Offer your customers perks for visiting your website often
This article below from Ad Age tells about a mall that gives points to people for visiting it. Accrue enough points, and the person get perks, such as valet parking. We heave heard about giving points after making a purchase. The idea of offering them just for visiting seems novel, and worthy of considering for websites. I'd like to see some home goods companies offer a similar arrangement to the general public and retailers. For example, visit 20 times in one month, and earn free shipping on the next purchase.
How One Mall Got People to Buy Stuff, and How You Can, Too For Starters, You Can Make Your Guests Feel Wanted
by Jonathan Salem Baskin
Published: March 23, 2009 I visited a mall in Glendale, Calif., a few weeks ago and had a novel experience: I saw customers.
The mall was the Americana at Brand, and I was there because I believe the smartest, most cutting-edge solutions in marketing today come from asking a classic, old-fashioned question: How can we get people to buy stuff?
Jonathan Salem Baskin is the author of "Branding Only Works on Cattle" and blogs about marketing at Dim Bulb. The Americana's answer has been to redefine the very definition and purpose of a commercial development. It's not satisfied simply hosting retailers. It has elected instead to go downstream to talk to consumers (they're called "guests," to differentiate them from the mall's tenants, who are actual "customers"). That strategic decision guides its operations, staffing and tenant relationships and gives it the wherewithal to prompt and reward guest visits.
It's a heckuva lot more than marketing, but one of the fundamental pillars of its strategy is a guest-loyalty program. That's right: Shoppers accrue points and gain elite status levels for visiting the mall. More than 100,000 people have availed themselves of the opportunity. Why more developments haven't done something similar is beyond me (not to mention the municipalities that host vacation destinations, museums or any locations that need to incentivize repeat visits).