engaging shoppers can be as easy as buy, get and receive with a custom rewards program.
getting to the digital or physical cash register as a brand is hard these days. with so many channels, decisions, competing brands and roadblocks along the path to purchase, engaging and converting consumers keeps many brand marketers up at night. especially in the age of COVID and subsequent optimization of online shopping and digital media, standing out in the crowd matters more than ever. and, launching that award-winning campaign or activation takes time and deeper investment, something many marketers can’t wait around for.

a reward program is the perfect solution for supporting omnichannel marketing and sales goals in real time while bringing true value to your customers and retail partners.

but first, about reward programs...

reward programs can take the form of BOGO (buy one, get one) or larger customer loyalty programs based on repetitive brand engagement, like Chipotle’s rewards program (free guac!). A shopper simply engages in an activity and then gets rewarded.

loyalty programs have become popular these days, but they involve tons of investment and management (read: big timelines and bigger budgets). at bloomaze, we’ve found a sweet spot in the reward program landscape we developed, called incentivaze™, our one-off proprietary shopper marketing solution for quickly activating shoppers in-store or online.

incentivaze
with an incentivaze reward program, shoppers see an in-store display or digital ad, redeem a purchase receipt on a custom branded website and get a reward for their purchase behavior, hence the name. rewards can come in the form of a gift card or digital code or even a physical reward. programs are one-off and can be designed to launch around certain business goals or seasonal milestones. they can even be retailer specific. need to make a bigger splash at a retailer for a product rollout? want to help move inventory? getting pressured to get your amazing product in the hands of people who otherwise wouldn’t recognize it on the shelf next to the sea of other products?

incentivaze reward programs easily help connect brand to consumer by driving awareness and interest in-store and online and delivering an easy-to-use redemption experience, converting to brand loyalty. in turn, brands can easily support new product launches or marketing campaigns, activate new audiences and drive retail traffic both in-store and online.

even better, a lot of technical stuff goes on in the background of reward programs, such as receipt processing and validation, error messaging and customer support. oh, and the reward, of course! it’s stuff that we know clients frankly don’t have time for, especially if it means coordinating multiple vendors, so we’ve integrated it all into our software platform built on UX/UI best practices to create a seamless, user-friendly reward and brand experience.

incentivaze can handle everything a program may need, including in-store creative, digital media and legal requirements.

did we say easy?

over the years, we’ve seen incentivaze reward programs return sales lifts of 5% to 40% for brands. and we continue to improve on them with real data. since we’re a fully integrated shopper marketing agency, we’re also positioned to support a program with a full digital and in-store activation shopper experience. translation: better support = better results.

inspired about a custom rewards program for your brand? here are seven more reasons.

1. people like rewards

consumers not only enjoy getting rewarded, but they also expect to get rewarded for brand engagement. according to Forbes, 80% of millennials and nearly two-thirds of baby boomers have interest in getting rewards for engagement with brands (2019 data). and 59% of consumers indicated that the most important way a brand can interact with them is through surprise offers and gifts (Merkle 2020).

2. reward programs generate sales without devaluing or discounting the product

traditional product promotions and reward programs usually involve discounting a product or giving two for one, which works, until a consumer is conditioned to the price cut. a reward program gets to avoid that price dance while still adding value for the consumer.

3. incentivaze can help elevate a campaign and brand messaging

there’s only so much you can do on in-store displays and circular ads when it comes to creative and brand messaging. a dedicated landing page or microsite allows for more brand messaging and content opportunities, such as video content, games, recipes and more. you can even combine your custom reward program with the additional excitement of a sweepstakes that users can enter during their visit. plus, a digital platform provides an opportunity for more functionality, such as e-commerce, social sharing and other technology integrations.

4. reward programs drive traffic to retailers and increase percentage of basket

as the saying in shopper marketing goes, “happy retailer, happy life.” (J/K we made that up... sort of.) with a reward goal in mind, shoppers are more likely to visit a retailer’s brick-and-mortar stores or online sites. in cases where a digital reward or gift card is provided, like a retailer gift card, shoppers may even be incentivized to return to a retailer for more shopping. the incentivaze solution also offers a map feature so that a user can find a participating store near them, providing a direct link for retailer traffic. once at the point of purchase, consumers have also been shown to purchase more brand products than required by the offer, as high as 60%+ more.

5. they increase store feature and display

more traffic to a retailer results in more retailer interest in featuring and displaying brand promotions. programs can even be activated for specific retailers or scaled out across multiple chains to support retailer marketing efforts and relationships.

6. they can provide secure data collection

our incentivaze platform not only creates a seamless digital reward experience; it also offers secure reporting and drives engagement and consideration. the digital platform can seek consumer feedback through tools like online surveys. getting information from consumers is gold to brand marketers and inserting data collection at the right point of the funnel in the right way can satisfy larger business and marketing goals and solidify brand loyalty.

7. incentivaze provides a cohesive and easy redemption program

nothing can be more frustrating to a shopper than wanting to participate in a sales promotion only to be met with challenges along the way. utilizing a digital experience such as incentivaze allows a brand more control over the reward experience by using principles of UX/UI and gives us a way to cohesively brand the promotion along the way.