Digital rewards, such as allowing your app or website users to accrue points towards things like gift cards to Target and Starbucks, or even discounts on your own products and services. The options that companies can provide users are seemingly endless; and the fact remains that digital rewards are going to be one of the main disruptions of online marketing today.

Here are some of the reasons why:

It Provides Incentives

This is the obviously the biggest reason why companies would even consider digital rewards as an incentive for users when they are completing an action on a website, app, or other online platform (like social media).

Providing incentives for users is a big deal when it comes to online marketing and brand loyalty: Ifeelgoods reports that only about 25% of consumers have loyalty and when companies implemented some sort of digital rewards program, they experienced large gains not only in purchases, but in return customers.

It Encourages Engagement

Along with incentivizing the completing of a conversion on a digital platform, digital rewards also encourage continuous engagement that keeps users come back to earn more rewards or to further engage with the company and its products. Because users are getting incentives for doing something they wanted to do anyway, they are much more likely to be engaged than if they weren’t doing anything at all.

It Makes The Digital Physical

medium_6710876279Rewards like coupons or discounts on exclusive products can always be a good incentive to get customers to buy more, but letting customers receive actual gift cards or products for engagement not only increases the chances that they will buy more, it also turns a digital experience into a physical one. Getting an actual gift card that can be redeemed to buy physical products is something that users enjoy because it makes them feel like they are receiving value.

It Creates Lasting Experiences

Digital rewards also makes interaction with a brand or company fun, especially when it is a campaign that they are directly interested in. One good example of this was ModCloth’s “Be the Buyer” campaign (as mentioned by Inc), where its customers got to choose which clothes they bought to offer for sale on the website. While this wasn’t even an external digital reward, it allowed the customer to feel more involved in the company’s day-to-day responsibilities and offered more of an incentive for engagement.

Not Many People Are Doing It Yet

While yes, there are a great number of companies offering internal and external digital rewards, the fact remains that it’s definitely not a common business practice for many marketing departments. Several organizations are still attempting to have a fluid and engaging digital marketing campaign, so they haven’t even stepped up to thinking about offering their target audience incentives for engagement.

By offering digital rewards, you just may be ahead of your competition, which could be the deciding factor for many users when it comes time to make a purchase. For instance, if company A offers a product for $29.99 and company B offers the same product for the same price, plus a $5 iTunes gift card, the majority of consumers are going to go with B because it provides more value.

 

No matter what type of digital rewards work best for your company and in your industry, it’s time to consider how your target audience base could benefit from incentivizing digital engagement.


photo credit: William Hook via photopin cc

photo credit: 401(K) 2013 via photopin cc

Kelsey Jones

Kelsey Jones

Founder/Chief Marketing Consultant at Six Stories
Kelsey Jones helps clients around the world grow their social media, content, and search marketing presence. She enjoys writing and consuming all kinds of content, both in digital and tattered paperback form.
Kelsey Jones
Kelsey Jones