses are very specific to the casino industry, but other types of offers, such as points-based loyalty cards are used by all types of retailers. You commonly see these in supermarkets, with Tesco’s Clubcard and Sainsburys’ Nectar Cards being well known examples.
As the customer spends money on products like groceries or services sold by the business, such as insurance or credit cards, they receive a certain number of points. Once they have collected enough points they can then use these as currency to spend in the store.
One of the biggest benefits to the business of using these schemes is the data they collect on the customers spending habits and the types of purchases they most often make. They can then use this information to target the customer with advertising for related products and services or to offer them discounts on their favourite things.
This shows the customer that their loyalty to the business is being rewarded and encourages them to keep returning. This points based system doesn’t only work for supermarkets, any kind of retailer where customers are likely to make frequent purchases can use this type of offer.
It can also be used for B2B businesses. For example, a business selling office supplies like stationary or printer ink could offer loyalty points.
There are many other types of offers that a business can use to encourage loyalty or to grow their customer base. Free trials is another example and is often used by internet based companies selling online services or software.
They might offer a current customer a free trial for a more expensive version of the software they are currently using in order to upsell it to them. While giving a licence away temporarily for free in the short term will cost the business, if the customer signs up after the trial this will more than cancel out the initial expenditure.
Once a business has secured a customer’s loyalty there are many ways they can benefit from that. If they have a good relationship with the customer, they can ask them to do a case study or review to entice new customers. They can even offer referral schemes that encourage the customer to recommend them to others.
Bonuses and customer loyalty programmes can be a risk to a business if they are unable to reach their targets, however in many cases, when used well, they are powerful tools for growing and maintaining a loyal customer base.
For more business orientated news, check out these unique tips of how to create an efficient CRM system for your business.
