Facebook Loyalty Rewards Programs… How’d You Like to Have One In a Week?
Sunday, 25 May, 2011
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You may or may not know this, but frequent flier miles are the world’s second largest currency, only slightly behind the US dollar but just ahead of the euro. Astonishing? Sure. But, to achieve this kind of scale, you have to ask yourself, how is this even possible? Let’s look at why…
Free Stuff, Status, and Recognition…
Ok, sure, frequent flyer programs have been around for a long, long time. The first one was created by Texas International Airlines in 1979, which was taken over by American Airlines’ AAdvantage program in 1981. Length of time…that’s the easy reason for frequent flier miles being the world’s second largest currency. But, there’s a lot more as to why these programs are so popular (and why a loyalty program for your company is a must)…
Essentially, frequent flyer programs are loyalty rewards programs offered by airlines in recognition of their customers’ loyalty. These programs are used to build allegiance, increase sales of flights and travel packages, and provide incentives for future purchases. If you’ve ever participated in a frequent flyer program, you know, for the most part, that you are rewarded with the ability to cash in your accumulated miles for free flights or upgrades, or maybe even to purchase non-travel goods. However, there’s more, and many non-frequent flyers who participate in these kinds of programs are unaware of them. What are they missing? Membership levels – even more perks!
Membership levels and how to get them…
Yes, anyone who joins a frequent flyer program obtains status as a member. But, to obtain the higher levels, such as “elite” for example, customers must travel frequently and/or cover great distances. And, as a frequent flyer climbs the membership ladder, they open the door to a number of new perks. They gain access to an exclusive lounge, earn bonus points on qualifying flights, have priority check-ins and seating, are treated to their cold drinks and hot towels while the rest of the world is still being seated, and have the recognition from the airline of their status! For the frequent traveler, these are the ultimate perks!
What should you take away from all of this? Travelers love to be rewarded for their loyalty and always will. This is why frequent flyer miles are the world’s second largest economy…these customers want the perks for being loyal!
The New Loyalty World…
While frequent flyer programs, in today’s world, are considered traditional loyalty programs due to the length from which they have existed (since 1979), what must today’s travel companies do in “the new loyalty world?” Sure, many of your customers are capable of using services like Foursquare to compete for rankings as they visit various businesses and locations. But, what about Facebook (700+ million members) and Twitter (150+ million members)? These are HUGE untapped audiences ripe for picking! Any ideas here?
TravelMole Bamboo – Leveraging Facebook (and Twitter)…
Enter the TravelMole Bamboo Platform, which is essentially an application just like MafiaWars or Farmville – or any other application created for Facebook. Your customers/fans who add your branded Bamboo app (it has the look and feel of a mini website) to their personal Facebook profile gain access to content that is created and controlled by you. They earn and redeem points (your “new” loyalty program) for creating more awareness about your company, products, events, etc – all using what you’ve loaded into the platform. Think wall posts on the news feed, virtual gifts to friends’ walls, and invites that go directly into friends’ Facebook inboxes!
Essentially, your core customers become “Brand Ambassadors” and market to their friends on your behalf. For doing so, they are rewarded with badges (status), points, and membership levels (like a frequent flyer program), etc. Points are redeemable for any sorts of things you wish– discounts, promo codes, upgrades, non-travel goods, etc
1:240
The secret behind the TravelMole Bamboo platform is simply this: the platform touts a 1:240 communication channel! This means that for every Brand Ambassador using your branded Bamboo platform, you are now able to reach each of their 240 unique friends (240 is the number they have seen with their clients since December 2009)!
Imagine the following scenario: your company has 25,000 loyal customers. If a mere 10% of them join your Bamboo loyalty program, which gives you 2,500 Brand Ambassadors, multiply 2,500 by 240. This takes your original reach of 25,000 (current loyal customers) and grows it to 600,000! This is unheard of!
In essence, Bamboo allows you to reach untapped audiences to sell products and services to. It is the door opener to generating a new incremental revenue stream, all the while continuing to engage and drive sales from your existing fan base.
Some facts/figures…
Based on past 18 months Bamboo user metrics, if a company launched Bamboo today with almost no Facebook fans, but did have an email list of 100,000 past customers and/or newsletter subscribers , which they use to promote, their new Facebook application, via email, within a week of their first email promotion, they are likely to acquire 1,000 Brand Ambassadors in the system, who will share their Bamboo content with an average of 240 Facebook fans per Ambassador, turning the reach to 240,000 Facebook users. On average, each Ambassador shares Bamboo content 8 times each month with their 240 Facebook friends, thereby generating 1,920,000 page impressions with an average click through rate (CTR) of 1%.
And, within 6 months of using Bamboo as their “new” loyalty program, companies can reach 6 times above numbers, as they acquire additional Ambassadors each month, generating over 10 million page impressions and 100,000 clicks each month, at the cost of $5,000 or $0.05 per click.
In the real world, Bamboo user also promote their loyalty/reward program to their new customers and abandoned web site visitors.
For Marketers
For Marketers,Bamboo records and measures every impression, hit, visit, page view, click path, lead, and sale. Equally, it records who did it, when, where they came from, and measures the audience (friends and followers) and their interconnections. From all of the data collected, Bamboo allows marketers the ability to run an exhaustive statistical analysis and create reports: projected/actual reach, popularity and conversion rates of specific pieces of content, results of polls, etc. Some reports are similar to conventional web analytics, and some are specific to social media such as virality and popularity of the content, size of unique audience, etc.
TravelMole Bamboo Connects it all Together…
If you are serious about reaching deep into the Facebook network (700+ million) to connect with new audiences, the TravelMole Bamboo platform is the only platform within Facebook that truly allows you to do this, it’s the ultimate social loyalty program!
For further information please:
Email [email protected]
TravelMole Media Group
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