Make this Holiday Season the Season of Rewards

Loyalty increases sales around the holidays but how exactly can brands enhance their seasonal promotions?

It is that time of year again folks. The seasons are here! A time of giving back, spreading joy, and creating lasting family holiday memories.

Yes, the holidays signify a time for families to come together and exchange gifts with their loved ones, but it also signifies a time for marketers to promote in overdrive and deliver seasonal offers to loyal guests. For brands of all shapes and sizes, the holidays mark a time when consumers are more inclined to splurge, and businesses must adapt to the seasons by providing themed incentives and loyalty offers. 

According to the Adobe study on marketing to existing online customers, loyalty program customers spend 25% more per purchase during the holidays and other seasonal sales. First-time buyers with the brand, on the other hand, only spend between 4% to 17% more per purchase during the holidays. 

Loyalty platforms, like Punchh, have proven to be successful solutions when it comes to creating holiday campaigns that distributing the right holiday rewards to the right guests. During a time of rigorous consumer spending, brands need to ensure their customers are familiar with their products and services as well as the incentives they are offering them. 

Brands that utilize loyalty platforms, like Punchh, are given an edge around the holiday season because these solutions interact with the customer across all ordering channels to provide operators with comprehensive customer data. This data can be used to distribute seasonal offers and personalized experiences to make this holiday season one to remember. With loyalty programs, brands can truly understand what customers crave and are better equipped to fully satisfy consumers’ hankering for promotions. Developing festive campaigns may seem like a hassle, but these tricks will help brands spread joy around the holiday season. 

Start Early and Target Often

Holiday-themed music is not the only season greeting consumers receive well before the actual day of the holiday. When it comes to marketing seasonal loyalty offers, brands must promote these rewards days or even weeks in advance as consumers tend to start their holiday shopping early. 

According to a Statista report, 43% of consumers will do their holiday shopping before the end of October, 25% of consumers will do their holiday shopping before Thanksgiving, and 12% of consumers will do their holiday shopping in December. The earlier brands market their holiday promotions, the more likely consumers will see and take advantage of the offers. 

By using a loyalty platform like Punchh, brands can segment customers based on order history, visit history, location, age, etc. to ensure incentives are personalized and delivered to the right customer. It is crucial to review historical holiday trends to target which guests will come in during the holidays and what they are shopping for. By reviewing historical holiday trends provided by a loyalty platform, brands can segment customers to get ahead of known downtimes and slumps in traffic by providing loyalty to the right customer at the right time; the customer that will shop with your brand during the holiday season. 

To get started on holiday campaigning early some brands, like Casey’s, a leading c-store chain, have found success utilizing a daily schedule during the month of holiday to surprise and delight guests. Each day from December 1 -24, Casey’s revealed a surprise offer for its Rewards members in the Casey’s app. The “24 Days of Casey’s Rewards” included daily rewards such free drinks and snacks, BOGO deals, bonus points and other special items. Additionally, all guests who participated in the 24 Days of Casey’s Rewards campaign were entered to win a $500 cash prize that helped them celebrate the holidays their way. Offering this form of loyalty not only matches the theme of the holiday, but also ensures holiday promotions kick-off ahead of schedule. 

Provide Fun and Engaging Seasonal Events and Promotions

The best way to spread awareness for your holiday promotions is by making them fun and engaging for all types of guests. Brands can challenge their loyal customers to build their best snowman or gingerbread house and have them share their creations on social media with a specific hashtag. The winner of the challenge will of course receive a seasonal reward; however, the guest must be signed up for the loyalty program to qualify. 

Brands can also provide discounts to in-store customers who arrive dressed in their Halloween costumes or, depending on the season, ugly sweaters. Ensure your holiday promotions are fun and engaging to not only drive sales, but also strengthen brand awareness.

This is the time of year that brands must adapt and match the theme of the season as well as provide the right rewards to drive foot traffic and sales. Utilizing a loyalty platform, like Punchh, is the easiest way for brands to create and distribute memorable and engaging promotions as well as stay ahead of the holiday season rush.

Make this holiday season a season of spreading rewards with Punchh, the AI-powered loyalty platform. To learn more about Punchh, request a demo today.