Did you know that there’s a “Get to Know Your Customers Day” on the third Thursday of every January, April, July, and October?
We appreciate the enthusiasm, but the truth is, you should be getting to know your customers better every single day, not just once a quarter. And that’s where smart offer management comes in.
What’s the difference between “offer management” and “smart offer management”?
Offer management is the process brands use to distribute physical and digital coupons and other rewards in the hopes of boosting both loyalty and revenue. Smart offer management combines those basics with advanced technical capabilities that:
- Prevent coupon fraud
- Collect deep real-time data at granular and global levels
- Derive greater actionable insights
- Provide immediate chances for campaign and segment optimization
- Suggest end-to-end customer journey communications
- Power instant win-back campaigns
- Help brands create an emotional connection with their customers.
Smart offer management data consists of customer-centric insights into things like customer preferences, habits, special dates, purchase history, and individual lapse duration — while traditional offer management data consists of business-centric insights into things like churn rate, busiest day of the week, and most popular products or add-ons. With a customer-centric approach, you have the power to create personalized rewards that show you’re thinking about the customer’s exact needs and wants, rather than just offering a free sandwich out of the blue. Working this way makes smart offer management a valuable branding tool that helps you actively acquire, retain, and engage with customers on a deeper level.
Additionally, truly smart offer management comes in one platform — a centralized hub that can be integrated with additional best-in-class technical solutions to create a completely customized, holistic ecosystem. Thanks to all of these connections, you can reach consumers on the channels they use most, collect valuable data that tells a story, and make smarter, faster, data-driven decisions. As a result, your tech stack becomes a business-wide tool instead of just something marketing uses.
Smart offer management goes far beyond marketing. With it, your strategies and tactics can map back to your biggest business objectives and play a role in a variety of different business functions and decisions.
One thing it can do is help drive growth for other brands underneath your corporate umbrella. For example, Bloomin’ Brands owns a number of restaurants you’ve undoubtedly heard of. In order to spread awareness and loyalty for the umbrella as a whole, Bloomin’ Brands created a web-based loyalty program that combines four of its restaurants — Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill, and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar. If you dine at any of these restaurants, in any combination, three times in a six-month period, you’ll receive 50% off on your next visit. That way, customers have a reason to be loyal to the entire brand.
Smart offer management also helps you stay ahead of the curve — including the curveballs you can’t see coming.
While COVID forced virtually every business on the planet to pivot, Chipotle started ahead of the pack. With a strong digital presence and nearly 20,000,000 loyalty club members, Chipotle was prepared for the sudden digital-first new normal. In the summer of 2020, 60% of Chipotle’s sales came through the app or other digital channels. In 2020 as a whole, each of Chipotle’s nearly 3,000 locations averaged $1.1M in digital sales. From March 2020 to March 2021, Chipotle’s stock price jumped 100%. Those are big results from smart solutions!
Long gone are the days where customers carry punch cards in their wallet. We’re in a world where customer loyalty, best-in-class technology, sky-high expectations, and intense competition all intersect. Smart devices are changing the way your customers approach daily life, so you need smart offer management to change the way you approach daily business.