Turn up the heat!

Sometimes it feels like loyalty programs are designed more to build an audience than a community. The primary metric these programs monitor is the number of members enrolled, rather than the number of active members. It’s easy to collect a large number of email addresses (enrolments), but if you’re not doing anything with them, or if members are not acting on it (conversion rate), then your program is probably only good for writing PR articles. A prime example is Marriott, which is known for reaching the 200 million member threshold.

I’m one of the 200 million+ members… for a simple reason: during a business trip, I stayed at a Marriott property, to get free Wi-Fi in the room, you have to sign up for the program. Of course, I signed up… then unsubscribed from their mailing list. So far, I have never stayed at one of their properties again. The chance of deregistering from their program is nonexistent, as the gain is less than the effort it would take me. I have nothing against Marriott; I’m just not in their Ideal Customer Profile. When staying in a branded hotel, I usually choose Accor.

When focusing on active members, the goal of loyalty is to trigger that next purchase and unlock revenue that might not happen otherwise. In this case, the concept of community is valuable as it keeps the program top of mind. It also creates a flywheel, with the most active members driving each other. One simple trick often used is gamification. Competitiveness among members should not be underestimated. It’s easy to entice super-fans into leaderboards, giving them the opportunity to showcase their dedication and earn prestige within the community.

I experienced this firsthand this weekend when Blackbird released a “ranking functionality” on their seasonal membership. When I discovered I was ranked number 3 on the summer cocktail pass, I immediately went to the bar and ordered another cocktail, hoping to become number 2 (didn’t work I am still 3…). As mentioned, this is mainly true for the most active members and probably won’t work for the long tail. For the coffee membership, I am ranked 118. Since there’s no chance of reaching the top 3, I’m not going to massively increase my coffee consumption.