Building Brand Loyalty: 3 Reasons Customer Engagement Programs are Vital for Financial Institutions

Many businesses are seeking ways to stay resilient and keep their customers engaged while an economic crunch continues to create spending challenges. Even when times get tough, reward programs can help companies thrive, and are proven business investments; in fact, customer engagement programs can help businesses keep going during difficult times.

We’ve seen companies recently launch new customer engagement programs with good reason—loyal customers are 50% more likely to try new products and on average spend 31% more compared to new customers.

Here are three reasons why now is a great time for the financial services industry to invest in customer engagement programs:

1. You can stand out from competitors

Competition for smaller amounts of wallet share is becoming fierce as disposable incomes dwindle.   Customer engagement programs can help banks encourage more frequent engagement with and from their customers, keeping cards top of wallet and a preferred method of payment. These programs don’t just help banks sign up new customers—they keep them active with rewards, cashback, and other offers for making purchases with certain cards. And customers will appreciate the service.

2. You will become a familiar brand as others vie for shoppers’ attention

In the next year, as banks vie for a smaller share of consumer spend, engagement programs are differentiators that will help FIs stand out from competitors. These programs show you understand and want to help your customers—which will result in more attention and engagement with your company, even during periods when your customers are not spending.

3. You can encourage people to make purchases they otherwise wouldn’t

Giving a customer an offer at just the right time can make or break whether purchases are completed when customers may be sitting on the fence or reconsidering costs. The majority (85%) of shoppers say they increase their spend with a brand if it means they maximize benefits of their loyalty program—which is particularly true as they may need to make sensible decisions in the months to come. Well-timed messages with reward offers, especially personalized ones, could be the ‘make or break’ driving purchase decisions.