It seems like every business has a loyalty program—in fact, 80% of Americans are part of at least one of these programs. In such a competitive marketplace, enticing people to join another loyalty program can be challenging. Yet this can be a crucial step to grow your program, improve brand stickiness, and ultimately increase revenue.
The key to using a loyalty program to acquire new customers is to stand out from the competition. You need a loyalty program that not only offers rewards people want but is also consistently engaging.
You need gamification. Discover how to increase loyalty program sign-ups with gamification and make your program more fun.
Why New Loyalty Program Acquisition Matters
No business can endure by catering only to its current customer base. Not only does this stunt business growth, but when customers leave, the effects can be devastating.
Yet businesses must grapple with both an oversaturated market and rising customer acquisition costs (CAC)—which went up by around 60% between 2015 and 2020 for both B2B and B2C businesses—on top of the regular challenges of customer acquisition.
There are several barriers to getting customers to sign up for your loyalty program. These include:
- Not wanting to sign up for another program: Consumers are exposed to 10,000 brand messages daily. They don’t want another email. They don’t want to type in all their information. They don’t want to feel attached to another brand.
- Uncertainty about the rewards: They may not understand your rewards or find them compelling enough. To find a loyalty program worth joining, people need to be motivated by high-quality rewards.
- Data privacy concerns: People have increased concerns about who they give their data to, who else will see it, and how secure their information is.
- Lack of interest in the brand: Maybe the person is only interested in making a one-time purchase and doesn’t see a need to join a loyalty program. Or maybe they aren’t very interested in the brand at all.
This is why smart customer acquisition matters. Loyalty programs and their rewards are a way to turn a first-time customer into a repeat, loyal customer. Sixty percent of customers state unexpected rewards are the biggest reason they stay loyal to a business.
How to Increase Loyalty Program Sign-Ups with Gamification Strategies
Here’s how you can use gamification in your loyalty program for customer acquisition. Get new customers to take that single, essential step to sign up for your loyalty program—and have fun while doing it.
Instant Rewards When Signing Up
Beat sign-up hesitation by offering instant rewards once they join. They can win discounts for their current purchase or earn double points for their first purchase. You can use a spin wheel game, slot machine game, or instant scratch-offs—just like Whataburger did.
Whataburger worked with CataBoom to create “Score More,” a collect and win game that gave loyalty members a daily grab bag filled with scratch-offs within the app. Players could win free Whataburger for a month, a year, or a decade.
As soon as people signed up, they were eligible to play. The campaign created 90,000 new active loyalty members!
Referral Sweepstakes
One of the best ways to gain new customers is to have current customers refer your business to their loved ones. Encourage referrals through games and contests—it worked for AHS! Together, we created a spin-to-win campaign with a referral link.
People could win prizes daily, ranging from $50 to $500, with a grand prize of $10,000 at the end of the promotion. The results: 70% of the plays were from referral links, and the brand saw a 25% increase in subscribers.
Quizzes
Who doesn’t love taking a fun quiz? Smart gamification uses quizzes for a variety of reasons: entertainment, surveying, or even feedback. The interaction is what keeps loyalty members engaged with your brand.
For potential loyalty members, it’s a chance to win big—at least that’s how Chipotle uses quizzes. Together, we created the annual Chipotle IQ quiz, testing the most dedicated fans on their knowledge of the restaurant. They could win BOGO burritos and rewards points, or the grand prize of free burritos for a year.
The campaign has seen a 24% increase in quiz completion each year, with 1.6 million quizzes completed.
Games
Games are always a great way to engage your community. When using a loyalty program for customer acquisition, you can create games exclusively for new members to make them feel special.
You can also use games to enhance special times of the year. For example, you could create a Christmas-themed word game that loyalty members can play for discounts. Who doesn’t love saving money when buying gifts?
In addition to holidays, you can create games to celebrate events connected to your business, like your anniversary or special promotions. Michaels used a MatchIt and SwipeIt game to celebrate Appreciation Day for their loyalty members.
The game was released weekly, and members had the chance to win $50 Michaels Rewards Dollars or one of the three grand prizes of $1,000 Michaels Rewards Dollars. The campaign surpassed the new member goal by twice the amount!
Recommended: Top Game Mechanics from CataBoom's Head of Product Development
What Not to Do with Gamification for Loyalty Program Acquisition
Gamification is a great tool for acquisition—but the results depend on how you use it. If not implemented correctly, it can not only diminish positive results but also actively alienate potential members.
Here are some common pitfalls to avoid:
- Making sign-up a long process: No one wants to spend a long time signing up for a loyalty program, especially if they’re just trying to make a purchase. Make your program sign-up as simple as possible: not a lot of steps, not a lot of questions, and not a lot of thinking.
- Offering poor rewards: If your rewards are minimal, such as a 5% off discount, people will not join. You need to entice them and make the reward more beneficial than the reasons they have to not sign up.
- Complicated game instructions: As with sign-up, gameplay instructions should be simple. Tell them how to play and what they can win, no more, no less.
- Never following up: Your communication with new loyalty members should not end after the first interaction. You should follow up—not only to show that they aren’t just a number but also to reinforce key information about the program and emphasize the importance of engagement.
CataBoom Can Help You Acquire New Loyalty Members
Invest in a gamification partner that will take your loyalty program acquisition to the next level.
CataBoom’s platform allows you to take control of branding the entire gamification process. You’ll have access to much of the back-end data so you can make smarter decisions in future strategies. You can even offer multiple games in a single experience if you have a diverse customer base.
Reach out to CataBoom today to learn more about our robust prize engine and how it can help you gain new loyalty members.
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