Enrolling younger generations of guests into your rewards program can help your brand grow and maintain a strong core of loyal members for the foreseeable future. And these days, many brands believe that doing this requires their enrollment strategies to evolve so they keep up with the enrollment preferences of their increasingly younger guests. This is only partially true.
Your program should be a living and breathing entity. Adapting to match the engagement preferences of new customers will help your program attract new guests who are more comfortable using technology to connect with brands. Adaption is not a metamorphosis, but rather an expansion of enrollment methods to attract younger demographics.
Let’s say your program enrollment began exclusively as a card-based operation, and the only way members could enroll was by obtaining a plastic card in-store. You probably already know that attracting millennials to your program will help you build a sustainable base of loyal guests. So supplementing your card program by adding enrollment channels such as text-to-join or enabling enrollment via a mobile app or an online ordering system make sense.
After all, a large percentage of millennials like to engage with rewards programs through their mobile app. According to the loyalty analytics firm Aimia, 26 percent of millennials are excited to trade in physical rewards cards for mobile apps. But that means there are still a sizable portion of millennials who still prefer to use cards to engage with rewards programs.
This is why you should always consider your audience when selecting enrollment options for your program. Providing as many ways to join your program as possible lowers the barrier for entry and when you’re on the cutting edge of program enrollment technology, you are always in great position to enroll new guests. Remember, the more ways you have for guests to enroll, the more likely it is that they will join your program.
This topic was discussed in depth in a recent webinar called “New Ideas to Grow Program Enrollment.” Click the link to get more info, watch the webinar, and learn new ideas you can use to expand your rewards program enrollment toolbox.
