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One of the key ways for businesses to attract and keep customers is with attractive rewards. Many companies know the importance of giving customers extra value to help keep them satisfied but take the free or discount route. While discounts and freebies will work in the short-term, the majority of organisations would be better served with a dedicated reward scheme instead.

Why are rewards preferred by consumers?

When compared against discount schemes that simply offer a lower price, reward schemes are much preferred by consumers. Reward schemes are outperforming discount-based promotions across a whole range of categories as customers appreciate the more personal approach. The ability to connect and build a personal relationship with your target audience is what will help brands to grow moving forward. In a recent KPMG survey, 80% of customers were found to like the surprise deals or gifts this approach brings.

What makes a good reward scheme?

One of the headline facts around reward schemes is that the most popular are widely redeemable. This gives them a great flexibility and choice in where consumers can use the reward which is very appealing to them. It also shows that your brand is thinking about what is best for them and their needs.

Another point to note is that digital platforms lead the way. It has been shown that up to a third of customers prefer being able to access and use their rewards online. The reason behind this shift away from traditional reward programs is that actually having to physically use a membership card in person is not what consumers want now. Examples of popular digital rewards include products such as E-Cards and instant media downloads, which 33% of millennials prefer.

What is digital receipt validation?

A recent innovation in this area is digital receipt validation which enables consumers to redeem their rewards via online validation of their receipt from a purchase. While great for consumers, it is also a superb digital marketing option for businesses too.

The instant gratification that customers get using this system means they will leave with a great brand impression and be more likely to return. This provides a great tool for companies to drive loyalty and create superb brand awareness with their core audience.

The power of rewards marketing is immense, with many consumers reacting better to this than traditional discount schemes. If you need help to implement any kind of marketing strategy in this or other areas, get in touch with Granby Marketing today.

One of the key aspects to experiencing success as a business is the way you interact with customers. Maintaining a strong and healthy relationship with consumers is absolutely vital in making sure your organisation continues to move its brand forward.

Here are five features that all customers will expect when they contact you:

1. Customers want you to meet their expectations

When a customer contacts your business they will already have set expectations in place before doing so. This could be how they are dealt with on a personal level or what they want to get out of their discussion with you. Being able to meet these expectations is crucial to your brand as this will dictate the public’s perception of you and your standing with them.

2. Customers want options in how they contact you

In the modern world, people use a variety of mediums in their daily lives and this naturally extends into their dealings with any business. By offering a variety of ways to get in contact, you are meeting this need and showing that your brand is doing all you can to respond to their expectations. Think email, phone, SMS.

3. Customers expect a timely response

One feature that all customers find vexing is not getting a timely response to any questions or queries. Make sure your business doesn’t fall into this trap and lose customers as a result. Show that your brand values its customers by ensuring all contact is answered quickly, whatever medium it arrives on.

4. Customers want a personalised experience

Being able to offer a personalised experience to consumers is an area that all businesses can excel in. Remember to construct your customer service in such a way that customers are dealt with as people first and consumers second. By doing this, you will keep them happy and show that you care about them personally.

5. Customers want you to solve their problems (first contact resolution)

One of the major negatives with customer service is passing someone around departments in order to get their query resolved. This will frustrate them greatly and possibly mean they pass this bad experience of your brand onto friends and family. Make sure all customer service staff can resolve issues at the point of first contact to avoid this.

As you can see, effective and efficient customer service is a must for any business to succeed. Implementing the strategies above will help your brand to increase not only its visibility with the public but also its good standing with them.

Having a really great brand is not enough when it comes to reaching new customers and increasing sales; effectively marketing and promoting your brand and your business is key. Here are some tried and tested ways of increasing your brand awareness to swell your customer base and drive sales.

Promotions

One sure way of encouraging shoppers to pick up your products from the shelf is to offer them a ‘deal’. This could be a multi-buy ‘BOGOF’ offer or a larger pack for the same price as a smaller one. Promote your products using on-pack signage and through in-store promotions with eye-catching POS displays.

Sampling

A very effective way of shopper marketing is by offering free samples in-store or through the post via your website or digital receipt validation. This works especially well with beauty products, household cleaning items, and food. Remember to include a promotional offer with your free samples to encourage people to actually buy your product after they’ve enjoyed the freebie.

Social media

Social media is a great way of increasing awareness of your brand and creating a buzz around new products. Make regular posts of engaging content aimed at a network of people who you think will be interested in your product and encourage them to share it with their online friends.

Content items such as reviews and free tips are always very popular, so capitalise on this when deciding what to post on your Facebook page or when composing Tweets.

Incentives

Loyalty programmes are always very popular with consumers so try to incorporate some into your marketing campaign. Special offers for existing customers only, together with special discount codes, are also very good for driving sales and increasing brand awareness.

Influencers

Look for influencers in your community and offer them support in their causes in order to establish a good working relationship with them. The aim is to build a relationship where you refer to one another for mutual benefit. This relationship should then enable you to access their network of contacts and identify potential new leads for your business.

Email marketing

Email marketing campaigns can work very well when you want to promote new products, upcoming offers, and promotions. Be sure to capture the email addresses of all your new clients and build a database that can be used to mailshot them. Keep in touch with your clients regularly with helpful articles that they may find of interest, not just when you want to sell them something.

Attracting new clients should be a key part of every company’s sales and marketing strategy. As you look to increase revenue from existing customers, you should also be sourcing opportunities to further impact the growth of your business through new customers. Gifting both loyal and new customers is a popular tactic used across industries to increase the positive experience customers have of brands, increasing their likelihood to purchase. Below we’ve listed some great gifting ideas, and the reasons behind why it is such an important tool to use when looking to win and develop relationships with new customers.

Great gifting ideas

Depending on the sector you work in, you could offer gifts to new customers relevant to the products they usually purchase from you. Beauty companies are one of the best examples of gifting customers, dependant on sales. For example, Benefit makeup offers customers a gift, depending on the amount they spend. This technique is especially impactful around key sales periods such as Christmas, when 36% of all gifts are bought in the UK. A £50 spend generates a small sample sized free product, with increased sales, leading to increased gift amounts – such as full eye makeup palettes. There are several creative solutions you can use to pair your free gifts with certain items you wish to promote, including contract packaging of gifts, where the item is attached through wrapping, or packing to the main item for sale. This can help the set look appealing to entice customers.

Keep it relevant

Sports, and nutrition brands which have grown rapidly in popularity in recent years, have realised the importance of offering customers relevant gifts, that will boost the performance levels of their customers. Offering free trackable fitness devices, and limited time trials on nutritional drinks or food, can be a great way to reward loyal customers, with gifts relevant to the reason they approached your company in the first place.

What can gifting help you to achieve?

Everyone loves to receive gifts, especially from brands they spend a lot of money with, as they will feel they’re being treated in return for their loyalty. Free gift campaigns can raise the profile of your business, attracting new customers who haven’t heard of you, increasing footfall into your store, or online if you run your gift promotions on your e-commerce site. By gifting new customers you’re encouraging them to spend with you – potentially over a brand they’ve been loyal to in the past. Whatever you’re offering, make sure it’s a gift worth giving – make it exciting for customers so that they use it as a talking point about your brand. If you tier your gifting you’ll also directly be increasing the sales you make, encouraging customers to spend more with you to receive a more exciting product!

Organisations in the public sector can find many benefits through using a Crown Commercial Services approved print management supplier. So, what’s so great about this scheme and what’s on offer?

Crown Commercial Services approved print management suppliers framework

The Crown Commercial Services (CCS) approved print management suppliers framework is open to all public sector organisations and charities. Through the framework, you can access a wide range of services, including fully managed digital and end to end print solutions and tailored managed print solutions, which are altered to fit customers’ individual requirements.

A wide range of products and services in covered by the framework and includes:

• paper and print products, including folders, labels, wallets, envelopes and so on
• pre-production services, including proofs, artwork, design services, photograph re-touching, proof reading, translation, typesetting and so on
• a full range of finishing services

A range of media duplication services, including scanning and microfiche, are offered. Operational print, security print, transactional and direct mail print, large format and wide print are also included, as well as various asset and database management services. Stock management, storage, distribution and fulfilment are also covered.

The benefits of using the CCS approved print management suppliers framework

As you can see, the framework is fully comprehensive in all aspects of print management and satellite services and offers a number of benefits to its users.
Strategic supplier partnerships

Suppliers who form part of the framework will give you the benefit of their expertise and will guide you towards making important savings. They will also give you full support with moving your organisation towards more modern, digital solutions, which, in turn, could save you money.
Transparent price model

Thanks to the transparent pricing model used, you can make cost savings through rationalisation, standardisation, and aggregation of demand. Paper is priced competitively and rate cards are provided showing maximum rates.

Complete digital and print solution

The framework provides a complete print and digital print management solution. All raw materials are sourced, including envelopes and paper, and there is a wide range of other associated services provided as an integral part of core print requirement.

Managed print solution

Regardless of the service you opt for, your supplier will organise and manage the delivery of your print requirements, including supply chain sourcing and management.

The CCS approved print management suppliers framework offers a reliable and seamless service to charities and public sector organisations that could save your organisation money and labour.

According to Forbes* “The single most important thing you can do for your business is to get to work building true customer loyalty, one customer at a time.” Not only are loyal customers generally easier and more enjoyable to work with they can spend up to ‘67% more’ than new customers.** Providing your customers with the highest levels of service is the quickest and most efficient way to meet your growth objectives and achieve your targets, but how do you maintain this consistently on top of running your business?

By outsourcing your customer support you will have peace of mind that each and every time a customer comes into contact with your business, they are receiving the same quality of service. Below we’ve listed out some of the key benefits of outsourcing your customer support.

Cost efficient

Outsourcing your customer support to an external contact centre removes the requirement for you to employ customer support staff in house, saving on resource costs including training and wages. If you outsource your customer support, you may be able to provide your customers with a 24/7 round the clock service, which could be too expensive to operate in house.

Experts

By outsourcing your customer support, you will have the peace of mind that every time your customer contacts your support lines they are speaking to an expert trained in customer service. This will remove the demands placed on your administrative staff, who won’t be expected to act as expert customer support providers, and can be left to complete their other responsibilities.

Beat the competition 

As you provide your customer with consistently excellent customer service, they will remain loyal to your business and you will retain their custom. According to Gartner*** 20% of your customers will create 80% of your profits, which means you can grow and prosper by retaining and developing existing customer relationships through expert customer support.

If you’re interested in speaking to an expert team of customer support advisors, to understanding how outsourcing your service can benefit your business, contact Granby marketing today. You can reach us by phone on: 01254 6820702 or by email on: Hello@granbymarketing.com.

* https://www.forbes.com/sites/micahsolomon/2014/05/12/loyal/#1e0d2e6e5c9e
**https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-cost-customer-acquisition-vs-retention-ian-kingwill
***http://www.nextupasia.com/5-reasons-why-customer-loyalty-is-so-important-in-our-digitized-marketplace/

Making instant rewards a reality for brands and shoppers

SwiftReceipt, the fastest digital receipt validation service in the UK, launched by us, Granby, promises to revolutionise the service for shoppers and brands alike.

The bespoke technology validates customer redemptions in less than an hour – and as little as 10 minutes – delivering digital rewards (for example cinema codes) instantly, with the ability to dispatch physical ones within 24 hours.

SwiftReciept removes the need for outdated on-pack codes, instead simply asking customers to upload a photo of their till receipt to a mobile-optimised, branded microsite for validation.

For today’s digitally minded shopper who demands instant gratification, it is fast, effective and reliable. For brands in many shopping categories – from drinks and household goods to impulse purchases and food – it offers the chance to quickly satisfy demand, delighting the customer and breeding loyalty.

SwiftReceipt’s speed outstrips its competitors. The service also offers a best-in-class data capture mechanism. Brands will be armed with important information about shopper trends, making it easier to retarget customers and cross-sell multiple brands and categories.

Meanwhile, the technology’s compliance with ISO27001, GDPR & EU data protection legislation, and access to full campaign analytics and reporting, will also help brands accurately and compliantly grow databases and track ROI.

SwiftReceipt offers both an out-of-the-box solution for single-purchase reward claims, getting campaigns off the ground quickly, and bespoke solutions for more complex needs, such as multi-brand, multi-buy or threshold-spend solutions.

Joanne Kimber, MD at Granby, said: “Digital receipt validation has been taking shopper marketing by storm for several years, but hasn’t offered instant redemption – until now. Consumers are less likely to take the time to complete complex redemption processes these days. They want everything quickly, and brands know it. SwiftReceipt is a gamechanger. Not only is it easy to set up, but brands will have access to more accurate data, aiding tracking and making ROI easier to prove.”

Find out more about SwiftReceipt.

On-pack promotions are a great way to increase the sales of your products and to encourage shoppers to take advantage of a bargain or a great reward. Here are five benefits of on-pack promotions.

Extend typical purchasing season

On-pack promotions are usually seasonal in nature. For example, you could offer a 25% free deal on a larger pack of party food that is intended to last for a limited period, such as over the festive season. By continuing this promotion for an extra few weeks, you can extend the typical purchasing season for this type of product, boosting sales and bringing in more revenue.

New product launch or product trial

On-pack promotions can be a great marketing tool, especially for new products and they can be a very effective way of drawing your product to the attention of shoppers, especially if you are offering a deal that makes your product stand out from that of your competitors.

Shoppers enjoy trialling new things too and everyone has an opinion. Use on-pack promotional literature as a means of telling people that the product is on trial and offer it at a reduced price to further encourage sales.

Encourage multiple purchases

One very effective way of boosting sales is to offer a BOGOF deal: Buy One Get One Free. This can be marketed through on-pack promotions, and teamed with an effective POS display can really add to your bottom line.

Beat the competition

When consumers are faced with a display of similar products, they will instinctively look for the best deal. You can use on-pack promotions to draw the eye of the discerning shopper and persuade them to pick up your product, rather than that of your competition. When combined with a multi-purchase deal, this tactic can bring huge returns.

Offset price increases
As manufacturer overheads increase, price rises are inevitable and this can lead to a price war between companies marketing similar products. On-pack promotions are a good way of distracting customer focus from the fact that their usual product purchase has increased in price. Offer multi-purchase deals or perhaps a larger pack to give shoppers the feeling that they are getting more for their money.

Conclusion

On-pack promotions can be a great way of increasing your bottom line and keeping your regular customers committed to your brand, which is essential in a competitive and uncertain economy.

The recent changing economic conditions have seen changes in customer behaviour, and retailers must move to remain profitable.

Customer engagement

Social media has opened up a whole new world of potential for experiential marketing, allowing retailers to gain a much greater organic reach. Through the use of platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, marketers can get people talking, benefiting from the integrated narratives that shoppers engage in across social media.

Digital

Digital has changed the way consumers shop. Around 92% of sales now happen online, and most customers spend time researching products and comparing prices before they actually enter a store.

Media spend needs to keep pace with this trend, and advertising budgets should now be targeted more towards digital. Online promotional activity through websites, email campaigns, and PPC advertising should be used to drive sales.

Theatrical experiences in retail

One way of driving customer engagement and generating interest in your brand is by creating a theatrical experience for shoppers who visit your store. A memorable experience is highly likely to be shared on social media, encouraging more footfall and increasing sales. One example of this is at Christmas time; many stores hire ‘Santa’s reindeer’ to be outside the store, encouraging parents to bring their kids along to see them.

Customer and brand experiences in retail

In order to keep pace with the likes of Amazon, retailers need to be innovative. Innovations need to focus on unique brand positioning, creating memorable, shareable signature experiences for customers, rather than just seeking to snare sales. A simple way to achieve this would be through holding a special tasting event to promote new food or drink products in-store.

Personalisation

One very effective way of gaining customer loyalty is by learning about them. You can gain a competitive advantage here, by learning about your clients faster than your competition, and by applying that data more quickly than your competitors.

Useful tools for mapping the customer journey include digital tools that record visitors’ habits when they land on your website. Do they spend time browsing your content, looking at products etc.? Do they order from you regularly online or do they prefer to buy in-store?

Customer service

It’s widely thought that businesses are failing to do enough to provide good customer service, being too focused on processes and sales. UK customers are generally too polite to complain, preferring instead to simply take their business elsewhere next time. This action leads to gaps in the customer data and means that the unsatisfactory service continues unchecked, causing damage to the business in the long-term.

Businesses should make concerted efforts to seek after-sales feedback to establish where they can improve their customer service.