Hyperlocal Marketing Series #5: Loyalty Programs

The way your customers earn rewards is changing. . .

We’ve all been stuck behind that customer in line at the grocery store. You know, the one rifling through her purse, then her coat, and finally her keychain to produce her rewards card. We all have them. We all go through the same stages of panic as we realize— often too late — that we will need to present them at the register in order to reap the rewards. Well, those days are over. Just as the way we swipe credit cards has changed, the way businesses offer rewards has changed, and mobile loyalty programs are the new king.


I will confess that I have turned down loyalty programs in the past because I didn’t want to do two things:
1) sign up at the register and 2) add a fun-sized credit card to my keychain. Now, thanks to the mobile phone, I don’t have to do either. All of my reward cards are in one place: on my mobile device. This newfound convenience goes both ways. Not only do customers benefit from ease of use, but businesses benefit from easier access to customers. The process of getting a physical reward card involves a lot of effort from both parties. But with mobile loyalty programs, offering exclusive deals to your customers has never been easier, just as it has never been easier for customers to redeem them.

By producing repeat customers, an easy-to-use loyalty program will help your business maintain its reach in a local market. Because of the rise of applications such FourSquare and Yelp, repeat customers can also become content creators for your business. Customers are rewarded for becoming repeat customers through your program, and you are rewarded with more exposure from their check-ins and reviews. Like most of the pieces of hyperlocal marketing, it’s a win-win. Customers and businesses alike reap the benefits. Hopefully you are starting to see how all of the pieces of a hyperlocal marketing interact with one another. Alone they are strong, but together, your business becomes a digital powerhouse. Your customers have constant access to your business. This includes industry news, exclusive deals, customer news, special events, and much more. Hyperlocal marketing is a surefire way to connect with local customers, retain their business and expand yours.

Read the rest of our Hyperlocal Series:
Hyperlocal Marketing Series #1: How to Connect With Your Best Customers
Hyperlocal Marketing Series #2: Local Directories
Hyperlocal Marketing Series #3: A Responsive Website
Hyperlocal Marketing Series #4: Social Media