Guide to Building a Successful Loyalty Program Community

The loyalty program community builds stronger brand loyalty, participation, and consumer insights. But you don’t know how to start? Don’t worry; this blog will show how to build a brand community and talk about the best ways to run an ongoing administration.

Understanding The Concept Of A Customer Program Community

Loyalty program communities help e-commerce businesses:

• Increased Customer Engagement:

According to a study in Harvard Business Review, happy customers are three times more likely to tell others about a brand. By giving people boards, product reviews, and other unique material, a busy community gets people interested in your brand.

• Enhanced Customer Loyalty:

77% of users have stuck with the same brand for ten years or more, according to InMoment’s share. Community loyalty programs make people feel things. Customers are more loyal to a brand when they feel respected and recognized.

• Word-of-Mouth Marketing:

People who care about a brand can spread the word about it through communities. These brand “cheerleaders” answer questions, talk about their experiences, and get people excited about the brand without using ads.

• Increased Customer Retention:

Over 83% of people said that reward programs made them more likely to buy from the brand again. Building a group keeps customers from going to competition.

Building a brand community can make your online store more successful. This will help you make more sales and keep customers coming back.

Key Elements Of A Successful Loyalty Program Community

Building a successful brand community is more than a forum. Here are the essentials for fostering Customer Loyalty:

• Defined goals: Do you want more customers, product feedback, or brand advocacy? Set objectives to customize and check the community experience.
• Strong brand identity: Integrate brand voice, personality, and visual identity to create a unified experience.
• Effective contact channels: Give people a number of ways to talk to you. Some examples are blogs, chat rooms, and social media groups.
• Incentives and rewards: You can get content that is only offered to users. That is early news of deals, unique goods, and the ability to get products.
• Active Community Management by reacting to member complaints and providing compelling material.
• Engaging Content: Conduct surveys, industry expert Q&As, or innovative competitions. Remember that members should return for more than incentives.

The next part will provide an expanded description of these factors.

Steps To Build A Community For Your Loyalty Program

Here, we’ll show you the steps you need to take to turn your reward program from a business system into a healthy community: 

Step 1: Define Your Community Goals

Give your Loyalist network some thought before you start. Here are three main motivating goals to think about

1.1 Increased Customer Engagement

For new or subscription-based businesses, the goal of getting customers more involved by building a group of loyal customers is a good one.

By building a community from the ground up, new companies can get to know their target market early on, get feedback on their products, and make customers who will stick with them.

1.2. Enhanced Customer Insights & Loyalty

A Loyalist network promotes customer insights and loyalty for small and medium-sized businesses. Especially businesses focusing on the following areas:

• Product development and improvement.
• Subscription-Based Services.
• E-commerce Businesses.

Smaller business owners may not have market research teams. Instead of expensive research, use your community to receive input on product ideas, marketing methods, and consumer preferences.

1.3. Business Growth & Profitability

Companies of all sizes and those looking to cut customer acquisition expenses may grow and profit by building community trust and loyalty.

Subscription-based companies struggle with churn, but excellent communities may reduce it. Revenue and client lifetime value will increase instantly.

There is no one-size-fits-all way to build a reward program group. If you know your business goals, you can use the community to make the biggest difference.

Step 2: Choose The Right Platform

Your loyalty program community starts with the appropriate platform. This digital environment should encourage connection, represent your brand, and be readily available to your audience. Here are the top choices:

2.1. Social Media Platform

The Content Marketing Institute reports that 90% of B2B marketers utilize social media platforms (organic) for content distribution. All three goals above can be used on social media at different levels. A Summary:

Platform	Ideal Customers	Suitable Business Model	Increased Customer Engagement	Enhanced Customer Insights & Loyalty	Business Growth & Profitability
Facebook Groups	The broad audience is 35+ demographics.	B2C (all industries), B2B (established industries).	High	Moderate	Moderate
Instagram Communities	For younger demographics (Millennials, Gen Z), visual content is the focus.	B2C (fashion, beauty, food, lifestyle).	High	Moderate	Moderate
TikTok	Young audiences (Gen Z, younger Millennials), visual products, playful brands.	B2C (apparel, electronics, cosmetics, entertainment)	High	Low	Low (direct sales challenging)

Read more: How does social media marketing affect brand loyalty?

2.2. Forums

All conversation methods may get people more involved with chats, Q&As, and content made by users. Direct sales on boards are hard, but they help people find your brand and easily get new customers through word of mouth in the community.

This is a brief table of what you should think about if you decide to build a reward program group on forums:

Forum Platform	Suitable Customers	Pros	Cons
Brand-Specific Forums	Existing customers, brand enthusiasts.	Deep brand connection, targeted discussions, high engagement, and valuable customer feedback.	It requires dedicated resources to manage and has limited reach to new customers.
Industry-Specific Forums	Customers within a specific industry.	Access to experts in the field and talks and the chance for new users to find your brand.	Less control over branding and community focus, competition from established forum discussions.
General Interest Forums (e.g., Reddit)	Broad audience with specific interests.	Large user base, potential for organic customer acquisition, diverse perspectives.	Finding a good forum topic and keeping an eye on your brand’s image in current conversations.

2.3. Dedicated Apps

Dedicated applications allow loyalty program communities to thrive. Consider their fit for the three main purposes and their pros and cons:

Goals	Pros	Cons	Suitable Customers
Increased Customer Engagement	Push notifications, points, badges, in-app conversation, and special events may boost engagement.	Requires ongoing effort to maintain user interest and app activity.	Tech-savvy mobile app users. Visually attractive or mobile brands (coffee cafes, ride-sharing).
Enhanced Customer Insights & Loyalty	Purchase monitoring, in-app surveys, and loyalty program data integration give consumer insights. However, detailed comments may need more tools.	Less space for extensive evaluations and debates than in forums or social media.	Customers are comfortable with in-app interactions and providing data for personalized offers and rewards.
Business Growth & Profitability	A mobile wallet that is easy to use, focused marketing, and individual ideas may all help to increase sales.	Creating and maintaining a specialized app is costly. App downloads and use are hard to promote.	Brands with a strong existing customer base and a focus on mobile commerce.

Overall, dedicated apps are great for getting customers more involved and can be a powerful way to grow a business through targeted ads and mobile sales. However, getting more in-depth information about customers might be easier by using extra tools in the app or on a website.

Find specialized applications for your company in the next part below. This part will cover a few fit loyalty program apps.

Step 3: Create Engaging Content

Creating valuable content that engages your brand advocate community. Here’s more than just ad for your stuff. You want the area to seem important, informative, and fun to the people who use it.

The following content kinds work on diverse platforms and support loyalty program goals:

• Social Media Platform:

According to the Content Marketing Institute research, nine in 10 B2B marketers use social media platforms (organic) to distribute content.

Content focus: Discussions, customer testimonials and reviews, UGC, behind-the-scenes, helpful content.

It works as social networking sites provide place for users to share their experiences and provide insightful criticism about your company. People feel as if they belong, and discussion fosters trust.

Social media is the most cost-effective owing to user-generated content, but all channels need interesting prompts, competitions, and brand-specific material to thrive.

Take inspiration from The Body Shop’s helpful Facebook posts to engage with customers on Facebook.

• Forums:

Content Focus: Deep diving, product reviews, troubleshooting instructions, industry trends, brand AMAs, and customer success stories.

Why it works: Forums are places where people can go into more detail about certain topics. Customers can make specific requests, talk about their good and bad experiences, and support others. 

• Dedicated Apps:

Content Focus: Surveys, testing, personalized communication, in-app content (sneak peeks, early access), loyalty program updates, and gamification.

The reason it works is that dedicated apps give you a direct line to your most loyal customers. With push messages, they can stay updated on deals and exclusive material inside the app.

Remember that the most important thing is to make sure your content fits the site and its visitors.

Step 4: Encourage Interaction And Engagement With Rewards

Having created a communal space and included interesting material, turn it into an engaging hub of activity. Some strategies for increasing interaction on the three platforms we’ve looked at:

For social media networks:

• Recognize and reward active members: Appreciate users who contribute to debates, provide advice, or produce high-quality UGC. Promote these efforts in the group and give unique awards to top contributors.
• Run user-generated content contests: Give participants a term to use to inspire them to upload images and films that fit a theme. In addition to engaging individuals, this creates a lovely community feed.
• Partner with micro-influencers for product reviews, tutorials, and giveaways. Leveraging influencer marketing to retain a relevant and real community vibe.

For more ideas, read 17 proven techniques to increase loyalty program sign-ups.

For forums:

• Host AMAs (Ask Me Anything) with brand representatives: This promotes open communication, consumer satisfaction, and community trust.
• Promote peer-to-peer assistance: Give badges to members who are helpful and knowledgeable to get them involved.
• Hold “Success story” contests: Ask customers how your product or service benefitted them. Encouragement and brand value come from this UGC. Top shops should be rewarded to boost participation.

Dedicated apps:

• Implement gamification elements: Use points, badges, and leaderboards to motivate app users.
• Make customized suggestions: Use information from your reward program to tell users about new products and content. Personalization boosts app use and sales.
• Integrate social features: Allow app users to share accomplishments, product ratings, and app use with peers. This fosters community and friendly competition, increasing engagement.

Creating a two-way communication channel, recognizing contributions, and offering a dynamic experience increase customer and program loyalty.

For a detailed guide to design rewards, read: How to set up the best loyalty program?

Step 5: Provide Value Through Rewards And Incentives

Loyalty program software allows you to create a rewards system driven by the community. Consider these community-focused advantages when selecting a reward program:

• Points & Gamification: Incentives for purchases, reviews, and social media interaction encourage participation and community development.
• Tiered programs: Create VIP levels with special awards, early sales access, and member-only activities to boost pride and community.
• Community forums & groups: Dedicated spaces for discussions, Q&A sessions, and peer-to-peer support, encouraging interactive polls and surveys.
• Personalized member profiles and content suggestions using loyalty program data.

Keep reading if you still haven’t found the right loyalty program software. In the next part, we’ll discuss some great programs for each business.

Step 6: Monitor And Optimize

Now, it’s time to sustain your dynamic community. Note these important metrics:

• Activity rate: Track post frequency, comment volume, and content development on community platforms.
• Retention rate: Check how many members stay active. Reduced retention indicates re-engaging dormant members or reconsidering your value offer.
• Net Promoter Score (NPS): NPS polls find out how happy your members are. A high NPS indicates brand enthusiasts who will promote your program.
• Redemption rate: Check how frequently members use rewards. Low redemption rates may signal a need to change your incentive system or convey its worth.

Track measures, analyze statistics, and adjust your strategy to build an engaged group that fosters trust, engagement, and program success.

Community Building Tools And Platforms To Support Your Brand Community

We’ll talk about a few different choices in this part, ranging from using social media sites that are already set up to using specific tools for community management:

Social Media Platforms (e.g., Facebook Groups, Instagram, TikTok)

Each social media site has benefits and features that help build a community around reward programs.

For Facebook:

Benefits: Large user base, familiar interface, targeted reach.

Features:

• Groups: To get members more engaged, provide a space where they may speak, ask questions, and support one another.
• Interactive features: Use surveys and livestreams to engage members, get input, and build community.
• Targeted ads: Promote your loyalty program’s benefits to the right audience.

For Instagram:

Benefits: Highly visual, strong organic reach, built-in engagement features.

Features:

• Engaging content: Use Stories and Reels, informal and engaging formats, to highlight your business’s personality, reward program advantages, and member-only discounts.
• Influencer Marketing: Work with relevant influencers to increase your reach. They may market your program and introduce you to a larger audience, increasing brand recognition and program interest.

For TikTok:

Benefits include high interaction, brand discovery, and genuine user-generated content.

Features:

• Viral challenges: Promote loyalty program challenges with branded hashtags. Fun, engaging experiences boost brand exposure.
• Live shopping events: Create urgency and exclusivity with interactive live events.
• Behind-the-scenes access: Share rare brand and product creative insights. This builds community and brand loyalty by connecting members to your brand.

There are some things that some systems do better than others. Change your strategy to harness these characteristics and target the relevant individuals for maximum effect.

Community Forums (e.g., Reddit, Discourse)

The good and bad things about using boards to build an award program group are shown below:

Forum Platform	Pros	Cons
Brand-Specific Forums	Deep brand connection, focused conversations, high participation, insightful and useful consumer comments.	It’s hard to get new users because it needs a lot of committed resources to run.
Industry-Specific Forums	Access to experts in the field and communication and the chance for new users to find your brand.	Less control over branding and community focus, competition from established forum discussions.
General Interest Forums (e.g., Reddit, Discourse)	Large user base for organic customer acquisition through word-of-mouth marketing.	Find a good forum topic and keep an eye on your brand’s image in current conversations.

Loyalty Program Software

There are many loyalty program software, but here are a few that stand out and are useful for different types of businesses:

• Ecommerce: Some loyalty program app solutions are BON Loyalty, Smile.io, and LoyaltyLion. These capabilities are designed for online retailers and integrate with Shopify.
• Retail: Some recommended tools are Yotpo Loyalty and Punchh Loyalty. These enable in-store points accrual and mobile app connectivity for brick-and-mortar shops.

Read more: 13+ Top Loyalty Management Software. 

We recommend Shopify business owners utilize BON Loyalty. It offers an extensive feature set to create a lively community for loyalty programs:

• 18+ point-earning actions: Give members more ways to earn points than purchases. This promotes community involvement.
• Powerful referral program: A strong referral program encourages member acquisition and community expansion.
• Social sharing for referrers: This tool lets consumers post referral links on social media.
• Referral pop-up: Customers can click on it because it shows up as a pop-up above the widget.

One great thing about BON Loyalty is that it offers a free trial for up top 200 orders and clear prices with no hidden costs.

Dedicated Community Apps

A lot of different community apps are available to meet all your wants. Here are some important choices to think about:

• Mighty Networks: This platform is great for developing a community. It can create branded communities, manage memberships, and organize live events.
• Circle.so, This tool helps creators and companies build online communities and courses. Group conversations and sub-communities under its “Spaces” feature are ideal for loyalty program debates.

A community app may liven up and excite your incentive program, which will encourage users to interact. To choose the ideal one for your requirements, you might learn about the advantages and disadvantages of various instruments.

Best Practices For Managing Your Customer Program Community

Here, we’ll talk about some of the best ways to keep your community active:

Consistent Communication

Remind your community about your loyalty program, new awards, special deals, and upcoming events. Reach members with blog articles, social media updates, and targeted email campaigns.

Don’t broadcast messages; talk with your members actively. You can quickly respond to comments and questions, join talks, and ask other people what they think.

For instance, The Body Shop uses social media to bring attention to problems in the community and the world. People are encouraged to share their stories, talk, and give points for social impact programs. This helps build community and a sense of a common goal.

Listening To Feedback & Creating A Secure And Positive Environment

As Jeff Bezos, Founder & CEO of Amazon, said:

“The customer is always the smartest person in the room. They are the ones paying the bills. We have to listen to what they want. You can gain more wisdom by listening to your customers than by any other means.”

Make sure that people in your community can give you comments in multiple ways. In your community site, use polls, surveys, and other ways for people to give you feedback.

Respond quickly to comments and concerns and make changes based on member ideas as often as possible. This shows that you want to keep improving and ensure your members’ satisfaction.

Don’t forget keep an eye on the community and quickly remove any content or behavior that isn’t acceptable. This makes sure there is a safe place for good conversations and exchanges.

Recognizing And Rewarding Active Members

You can thank the most helpful people in the community in public. Give VIPs special benefits like extra points, early access to new goods, or events only open to VIPs. This gives people a reason to keep participating and encourages others to do the same.

[H3] Creating a Safe and Positive Environment

Ensuring a welcoming and inclusive community culture.

Case Studies Of Successful Loyalty Program Communities

After discussing the components of a successful brand community, let’s see them in action. Our examples will show proven strategies to build a thriving loyalty program community:

Case Study 1: Starbucks Rewards

The Starbucks Rewards case study is a bright spot among reward programs. Their active online community encourages participation and, eventually, program success.

Let’s examine Starbucks’ tactics for maintaining a vibrant online community.

• Seamless mobile integration:

This easy-to-use interface lets members buy beverages and track and redeem points. This simplicity improves user experience and encourages app use, building brand loyalty.

• Gamification Elements:

Double-star days and holiday missions get people to buy again and  building emotional connections. 

• Building Customer Relationships:

On social media pages, people have put things like photos and customer stories. This talk makes the brand and person feel like they have a link, which makes the bond tighter.

The result:

Q2 Fiscal 2024 Results show that 32.8 million people in the U.S. have been regular members of Starbucks Rewards for 90 days. This is 6% more than the same time last year.

These tactics help e-commerce business owners build thriving, successful loyalty programs.

Read more: Lessons from Starbucks loyalty program for Shopify store.

Case Study 2: Sephora Beauty Insider

The Sephora Beauty Insider program case study shows how to build a strong online group. Their online Beauty Insider Community is a lively place where beauty fans and people who are new to makeup can:

• Share User-Generated Content (UGC) Initiatives.
• Forums engage in discussions.

Forbes interviewed Allegra Stanley, Sephora’s VP and loyalty general manager:

“Research has found that almost 75% of what drives customer engagement and loyalty are emotional perks.”

Sephora doesn’t just host the community; they foster brand storytelling by:

• Gamification: Points, badges, and ranked systems encourage people to participate and make them feel like they’ve accomplished something.
• Recognition: “ambassadors” of Sephora Beauty Insider are involved, informed members who make the experience better for everyone.
• Educational Content: Sephora is a recognized beauty authority thanks to beauty lessons, expert talks, and reviews.

If you leverage gamification to increase loyalty program engagement, your loyalty program can transform from a simple points system into a lively community.

Read more: Decoding Sephora’s Beauty Insider for e-commerce growth.

Case Study 3: NikePlus

The NikePlus rewards case study shows how a loyalty program can build a passionate community beyond purchases. They make the experience more unique by connecting it to their different exercise apps, like Nike Run Club and Nike Training Club. What members get:

• Targeted training plans.
• Exclusive challenges.
• Product recommendations.

This customization gives people a feeling of worth that goes beyond points. In their exercise journeys, members don’t just feel like another customer; they have support.

NIKE CEO John Donahoe said the company’s 160 million members help it develop a tailored, direct connection that trumps the competition.

If you add these things to your reward program, as NikePlus did, it will drive customer involvement and brand loyalty.

Conclusion

Thanks to the tips in this blog post, you can make your reward program more than just a points-based system. It can become an active community. A thriving community makes people feel like they belong, engages more people, and keeps them coming back.

Shopify store owners can use the BON Loyalty app to add all of the features we’ve talked about here. Check out our blog entries on successful communication tactics to engage and educate loyalty program members.

FAQs

1. What Are The Benefits Of Building A Loyalty Program Community?

Communities of loyalty programs serve companies and consumers alike:

• Increased loyalty to the firm and a sense of belonging result from this.
• More participation: This maintains individuals occupied and interested.
• Offering clients input on improving products and services is a worthwhile experience.

2. How Do I Choose The Right Platform For My Loyalty Program Community?

Choosing the right platform for your brand community depends on several factors:

• Community Goals.
• Target Audience: Are they tech-savvy or prefer familiar platforms?
• Features: Does the platform offer the functionalities you need? Forums, chats, games, etc.
• Budget: While specific community sites can be expensive, there are free social-proof marketing options.

When choosing the best tool to build your customer program group, think about the things that have been taken away.

3. What Type Of Content Should I Create For My Community?

Here are some ideas for material you could put on your platform for reward program participants:

• Customer spotlights: Share the stories of your loyal customers to showcase their experiences and connect with others.
• Questions and Answers: Engage in real-time conversations with experts or brand ambassadors to resolve member inquiries.
• Fun contests and giveaways: To get more people to join and get excited, hold fun contests or giveaways.
• Polls and surveys: Get insightful comments about a product, service, or community choice.
• Discussion forums: Give people a place to get together, talk about their lives, and help each other.