Getting closer to the affluent market

Who are the heaviest users of loyalty programs?

The affluent, according to Rick Ferguson, editorial director of COLLOQUY, a provider of loyalty marketing services based in the US.

Ferguson defines ‘affluent’ as households earning $125,000 or more per year in disposable income.

But marketers can't serve up the same loyalty program features to this customer segment as they do to other program members and expect to keep their business.

So what will the affluent segment value in a loyalty program?

1. Offer value and experiences that they can't get anywhere else.

Affluent people tend to be financially savvy and they crave value.

Let’s take the case of an affluent customer who enjoys golf and who buys some unrelated goods: a good offer may be "spend $200 with us during the next month, and we'll double your points and give you the opportunity to redeem those points for a three-day golfing holiday on the Gold Coast”.

Such an offer can work on many different levels. It's an opportunity the customer can't get anywhere else, and it will be a memorable one. Plus, they'll seek to repeat the behaviour that created that experience.

Of course, not every offer has to end with a golfing holiday. It can be something as simple as a discount to a local restaurant. That can be equally powerful. It's just got to create a memorable experience, and it's got to be the right experience.

2. Demonstrate your loyalty, rather than trying to gain theirs.

A loyalty program, no matter how well it's run, is not going to make a customer more loyal to a company. The purpose of the program is to demonstrate the company’s loyalty to a good customer. That's why extra value in the form of economic value can work so well.

3. Improve the emotional connection

Equally important is the emotional element. Your promotion must say to the customer, “We value you as a customer and as a person, so we’re offering you some special pricing or a special event that will make you feel more emotionally connected to the company”.

Usually, the combination of economic and emotional benefits is a very powerful and effective one.More than anything else, in the affluent sector, it's all about experiences. The idea is to use data to enable you to understand your customer and to enable you to make offers that are appealing.

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