Small business owners are notorious for having plenty of extra time on their hands, right? Wrong. With all that you have to manage on a day-to-day basis, it only makes sense to seek out ways to get the most return from the smallest effort.

We’ve previously discussed the pros and cons of using digital vs. paper loyalty programs, but let’s go even deeper. Here are six ways digital loyalty punch cards are easier to set up than paper punch cards.

6 Advantages of Setting Up a Digital Loyalty Program

When you start to consider adding a customer loyalty program to your business, it’s easy to let your mind wander to what it will be like after the program is up and running. You may have questions about how you’ll promote the loyalty program, how to know if it’s a success, or how you’ll improve it down the line. As important as those details are, you have to look at first things first. Setting up a customer loyalty program may seem like a daunting task, but it’s easier than you think.

You don’t need to choose a card design and copy

Selecting a design for your paper punch card and determining what you’ll say on it seems like a small task. While these are little details required for setting up a paper punch card, they’re just one more thing to add to your to-do list. With a digital loyalty program, you get to bypass any design decisions. The app’s interface and the system are already designed and easy to use. That means you don’t have to carry the burden of designing your own loyalty program and concept. Why reinvent the wheel?

There’s no need to wonder how many cards to order

If you decided to order paper punch cards for a new customer loyalty program today, would you know how many to order? If you don’t know, don’t feel bad. Estimating how many loyalty cards you’ll go through is tough. On the one hand, you don’t want to run out of cards and not be able to hand them out to interested customers. However, ordering stacks of cards that just collect dust is a waste of money. With a digital loyalty program, you get to skip playing the guessing game.

More digital reward options make it easier to test what works

One advantage of a digital loyalty program over a paper punch card is the variety of rewards you can set up for customers. While this is a benefit in the long run of the program, it’s also useful during the setup phase. Adding, adjusting, and monitoring the success of rewards is easy with a digital app. Whenever you want to test a new offer, you can add it to your list of available rewards at no extra cost.

Keep your loyalty program secure from the get go

Tracking the usage and effectiveness of paper punch cards is nearly impossible. This challenge doesn’t just apply to your customers, though. Unfortunately, it’s possible for employees to give away extra punch cards or steal stamps and points without you knowing. This leads to unknown losses and can hurt the success of your efforts in the long run. On the other hand, digital loyalty programs are secure from the moment you set them up. You can track all of the points given out and have clear records for all loyalty transactions.

Skip shipping time

The beauty of digital loyalty cards is that information travels fast. So instead of waiting for your paper punch cards to come in the mail, you can easily set up a digital program and launch it in the same day.

Still not sure that a digital loyalty program is for you? Learn more.

In the time it takes for paper punch cards to be delivered to you, you could have a digital loyalty program up and running and increasing customer engagement. Request a demo here to see for yourself how simple yet powerful a digital loyalty program can be.

Customer loyalty is critical to the longevity of your business. Consider that the probability of selling to a loyal customer is 60% or more, while you have a 5%-20% chance of selling your product or service to a potential customer.

Building and sustaining a loyal customer base is an ongoing process. Unfortunately, it's impossible to convert all of your current and incoming customers into brand loyalists overnight. However, there are steps you can take today to start earning more without having to bring in new customers constantly.

One of those ways is to take the first steps to set up a customer loyalty program. You’ve likely seen (and owned) loyalty punch cards, but now there are digital options. Let’s review.

Pros and Cons of Card Based Customer Loyalty Programs

Most likely, paper punch cards are what comes to mind when you think of loyalty programs. They’re the classic option, but will this old-school tactic help your business in this modern, digital era? Here are some ideas to consider.

Pro: Cards are familiar and easy to take
If you’re familiar with paper punch cards, then your customers are too. They’ve likely owned some in the past and are familiar with how they work. Plus, it’s easy to pick up a card from the stack by your register and pop it into a wallet. This low barrier of entry means you’ll have more people pick up the card.

Con: Paper cards are easy to lose or forget
The popularity and familiarity of card-based loyalty programs mean your customers could be swimming in them. Keeping track of cards and remembering to use them each time they return to your business is tricky. In fact, 43% of customers say physical cards are the biggest obstacle to redeeming rewards.

Con: Punch cards limit reward variety
Printed loyalty cards are meant to be compact and streamlined. Therefore they can’t have multiple options when it comes to how rewards are earned or redeemed. Customers need to buy the same type of item over and over again and only have one choice of reward for their loyalty.

Pros and Cons of Digital Customer Loyalty Program
Technology has the power to make the life of a business owner simpler. The right apps and programs can save time, money, and headaches; and digital loyalty programs are no exception.

Pro: Digital loyalty programs provide a variety of rewards
Apps can hold a lot more information in an organized way than paper cards can. Therefore, you can promote a variety of ways to earn points. Additionally, customers have more options about what rewards they want to redeem.

Pro: Customers won’t lose an app
Walk down any street or step into any waiting area and you’ll see how important mobile phones are. While people may forget to keep your punch card around when they switch wallets or purses, there’s no way they’re leaving the house without their phone. 71% of customers say they’re more likely to use a card if it’s on their phone.

Pro: Digital apps are the “green” options
On top of the fact that customers always have their cell phone with them, digital loyalty programs are an earth-friendly option. Having an easy to access app eliminates the need for printing paper or plastic loyalty cards. Digital is good for your business and the planet.

Con: Your app could get lost among a sea of other apps
As a person adds more apps to their phone, yours might get lost in the mix. However, push notifications can keep your business top of mind.

How to decide between a card or digital customer loyalty

Every business decision you make has a pro and con, but how do you weigh the options to make the decision that’s best for you? Once you decide that a loyalty program is right for your business, here are a few factors to consider to choose between paper and app.

What’s your budget?
Online printing companies make it easy to find deals for printing punch cards. However, you’ll need to keep in mind that a lot will go to waste when they get lost or forgotten. On the other hand, a digital app that stays in your customer’s pocket at all times costs $125 a month.

What type of reward do you want to offer?
If a free sub after purchasing 5 is all you want to offer then a paper punch card is a good, simple choice. However, we’re willing to bet there's more you could provide to make your loyalty program more enticing.

Do you have an existing referral program?
On top of offering customer loyalty rewards, Sparkage delivers an organized referral system. If you already have an effective referral program in place, then a paper punch card is an easy way to start building loyalty.

Ready to start earning more business with a digital customer loyalty program? Request a demo to learn about our features, setup, and how a customer loyalty program could work for your small business.

Technology is all around us, but sometimes it can feel like technology is only for the big dogs of business. After all, the tech landscape can change quickly, and there always seems to be a new capability or app on the horizon. However, local small businesses can benefit from using tech, too. In fact, mobile apps save small businesses 725 million work hours every year.

Let’s look at four ways tech can save you time, money, and frustration.

How Technology Makes the Life of a Small Business Owner Better

Technology in the form of software or apps is useful in nearly every area of your small business.

Get more done in less time
Running a small business involves a lot of smaller tasks, many of which are redundant or need to be completed often. Software that tracks time, types out voice memos, keeps projects organized, digitally files documents, or manages email more effectively can all save you time in the day-to-day.

On top of software and apps speeding up the work you need to do regularly, it can also keep you and your employees more accurate. By having uniform systems and processes, there will be no confusion about the right way to file a document or run the day-to-day.

Avoid money mistakes and headaches
82% of businesses that failed did so because of cash flow problems. That’s a scary number, and a statistic you don’t want to be a part of. While implementing a new financial system can seem overwhelming at first, it can save you headaches in the long run.

Finance software helps small businesses keep track of budgets, run financial projections to make sure you don’t get into a sticky financial situation, stay organized, and easily file taxes.

Electronic records and budgets are also accessible from anywhere, and can’t be damaged in the unfortunate case of fire or break-ins.

Improve customer relations
Your customers can make or break your business, and while there’s no substitute for thoughtful face-to-face interactions, technology can strengthen your relationship with customers.

By collecting feedback online or setting up a digital loyalty program, you can use technology to make it simpler to deliver personalized and memorable service at scale. Setting up a digital referral program can even reduce your overall marketing costs in the long run, as happy customers have a way to bring new business to you easily.

Grow your business
If you’ve felt reluctant to change the way you’ve always done business and implement new tech into your operations, you’re not alone. Hawaiian Rolls was reluctant to change how their company had historically been run but experienced 27% year over year growth once they deployed the right software to make running their business more straightforward.

Tech helps grow your business because it makes every area of your business run more efficiently. When you implement the right software, you’ll be able to do more in less time, stay organized to spot any areas of opportunity or concern, and better serve and engage your customers.

All of the benefits of tech sound great in theory, but if they’re true then why aren’t more small businesses taking advantage of the apps and software created specifically for their needs? A little over half of small businesses want to use tech in their business, but don’t because they think it will be too expensive.

While that may be the case with some applications, software for your small business is probably more affordable than you think.

In fact, you can start engaging customers, earning more business, and expanding your customer base for just $125/month. Curious how that’s possible? Request a demo to learn about our features, setup, and how a customer loyalty program could benefit your small business.

Customer loyalty programs certainly aren’t a new concept, with the first punch cards popping up in the 1980’s. However, they are on the rise. In fact, U.S. consumers hold 3.8 billion memberships in customer loyalty programs. Additionally, nearly 60% of companies listed upgrading their customer loyalty software as a top priority in a recent survey.

Customer loyalty programs, and digital ones at that, are growing in popularity. But should your business hop on board and establish a customer loyalty program? Below are a few considerations when deciding whether or not a digital customer loyalty program is right for you.

Signs a Customer Loyalty Program Could Boost Your Business

There likely isn’t a single business on this planet that wouldn’t benefit from more loyal customers, but there are a few factors that make your business more (or less) likely to benefit from a digital customer loyalty program in the short run.

You sell goods or services that aren’t big-ticket items

Customer loyalty programs work best for items or services that are purchased more than a few times a year. For example, while a realtor wants to have clients that come back again and again and refer their services, it’s unlikely a realtor would work with the same client more than once or twice a year.

On the other hand, businesses such as cafes, cleaning services, convenience shops, coffee shops, boutiques, and more are great candidates for digital customer loyalty programs. That’s because a customer at one of these businesses realistically could visit and make a purchase once a month or more.

You’re spending a lot of time, money, and effort acquiring new customers

Bringing in new customers can be hard (and expensive) work. In fact, on average, acquiring a new customer is five times as expensive as retaining an existing one. While you’ll never be able to completely eliminate the task of bringing in new customers, if you feel it’s taking up too much time you’ll want to consider a loyalty program. By setting up a process to keep current customers more engaged you’ll have less of a need to find new customers in order to sustain and grow your business.

You want to increase revenue

This seems like an obvious one - what business owner doesn’t want to increase revenue? When it comes to raising the bottom line there are three main ways to make it a reality: get more customers, make what you sell more expensive, or get existing customers to spend more.

While slapping a higher price tag on your goods or services may seem like the most straightforward way, you might be met with resistance. Loyalty program members spend up to 20% more than non-loyal customers, so turning your attention to building up your customer loyalty program can be lucrative.

You want to understand what your customers react to, and who your top customers are

One advantage of mobile customer loyalty programs over traditional punchcards is data. With a mobile loyalty app, you’ll be able to track top customers and the number of new loyalty program sign-ups.

Data-driven loyalty apps also keep track of what reward offers are being used, and how long it’s been since a particular customer has visited. While the term “data-driven” can sound intimidating, it doesn’t have to be. Simple-to-use apps and automatic reminders mean your business can do more to engage with customers with less work on your end.

You want a way to communicate directly with customers

Mobile customer loyalty programs with push notifications and text messaging offer another way to communicate with customers. On top of your social media channels or face-to-face interactions in store, mobile loyalty programs give you a chance to tell customers about sales, events, or new products. Plus, text messages about events and promotions sent to customers have a 98% average open rate.

How to Choose a Customer Loyalty Program

Different customer loyalty programs, whether they’re a punch card or a mobile app, have their own pros and cons. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide what’s important for your business and what will be most enticing for your customers. After all, a customer loyalty program that your customers won’t touch isn’t worth your time.

Some factors you may consider when choosing a program include:

• How long does it take to set up?
• How easy is it to maintain?
• How will you promote the program and rewards?

Sparkage offers a simple way to get a customer loyalty program up and running quickly. Plus, your customers will never forget it at home, since their customer loyalty profile and rewards can always be accessed from their smartphone. Want to see Sparkage in action? Request a demo to learn about our features, setup, and how a customer loyalty program could benefit your small business.

When done right, a customer loyalty program can turn new visitors into loyal and habitual visitors. However, decisions made when setting up the program will affect whether or not customers use and enjoy the program.

A customer loyalty program will only be successful if:

• The program is simple to use and easy to remember
• The rewards you offer are items customers actually want

The first way to ensure customers use your loyalty program and turn visiting your business into a habit is to make sure that it’s as simple as possible to use. At Sparkage, we’re confident that the best way to do this is by making your loyalty program mobile.

You’ve likely seen (or had) a loyalty “punch card” that promised a free sub sandwich after you purchase five. This method seems simple enough, but punchards have their downside and there’s a better way to do it. Take a moment to think about the contents of your wallet. Could you name every credit card, gift card, business card, and random piece of paper in your wallet right now? Chances are you can’t, which means neither can your customers. A punch card is likely to be lost and forgotten or left behind in an old wallet, while mobile rewards are with customers no matter where they go.

Mobile loyalty programs that use a point system to track a person’s progress toward rewards are the foundation of a great customer loyalty program. Below we’ll cover how to choose rewards in a few easy steps that encourage engagement.

How to Choose Rewards for Your Customer Loyalty Program

It’s important to remember that rewards need to be set up in a way that motivates a long-term relationship between the customer and your business. To do that, establish your rewards in a way that promotes customer engagement both now and later.

Determine point values

In a mobile customer loyalty program, customers earn points by buying from a business and in turn redeem those points for rewards. When it comes to a points system you should aim to keep it simple. This means that complex mental math shouldn’t be required for customers (or your employees) to figure out point value.

A simple way to set up your point system is to use a 1:1 ratio for dollars spent to points earned—one dollar spent equals one point earned. When determining the number of points required to redeem a reward, stick to around a 1:10 ratio between dollar value to point value. Here’s basic example:

• A customer that spends $5 would earn 5 points for their purchase
• A reward that would normally sell for $10 can be redeemed for 100 points

Start with an instant reward

There’s nothing like a little instant gratification. Offering a “low hanging” reward for signing up to the loyalty program or completing a small purchase gives customers a quick win. When customers feel what it’s like to win, and that it’s possible with your program, they’ll be motivated to keep working towards more substantial rewards.

An example of an instant reward for a cafe would be a pastry. When a customer earns 20 points through the mobile customer loyalty program, they’ll be rewarded with a free treat from the display case. The investment from the cafe is small, but it’s enough to set the stage for an engaging relationship with the customer.

Encourage consistency

After the initial reward, you want to incentivize customers to come back frequently. To do so, you can set up a mid-range reward. In the case of the cafe, a free soup and sandwich combo meal can be rewarded at 100 points.

Prizes can also be offered on a recurring basis. For example, Panera Bread occasionally offers rewards members a free bagel every day in a given month. While that may feel like a lot of free product to give away, Panera is working under the assumptions that customers won’t come in every single day and, if they do, they’ll likely want a coffee or another side item to go along with their bagel. To do this on a smaller scale, offer one free small product a week over the course of a month to rewards members. The possibility of a freebie will lure them in, and chances are they’ll be tempted to spend a little extra while they’re there.

Set a big goal to reach for

Your loyalty program should also include a bigger ticket item or a larger prize that is enticing enough that customers will want to work for it. Using the cafe as an example, a customer could win a catered lunch for their office when they reach 500 points.

Reaching the big goal may take time for the customers to achieve. Therefore, you'll want to be sure there’s an opportunity for intermediate rewards or a progress bar to keep them motivated.

Simple Ways to Keep Loyalty Rewards Exciting

Once you’ve set up a mobile customer loyalty program and added enticing rewards, there are different ways to keep customers engaged. Here are a few quick methods to keep rewards exciting and top of mind.

Show off prize winners

If a loyal customer reached the top prize level, why not show it off to your customers? With the customer's permission, post about the massive prize winner on your social media channels or within your store to encourage customers to keep working towards the goal. After all, would you want to work towards a goal that seemed impossible or rarely achieved?

Promote a little competition

A little friendly competition between customers can keep loyalty programs exciting and increase customer engagement. In fact, one business using Sparkage was able to increase points earned (read: money spent in their store) by 430% among their top three customers over the course of a month-long competition. Sound too good to be true? Read the case study here.

At the end of the day, customer loyalty programs and the rewards associated with them can be as simple or complex as you’d like. As long as you start with the basics, the sky's the limit.

Want to set up simple rewards that have a big impact on your bottom line? Request a demo to see how Sparkage can make your customer engagement efforts simple yet addicting.

It sounds like a dream to have customers competing to be the most loyal and telling everyone they know about your business, but for Off Broadway Deli, it was reality.

You know the old way to increase customer engagement for your small, local business. The way that involves printing out rewards punch cards and handing them out to customers. While they’re better than nothing, your business (and customers) deserve better.

Paper loyalty cards don’t just fail because they’re easy to forget about or lose, though that’s true. They aren’t effective because they aren’t fun. There’s usually no time limit, and they’re just passively used if you happen to go into that store or restaurant.

When Off Broadway Deli teamed up with Sparkage, their customer engagement changed for the better.

Digital customer loyalty programs give customers more options

While traditional customer loyalty reward programs are usually limited to a single reward, such as buy five subs and get the 6th free, mobile programs like Sparkage let you add as many rewards as you want. After all, it’s your business.

For example, by spending and earning points, customers can “cash in” on any number of rewards from free items to entire meals. Not only are you in charge of establishing rewards and their point values, but you also determine what it takes for customers to earn those points.

In the case of Off Broadway Deli, for example, buying a sandwich earns you six points while adding on a bowl of soup to your order will get you three points closer to a reward.

By providing more options you’re already upping the ante, but we decided to partner with Off Broadway Deli to kick it up even more.

A little friendly contest gets customers “very competitive and excited” to shop with you

When using Sparkage, as customers rack up points by shopping with you they get placed on a leaderboard of top customers. This built-in competition adds an element of fun to your customer engagement strategy, but Off Broadway saw terrific results with a month-long contest sponsored by Sparkage.

The challenge? Become the number one customer on the leaderboard at the end of one month, and win the grand prize. There were also prizes for second and third place. The more someone visited the deli, the more points they earned. It became a race to the top, and seeing someone surpass you on the leaderboard became motivation enough to run back to Off Broadway for a sandwich.

The owner of Off Broadway noted that customers became “very competitive and excited,” and soon they started bringing in their friends. When friends at the office wanted to go out for lunch, a customer vying for the top spot naturally suggested Off Broadway. After all, you wouldn’t want to lose your advantage after all this time.

The customers who came in first, second, and third had an average increase in monthly points earned of over 430%. That means that customers were visiting, spending, and earning points at quadruple the levels they would have in other months.

The chart below shows the points earned per visit by the top three customers over a few months. The shaded area represents the month that the contest ran, which led to huge spikes in the number of points customers were earning. While customer engagement and spending did return to more normal levels after the contest wrapped up, you can see that the first and second place customers were spending a bit more after the contest than they would have been before. It’s easy to understand why engagement would spike during a contest, but the chart goes to show that the impact carries on after the promotion.

What’s potentially even more amazing were the prizes given out to the lucky winners. The fantastic rise in customer engagement was spurred on by a $30 grand prize, followed by $20 and $10 for the runners-up. The prizes were small, but the impact was enormous.

For only $60 in prizes, Off Broadway was able to keep customers coming back, buying more, and telling their friends. The Sparkage app also allows you to filter leaderboards by week, month, or year. Even without contests or prizes, leaderboard status can be promoted and competition encouraged by sharing the customer of the month on your social media channels. Or, you can run a year-long contest for a truly grand prize.

No matter the rewards, a little friendly competition proves to be the perfect way to increase customer engagement for your business.

Want to get your customers excited enough about your business that they’re telling all their friends about it? Request a demo to see how Sparkage can make your customer engagement efforts simple yet addicting.

When it comes to business only the strongest survive. There are lots of moving parts in the machine and if one part breaks down it jeopardizes the entire operation. That’s why 80% of businesses fail. But you don’t have to be one of them. The key to ensuring your business succeeds is simple: reduce costs and increase revenue. It’s simple but definitely not easy.

But what if it could be easier? It can be. Keep reading to find out how.

Your marketing program is the engine that runs the machine. Reduce the cost and increase the effectiveness of your marketing and the entire machine will run better. One of the fastest and most effective ways to do this is to multiply your sales by leveraging the power of customer referrals. A customer referral program is the secret weapon that far too many businesses fail to take full advantage of. Below I will explain just how powerful customer referrals can be when systematized and leveraged through a referral program.

A Customer Referral Program Will Reduce Your Marketing Expenses

If you’ve been in business for any length of time you know getting new customers is expensive. Think about it, how much does it cost you to acquire each new customer? Now multiply that by how many new customers you want to get next month to hit your target. How much better would next month be if you could acquire a portion of those new customers for the price of a cup of coffee?

With a customer referral program, you can. A customer gained through a referral only costs as much as the ‘prize’ you use to incentivize referrals. Allow me to illustrate. Let’s say you set up a customer referral for your coffee shop. With a good customer referral program, you can tailor the program to meet your exact needs but, in this scenario, let’s say you offer 1 free cup of coffee as an incentive to both the giver and the receiver of the referral. Now imagine that 50 of your most loyal customers referred 2 new customers each to your business. That’s 100 new customers for the price of 150 cups of coffee. To make this easier to conceptualize let’s price a cup of coffee at $3.00. That’s $450.00 for 100 new customers who have the potential to bring you increased revenue over an indefinite period of time. I want you to think about your current cost per new customer again. Multiply that by 100. Is it more than $450.00?

How much more? In this scenario, that would be your savings for the month. And that is the power of a good customer referral program.

Customer referral programs have proven to be more effective than other marketing strategies

There are multiple reasons a referral has more impact on a consumer’s buying decisions than other marketing mediums. The key reason is the trust factor. Consumers are bombarded by ads on television, the radio, online and in magazines. Due to increased exposure to advertisements customers are more sophisticated and more skeptical than ever. But studies have shown that 92% of people trust recommendations from people they know. This is why a customer is statistically more likely to buy from you if a friend refers them to your business. An article in the Journal of Marketing stated that the effect of referral-based marketing is 20 times that of event marketing and 30 times that of media appearances. Talk about turbo charging your marketing efforts!

A good referral program won’t only give your marketing plan more power but also more precision. Referral based marketing is more targeted than most other forms of marketing. You would probably only refer a friend to a dive shop if you knew they were into scuba diving and in the market for new equipment. With a referral program, you reach customers who have an immediate and specific need for what you offer. How powerful is that?

Your customer referral program can go viral

Customer referrals lead to more customers and more customers lead to more referrals. Let’s take a look at how quickly a good customer referral program can multiply your sales. Let’s say you have 200 regular customers and 25% of them refer 2 customers each.

Don’t worry I won’t force you to do mental math! That would be 50 of your most loyal customers referred 2 new customers each. Now you have acquired 100 new customers for free through your referral program and you still have your 200 original customers who are now more loyal than ever. When customers refer your business to their friends it reminds them why they love your business and over time they become even stronger ambassadors for your brand.

But let’s get back to the scenario. After you acquired your 100 free new customers you now have 300 customers total. If 25% of those customers (that’s 75 customers) refer 2 new customers that’s 150 new free customers from this round of referrals. Add that to your customer base of 300 and now you have 450 customers.

Now what would happen if 25% of those customers referred 2 new customers each? It would break down to 112 customers referring 224 free new customers total. Now you have multiplied your customer list to 674 people and it all started with just 50 people telling a couple of friends about your business!

Household names like Dropbox and Uber became the companies they are today because of their referral program going viral.
Your customer base can continue to grow like a snowball rolling down a hill as long as you have a good referral program in place.

So now you have an advantage that many business owners don’t have. You know how you can reduce costs and increase revenue by leveraging the power of customer referrals. But knowledge without action will get you nowhere.

Want to see the power of technology being leveraged to create and automate referral programs? Just request a live demo of the Sparkage platform today!

Considering it’s up to 25 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to retain a current one, boosting customer loyalty even a little bit can have a big impact on your business’ success.

The term “customer loyalty” can feel broad and overwhelming, though. What do you need to do to achieve customer loyalty, and how will you know once it’s established? Let’s explore.

4 Ways to Build Customer Loyalty

You’ve likely heard of the 80/20 rule, in which 80% of the outcome comes from only 20% of the causes. In simpler terms, the bulk of your business’ revenue will come from a small group of dedicated customers.

Unfortunately, you can't create the kind of loyalty that keeps customers coming back often for years overnight. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t start building customer loyalty and strengthening your business today.

Below are four simple strategies to build customer loyalty for your small business, as well as small action steps you can take right away.

Make a good first impression

A new customer’s first impression of your business has a lasting impact, so it’s important to consider the first encounter as part of the loyalty building journey.

What to do today: The most common reasons customers take their business elsewhere is unfriendly service or an employee’s lack of knowledge. A simple 5-minute discussion with employees about the latest specials, items, or company news will make them feel more confident and comfortable chatting with new customers.

Consistency is key

Relationships take time and effort to build. Nonetheless, you’ll be rewarded for the effort you put into nurturing the relationship because the amount a customer spends grows alongside trust.

What to do today: You can start a habit of consistently helping customers today by making a list of news, updates, and interesting information that you can share regularly. For example, you could let customers know about an upcoming addition to your business through a short and helpful text message.

Personalize the customer’s experience

Customers are more likely to become lifelong fans of your small business if they feel that special attention is paid to their individual needs. In fact, 80% of customers are more likely to do business with a company that provides personalized experiences.

What to do today: Make a plan to collect customer birthdays so that you can send personalized birthday offers on their special day.

Reward loyalty

Last but not least, it’s important to reward loyal customers. You’ve put in love and hard work into your business and your customers, and in return, they’ve continued to visit. Now you have the opportunity to maintain that loyalty through a loyalty rewards program.

What to do today: Try Sparkage and set up a digital rewards program your customers will love that will only take you a few clicks to get up and running.

Customer loyalty has always been, and always will be, important for local small businesses. The only difference now is that Sparkage makes customer loyalty programs easy to use for both businesses and their customers. Need to see it to believe it? Request a demo to see the power and simplicity of Sparkage for your small business.

Our merchant API is something we're really exited about. It opens up the doors to online businesses, third-party integrations, and customized functionality. It's a pretty big deal!

What exactly is an API?

You may have heard this buzzword being thrown around, and while it might sound confusing, APIs are actually quite simple.

In basic terms, an API is just a way for one application to talk to another. It exposes some of an application's functionality to the outside world so that other applications can utilize it in their own unique ways.

For online businesses (e-commerce)

Businesses that sell products or services online can now take advantage of Sparkage's powerful customer loyalty and retention platform.

By plugging into our API, you can seamlessly integrate Sparkage with your checkout process. Show your customers any rewards and offers they have available, add points to their account when they make a purchase, and anything else you would normally do via your web dashboard.

Customized functionality

Developers can create custom applications that use the platform in ways that are unique to a business. Want to give customers a special offer when they buy a certain product? Easy peasy. Give them double points on Fridays? Go for it. The possibilities are endless.

Third-party integrations (coming soon!)

Our own developers will be creating integrations for popular services like Shopify, Square, Wordpress, and more. If you use any of these services, integrating with Sparkage will be as easy as clicking a few buttons.

How to get started

If you want to start using the API, check out the documentation. If you have any questions, send them to support@getsparkage.com.

Thanks for reading!

We're excited to announce that as of today, Sparkage customers can earn $25 for each business that subscribes to Sparkage as a result of their referral!

Of course, your customers can already refer others to your business from within the Sparkage Mobile App.

Stay tuned for more. Until next time.