77% of people say they will stay with a brand that rewards their loyalty, and 70% will also recommend that brand to others.

When we recognize loyalty and reward it, we can reap our own rewards in the form of more customers, higher average order value, increased lifetime value (LTV), and lower marketing costs.

But how can you show your loyal customers you value their business to both keep them coming back and generate these other benefits?

We have 7 surefire ways to reward loyal customers to earn all the benefits of customer loyalty.

1. Give Discounts to High-Spending Customers

Encourage customers to fill up their carts to get free shipping or a discount. This rewards people and increases your revenues in several ways.

You’re giving customers the perception that they’re saving money by spending more. But ultimately, these kinds of loyalty programs pay for themselves.

Not only are they buying more items, which means more revenues. You’ll have a greater net profit the more they buy.

When you’re shipping lots of items together, you’re saving on shipping costs as well. And your payment processing fees are also less versus selling those items individually.

Then there’s the fact that you’re selling inventory faster, so less spent on warehousing. That’s more net profits all the way around.

But giving order discounts isn’t the only way to reward loyalty and get these kinds of benefits.

2. Give Them Something Extra with Multiple Purchas

For example, giving away custom reusable bags when they spend over a certain amount or buy multiple times encourages more spending.

The cost of a promotional item can be minuscule, but the emotion surrounding getting something for “free” makes it seem like so much more.

For example, in order to increase spending based on discounts alone, you’d probably have to make that at least 15% off. Otherwise, it’s not worth their while.

Now, if you have to choose between giving someone a 15% discount or giving them a promotional product that costs roughly 2% of the order value, which do you choose? Even though the promotional item costs less, the perceived value is greater.

The more unusual, attractive, or useful the promo is, the greater the perceived value.

And as a bonus, promo items can help you get around the perils of over-discounting and being seen as a discount brand. Instead, it makes you look premium so you can earn premium prices.

3. Have a Loyalty Card System

A loyalty card system is another way to really increase spending. People will spend several hundred dollars over the course of 10 visits to get a $10 free item on their 10th visit.

This amounts to giving a person a 1-3% discount, but that doesn’t matter. Its perceived value is greater for your loyal customer, and customers love loyalty programs.

And you can get the benefits whether they redeem the reward or not. A good number of customers will get to 5 or 6 visits because of the loyalty program but never get to 10.

That makes the ROI you get on a loyalty program even higher, so let’s be generous with our loyalty rewards. The benefits are worth it.

4. Invite Them to Try Your Latest

This rewards loyalty and makes customers now feel valued and special. But it also does something else.

It boosts your newer product. Returning customers are already 50% more likely to try a brand new SKU with no reviews.

It makes sense. Because they’ve bought from you before, they already know you sell quality products. They’re also more likely to write you good reviews, which helps you get that new SKU rolling out of the warehouse.

5. Offer Group Discounts

Depending on your type of business, group discounts can be a great way to get people to tell their friends. And they may need to tell multiple friends before they get a couple to join them for a group discount.

You’ve just increased the value of the first customer because they’ve brought two more customers with them. That’s totally worth a discount.

6. Hold a VIP Preview

This could be an in-person event. But you can also make it digital. Whichever you choose, be sure to generate hype through social media, email marketing, and other media.

You can run closed Facebook Live events based upon Facebook followers or a VIP list. You could also invite loyal customers into a VIP Facebook group and do your live videos from there.

7. Reward Referrals

Create a referral program that rewards customers for sending others your way with a promotional gift, discount, or another meaningful reward.

Now that’s how to reward loyalty and increase customer lifetime value.