Webinar: Importance of Loyalty in the Automotive Segment
Dramatic changes are ahead for the automotive aftermarket. These include changing customer expectations and accelerated adoption of new technologies. Customers are now more inclined and informed digitally hence brands need to take extra measures to retain their loyal customers. An optimized loyalty program can help brands to engage their customers at multiple touchpoints and provide them with a unique experience. Automotive loyalty programs aid in driving repeat purchases, increase retention, and customer lifetime value and, convert customers into brand ambassadors.
In this webinar, Dibyo Ghosh, Director of Sales at Zinrelo highlights important aspects of launching an automotive loyalty program and how it can deliver great results for a brand. This post includes the recording and presentation for the webinar.
Watch the webinar recording here:
See the webinar presentation:
Key highlights from the webinar:
Why consider a loyalty program?
1. Digitally influenced purchases
- A whopping 95% of vehicle owners use digital as a source of information.
- 25% of automotive searches are related to parts, service, and maintenance.
2. Data Science
- With stringent data security compliances, it is hard for businesses to learn about their customers. Loyalty programs enable businesses to collect zero & first-party data.
- With the data at hand, a loyalty program enables businesses to profile their customers.
- The habits of these customers are studied further to learn more about their buying & non-purchase behavior.
3. Omnichannel customer engagement
- It is imperative to engage customers continuously and not only during their purchases.
- Engagement across various channels improves top-of-the-mind recall and hence customer retention.
What are the components to create a world-class loyalty program?
1. Data analytics
- The first step to launch a loyalty program is structuring it for a specific set of objectives.
- A data-driven program design is essential to create the financial modeling, set metrics & benchmark KPIs.
2. Technology platform
- A technology platform is the core of any loyalty platform. It must have all the features & functionality to cater to specific use cases.
- The platform should be able to create an omni channel experience for the end user.
- It must be robust to offer unlimited customizability & scalability.
- Finally, the technology must be secure to protect customer data.
3. Strategy consultation
- The performance of any loyalty program must be analyzed continuously to get actionable insights. This helps in optimization of the program.
- Implementing the current best practices and proven strategies maximizes the ROI of the loyalty program.
What are the different ways of fostering brand loyalty?
A loyalty program should reward the customer to engage with the brand on multiple levels which fosters different types of loyalty. We have extensively covered the six types of loyalty.
- Transactional loyalty
- Social loyalty
- Engagement loyalty
- Behavioral loyalty
- Emotional loyalty
- Advocacy loyalty
What are the important features to make a loyalty program successful?
1. Data sciences approach
- Data sciences methodology creates a precisely optimized rewards program that boosts revenues and delivers meaningful ROI.
- With this approach, businesses can get a perfect fit program optimized to achieve their specific business objectives.
2. Auto-specific loyalty information
- Incentivize customers to share information and engage with the brand in exchange of rewards points. This could be sharing the type of vehicle they drive or their preference for certain services etc. This is a crucial aspect of collecting zero-party & first-party data.
3. Personalization
- Loyalty programs enable businesses to collect zero & first-party data.
- Unlimited member attributes help define customer segments based on customer preferences and improves the ROI of marketing campaigns. Zinrelo provides brands with unlimited flexibility.
4. Omni-channel engagement
- Simply selling products on multiple channels does not create an omnichannel experience.
- This experience must be seamless across all the channels and must not be restricted to just shopping but focus on holistic customer engagement.
5. Rewards and tiers
- Tiers add an element of gamification to your loyalty rewards program that influences customer behavior.
- It is also a great way to segregate and prioritize your loyal customers.
6. White glove service
- A good white glove service not only helps businesses with the day-to-day support, but it must also help these businesses make their loyalty programs successful.
Success stories of Automotive loyalty programs
The webinar covers case studies of automotive loyalty programs and the success these brands have seen with Zinrelo’s loyalty platform.
Excerpts from the Q & A section of the webinar
1. Do customers relate to points?
- Customers on an average are a part of 10-12 loyalty programs. They are more engaged with the brand with these loyalty points.
- The points can be named as miles, tokens etc. which would suit the brand.
2. Why is the program design important for a loyalty program?
- A program design identifies key elements of structuring an optimized rewards program.
- It identifies which activities will drive the maximum engagement and how many points should be awarded, what the pay-out rate should be, the tiers, the rewards etc.
3. How can personalization in a loyalty program drive more customer engagement?
- Loyalty programs help collect zero-party and first-party data which aids in personalization.
- Personalization is empowering businesses to transition away from the basic point systems to more bespoke perks, such as early access to products and one-of-a-kind events as per customer preferences. This improves customer’s emotional connect with a brand.
4. What is the time taken to launch a loyalty program with Zinrelo?
Typically, it takes around 4 – 6 weeks as this is a function of the tech stack, the timeline of the data shared, and how soon we can create the right user experience and program design. For larger companies with a complex tech stack, it can take between 8 – 10 weeks. If you are already using a loyalty platform, the transition to Zinrelo’s platform should take the same amount of time.
5. Can the app be done through the ‘My Garage App’ and can it be customized?
- Apps can be done through the ‘My Garage App’ or through the existing website via the dashboard.
- The name and other attributes can be customized as per the company needs.
Planning to launch an automotive loyalty program? Book a demo.
