Thursday, April 17, 2014

A Plug-and-Play Customer Loyalty Program for Small Businesses

customer loyalty program

Punch cards for your repeat customers will soon be a thing of the past. But it’s difficult for small businesses to afford those plastic key cards that you might get from a place like a grocery store or gas station.


Huzzah Media says its new Huzzah Loyalty platform is one solution. In fact, the company is targeting businesses with fewer than 10 employees that are still looking for ways to keep their valued customers coming back.


Huzzah VP of Marketing Greg Garrick told Small Business Trends recently that a company survey found nearly half of all small business owners consider repeat customers key to their business’ success. However, less than 20 percent of them offer their customers a loyalty program. Cost in setting up such a program is a major obstacle. Huzzah says that some custom loyalty programs could cost a small business tens of thousands of dollars.


In a company press release, Huzzah’s VP of Product Development Lance Brown added:


“We know that for all businesses today, increased customer engagement is essential to keep customers coming back, and for smaller merchants, this rings especially true. Huzzah brings deep expertise in the small business market and we are committed to delivering a new set of services that enable them to compete with bigger brands and drive revenue.”



The Huzzah Loyalty program is fairly simple. Currently, the company is giving small businesses a chance to try it out for six months for a nominal fee: $1. After securing a credit card, Huzzah sends you an iPad to display at your business and a box of loyalty cards to give to your customers.


When customers visit your store after receiving a loyalty card, all they need to do is swipe it or a QR code on their smartphone in front of the iPad to earn points. These points can be accrued toward rewards that you select as the business owner.


In an interview with Small Business Trends, Brown said that his company works with small business owners to set up their unique loyalty program:


“Small business owners can talk to specialists to help them guide on which offers to offer. We walk them through the process. You answer questions, they set up everything.”



After about five months, Huzzah contacts small businesses that have been using the loyalty program to gauge their interest going forward. Following the trial period, monthly subscriptions to Huzzah’s platform range from $69 to $139. Businesses are required to enter into a one-year contract with Huzzah at that time.


In addition to the loyalty program, Huzzah has also announced several other services aimed at small businesses competing with bigger ones.


Huzzah will design a mobile app for your business, customized with your company’s logo and color scheme. The company’s website claims that you need no coding experience or design skills to get your app active. The company also places it on all the major app stores with a premium plan. Mobile apps designed through Huzzah range from $20 monthly up to $65.


Huzzah also has a mobile ad program designed to drive traffic to your mobile app, website, and eventually your business. The ads are localized so that mobile users in your area are more likely to see your ad. Monthly subscriptions in Huzzah’s mobile ad network get your business between 20,000 and 40,000 impressions for $100 and $200, respectively, the company says. Each level gets your business a banner ad and a mobile landing page when someone clicks on your ad.


Image: Huzzah


The post A Plug-and-Play Customer Loyalty Program for Small Businesses appeared first on Small Business Trends.




Source: Small Business Trends



A Plug-and-Play Customer Loyalty Program for Small Businesses

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