If you run a pizzeria, just how much should you focus on your customer loyalty program? Well, consider this – customer loyalty is directly related to customer retention. And customer retention can save your business money. After all, acquiring a new client is 5 times more expensive than just retaining one.

Also, big brands have already implemented rewards programs. Pizza Hut, for instance, has significantly enhanced customer engagement through its program. Domino’s even went as far as giving out company stock to high-loyalty customers.

Keeping all that in mind, it’s quite clear you – as a pizzeria owner – should do your best to improve customer loyalty for your brand.

And in case you think you might need a helping hand, here are 6 useful pointers and marketing ideas to help you take your pizzeria’s customer loyalty program to the next level:

1. Personalize High-Tier Rewards

In today’s highly individualistic society, consumers are no longer content with just receiving regular rewards. Sure, they might be okay with that at the beginning if a rewards program, but – as they progress – they’ll normally expect you to step up your game.

That’s why it’s important to make sure you reward your most loyal customers the right way, so that they really feel as if they’ve achieved a VIP status through your customer loyalty program.

How can you do that? For one, you could offer them a quality plaque with their name, take a picture of them, frame it, and hang it inside your pizzeria, or access to unique events (such as a beer tasting night, which would naturally work well alongside pizza).

Or, why not, you could even offer your most loyal clients a free pizza box warmer (that could come in handy if they want to eat the pizza they order later).

Another idea would be to offer high-ranking loyalty program members exclusive info about upcoming additions to your menu, or early access to seasonal toppings and pizzas. You can do that through email or text messages, and the great thing about this is that it will make the client in question feel as if he/she is an “insider.”

2. Focus Your Rewards Program on Profitable Behavior

It’s obvious your customer loyalty program’s main goal is to make your business more money. However, a lot of people in your situation don’t focus enough on how they should do it. We’re talking about encouraging your clients to adopt a profitable behavior when they visit your pizzeria.

Now, we do realize that each pizza business is different in its own way. Still, here are a few things you could try out:

• Offer points/discounts for catering orders. It’s likely that some of your clients might order pizza for various group events (birthdays, office parties, anniversaries). Letting said customers know they can get a discount on their large order by joining your loyalty program could turn them into repeat buyers.
• Offer bonus points for add-ons or toppings. We’re referring to rewarding clients who add items like soda, breadsticks, or more toppings to their orders. Another way of doing this would be to include many of those extras and toppings as redeemable rewards.
• Take advantage of recurring events. Many pizzerias like to host events like poker nights, movie nights, or children’s parties at least once a month. If you do that, you could link your customer loyalty program to such events by letting customer earn double points for their purchases or bonus points for signing up (or getting their friends to sign up), for example.
• Capitalize on sports-watching sales. Let your customers know they can earn bonus points or win unique rewards if they order from you on the day of a notable sporting event (it can also be a lesser-known event too if you want).

3. Take Advantage of Social Media

81% of people in the US own a social media profile. It’s extremely likely that most of your customers are active on at least one social media platform.

Which is why you should add a social media aspect to your customer loyalty program – and we’re not just talking about promoting it on your pizzeria’s social media page(s).

You should also reward program members who engage with your brand on social media with loyalty points. The engagement part can include liking and sharing your posts on Facebook, reviewing your business on Facebook, taking a photo at your pizzeria and posting it online, or posting how much they enjoyed your pizza on Twitter.

Still, don’t forget about non-program members. Offer them a chance to join your program and earn extra points or redeem a reward if they interact with your social media pages.

4. Make Sure Your Pizza Loyalty Cards Adequately Represent Your Brand

Too many pizzeria owners believe that it’s enough to just use a basic-looking loyalty stamp card. After all, it doesn’t need to accomplish a lot of goals, right?

Well, it might seem like that, but the truth is that it’s better to take your time when designing pizza loyalty cards for your business.

For example, you should always make sure that the look of the card properly represents your brand. The colors, logo, and theme need to go hand in hand with your business’ image. The moment someone looks at their card – no longer how much time has passed – they have to be instantly reminded of your pizza business.

Here are other things you need to keep in mind:

• The card must have an accurate, straightforward display of loyalty program tiers
• Make it easy for the customer to understand exactly how many points they need to unlock a certain reward or tier.
• Add the contact info, address, and store hours on the card.

Most importantly, don’t forget to give your clients the chance to personalize their loyalty cards. Letting them choose from different layout options, and giving them the chance to add a personal quote on the cards will make them much more engaging. You can also place the customer’s photo on the card if you (and they) want to.

Lastly, remember to outfit your loyalty cards with keychain holes. True, customers could just carry them in their wallets, but many find it more convenient to have them on their keychain.

5. Make Your Program as Attractive as Possible

When your customers hear or learn about your loyalty program, they need to be amazed – they need to want to join it on the spot (or at least the next time they visit your pizza restaurant or place an order).

One common way of making your program very appealing is to heavily focus on the rewards when you market it. That, and emphasize that clients will be able to save money, enjoy unique treats (like free pizza on their birthday), and reach a VIP status within your program in the long run.

Also, another very efficient – but, sadly, often overlooked – method is to highlight the fact that your customers will get to enjoy a sense of belonging to a select community as well. If you plan on offering referral options, bring that up too since it’s likely going to resonate well with your customers.

6. Make Your Customer Loyalty Program 100% Client-Friendly

The sign-up process needs to be as straightforward and hassle-free as possible. We recommend letting people join by giving out their email address or phone number. Also, always have your staff tell customers about your loyalty program during the checkout process. Remember they should keep it short, though – just have them focus on the main benefits.

Another thing you should try is having in-store brochures that promote your program. Also, mention your rewards program in your menu and on your door hangers.

Actually, you should also consider having a loyalty program app associated with your rewards program in this case – especially if you want to achieve a similar level of success like Pizza Hut. It’d be easier to convince your customers to sign up, and they’d be able to get the hang of everything without much effort.

Think about it – around 71% of consumers say that they’d be much more likely to engage with their loyalty cards if they could access them (and the associated rewards) through a mobile app. On top of that, approximately 57% of consumers say they’d rather interact with a customer loyalty program through a mobile device.

Of course, we’re not saying you shouldn’t bother with pizza loyalty cards for your business anymore. Some customers might still prefer to have them. It’s just that they might want to keep them as an ornament rather than something they’ll actually use very often.

After all, isn’t a loyalty program app much more convenient than a standard stamp card? It doesn’t take up any space, and your customers won’t have to worry about losing access to their rewards if they happen to lose the physical card (which, let’s face it, does happen quite often).

Other than that, you just need to ensure that your loyalty app is user-friendly, easy to understand, and present on both the iOS and Android app stores.

Looking to Get Started with a Loyalty Program App?

In case everything we’ve said above has got you interested in running a loyalty program alongside a mobile app version, you’ll be happy to know that we can also offer you a helping hand in this case.

True, you can try to develop the app in-house, but that means you’ll have to dedicate plenty of financial resources and manpower to this task – something that’s not usually recommended when running a pizza business.

Yes, you could also try delegating this task to a development agency or a freelancer, but the problem with that is that it’s not very time-efficient. In fact, you might end up having to wait a few months until everything will be ready.

With us, however, you wouldn’t need to wait for months on end until the app can be deployed. Actually, you’ll be happy to know that we offer a turnkey white-labeled platform which you can easily brand with your own company info.

Plus, we have years of experience working in the consumer loyalty industry, so we can offer you the expertise you need to make sure your customer loyalty program is completely successful.

On top of that, our platform will offer you access to mobile ordering features, helping you increase the level of convenience your clients get to enjoy – not to mention it will make room for more in-store foot traffic as well.

That’s not all, though – you’ll also be able to implement mobile payments this way. Don’t forget that, in the US alone, statistics show that mobile wallets will become the go-to payment method by the end of 2020, surpassing both credit and debit cards. Also, the number of mobile payment users in the US is expected to grow to around 150 million in 2020.

And it’s more convenient for your customers too – no more holding the line while they have to look for their credit cards or extra change.

Actually, speaking of customers, our platform will make it easier than ever for you to get to know them better. You’ll be provided with quality analytics that will help you find out:

• Who your most profitable clients are
• Which items on your menu they love the most
• Which day of the week they like to buy from you
• What degree of loyalty characterizes each customer segment
• What demographics best represent your client base

Oh, and remember what we said about capitalizing on social media engagement? Well, our platform also supports social media marketing. As a result, you’ll be able to generate plenty of word-of-mouth marketing, reward the right clients, and improve customer advocacy levels with ease.

And to top it all off, we’re also going to be adding gamification features to our loyalty platform. We’ll be able to design a game that’s relevant to your audience by taking all your business’ aspects into consideration. And yes, we’d be able to build a simple leaderboard app or a complex pizza-building game.

Have Any Other Recommendations?

Feel free to leave a comment then – we’d all be more than happy to hear what other customer loyalty program tips a pizzeria owner should try out.

Also, if you have any friends or business partners who you’d think would find the info we discussed helpful, please remember to share this article with them.