What makes a successful customer loyalty program? There are many pieces to this puzzle.
Customer loyalty programs are all about building a relationship with your customers. How do you do that? By choosing the tactic that’s right for your business. We’ve listed four customer loyalty program examples that we hope will spark some inspiration for you!
The Cheesecake Cafe
The Cheesecake Cafe is a great customer loyalty program example for the hospitality industry.
Cheesecake Cafe has been a customer of Ackroo’s since 2015. They created a loyalty program called Great Rewards! which offers their customers loyalty dollars for every dollar spent.
Bobbi Beeson, the President of Cheesecake Cafe, has told Ackroo that they started Great Rewards! as a way to connect with their most loyal guests outside of the restaurant.
In fact, Cheesecake Cafe has taken on a tier-based approach. When members reach a certain level of Loyalty Dollars, their earnings can be turned into $25 to be used for purchasing food, drink, and desserts.
Cheesecake Cafe Email Example
However, one of the greatest parts of this program is the relationship they’ve created with their customers. How have they excelled with this? Through email marketing.
The Cheesecake Cafe sends regular updates to their customers to keep them in the loop of what is going on in the restaurant (and what delicious cheesecakes they can indulge in). This has been especially important during COVID-19, as it further strengthened the relationship with their customers.
Mr. Gas
There’s nothing like earning dollars back when you fuel up your car, right? Next on our list of customer loyalty program examples is Mr. Gas.
Mr. Gas CASH PLUS is a winning customer loyalty program example for those in the petroleum industry. Through their program, members can earn up to 1.5 cents/litre bash back, 2.5% cash back for store purchases, and 10% cash back from car washes.
What works for Mr. Gas? Like with The Cheesecake Cafe, they keep the communication OPEN with their members. This includes regular email updates to their CASH PLUS members.
Along with a balance update, Mr. Gas always includes current offers like their “Game Day Blitz”. Members were able to earn 10% cash back on convenience purchases when they spent $15 or more.
Mr. Gas has been able to run a successful program because of the incentives they offer to keep customers returning. And not only are they rewarding on gas, but for all checkpoints at their gas stations.
Kipp Scott GMC Cadillac Buick
The automotive industry is a hot spot for loyalty programs. It’s very rare that you’ll buy a car from a dealership who doesn’t have a loyalty program. So what makes one auto loyalty program stand out from the rest? How you use your data.
In fact, data is such a powerful piece of a loyalty program. The problem is, many businesses don’t know how to use the data that comes with their loyalty program. Kipp Scott, however, is a perfect customer loyalty program example that makes the most of their data.
When Kipp Scott sends out their communicate updates to their rewards members, there is one question they ask themselves “what are we providing to our customer that gives them value?”.
The dealership tracks the traffic that is generated from the emails to see if in fact yes customers find interest in the monthly incentives or no.
With the ability to track their rewards program data, Kipp Scott can craft the perfect communication to reflect the spending habits of their customers.
Gales Gas Bar
Fourth on our list of customer loyalty program examples is Gales Gas Bar. We want to give them a shoutout because their social media game is #winning.
Gales Gas has over 8,000 members in their loyalty program and it’s no surprise! The Ontario gas bar uses their social media channel to continuously promote their loyalty program.
Especially in a time where person-to-person contact is minimal, utilizing platforms like your social media account is extremely beneficial to helping your loyalty program succeed. At minimal to no cost, you are able to promote your program and expand your outreach of your program. Like we said, #winning.
Whether you are in the hospitality, retail, petro, or automotive industry, all businesses are able to take a piece of inspiration from the examples above. Do you have more questions about customer loyalty? Contact the Ackroo team for more information!
