40 ways you can reward your brand fans
Brand fans are the lifeblood of any business. They refer new customers, leave positive reviews online and even defend you from criticism. They also buy more frequently, stay longer and buy more expensive versions of your product.
The odd thing is, brand building is difficult, and we marketers often take them for granted, treating them the same as any other customer or prospect.
The best customer marketers know to treat this special group like a slice of fried gold. This isn’t done through one off or ad-hoc activities, but rather a planned strategy with timed and targeted activities.
Here are 40 ideas you can implement right now to reward your brand fans and make them love you even more.
As I mentioned above, if you approach these as one-offs they will be welcomed warmly, but real success will come from an on-going program that rewards and cultivates.
- Give them an exclusive price discount on new purchases
- … And/ or on their renewals
- Send a physical package of branded presents in the post e.g. a badge, stickers, USB memory stick…
- Ask them to beta test upcoming products and features
- Give them early access to a new product before anyone else
- Create a mini-conference just for them
- Run a series of invite only webinars
- Ask them for a quote for your website/ literature
- Turn them in to a case study
- Commission them to create something for you
- Set-up a club for them to join
- … or if you already have one, add a special invite only tier
- Ask them a questions directly via Twitter (they will love the personal touch)
- Gamify their experience and create a publically viewable leader board
- … and let them cash in those points for rewards
- Access to value-added content only they can get hold of
- Send a simple thank-you letter/ email
- An awesome competition with genuinely great prizes
- Share their work or ideas via social media
- Sponsor an event, club or charity they are involved with
- Give mod access on your forum
- Create a special badge for their account profile
- Send a Christmas card
- Interview them for your blog
- Invite them in and show them around your office
- Run a training day on how to use your products/ services
- Have a social event for a select group at a bar
- Run a round table discussion on what they’d like to see from you
- Use a tiered badge system for them to put on their website e.g. “Supplier”, “Partner” etc.
- Create a performance report and send it as a nice surprise
- Share some original research findings that gives them new insight
- Use them in an advert
- Set up a monthly/ annual award e.g. Website of the month
- Coupon codes to share with their friends and family
- Give them a service free others have pay for
- Prioritise their support tickets and phone calls
- Send a birthday card/ e-card
- Put a customer gallery on your website
- Include them in a press release along with a quote
- Create a series of discounts for 3rd party businesses the compliment your product/ services and/ or you know your brand fans will find useful
Not all of these are going to be suitable for every business, but if you pick out a handful and use them, your brand fans will love you for it, and you should see their numbers swell with new fans as well.
Honestly, Matthew, it often seems as if most entrepreneurs and small business owners are constantly in acquisition mode seeking to bring new customers in with the logic that customers who already buy your product don’t need as much attention. That might be a good strategy in very specific businesses where customers are only likely to buy your product or service once or infrequently, but in most businesses, existing customers are often the best source of future sales…and of great word of mouth which is the best marketing anyway. The list of huge brands that have grown by catering to their existing fan base is long including names like Apple, Starbucks, Amazon and more. Concentrating on your fans is usually the best way to both increase sales and spread the word about your business. Thanks for sharing this great post with the BizSugar community.
I recently received a $25 Amazon gift card and a nice card from one of my favourite services. Apparently I’m one of their 1% most active users.
Even better than material recognition, though, is actually listening and responding to bug reports and feature suggestions. That’s what wins me over for life.
Hi Ophelie,
I totally agree, seeing that a company makes positive changes based on your feedback is really rewarding, especially if the company acknowledges your input.
Matt
I’m surprised give them something free isn’t at the number one spot. That always works for me. I can’t tell you how many newsletters I’m on from all the free reports I’ve downloaded.
Hi Tim,
I haven’t intentionally ranked them in any order, more of a brain dump than a “top 40”. I agree, people love free things, especially when they are fun, useful or valuable (or all three!)
Matt