How to Write Effective Loyalty Program Emails to Strengthen Customer Relationships 

Loyalty program emails or reward emails are a marketing technique to enhance customer relationships, boost sales, and gain a competitive advantage. 

Customers likely have an inbox full of emails from brands demanding their attention. Standing out isn’t about offering a great product alone — it’s also about building lasting relationships with your consumers.

Returning customers spend 67% more than new customers, according to Business.com. Transitioning from a one-time sale to recurring revenue can help you increase brand trust and build a booming business.

But merely sending promotional emails or marketing messages won’t cut it. Once customers are a part of your loyalty program, it’s essential to keep their interest with different types of emails.

This guide will explore how to write effective loyalty emails that turn one-time buyers into lifelong advocates and retain the interests of your loyalty program members.

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What are Loyalty Emails?

Loyalty program emails are a type of email marketing communication that engages customers who are a part of a loyalty program. These emails aim to strengthen the bond with existing customers by offering incentives, brand updates, and personalized offers, encouraging repeat purchases.

Key Characteristics of Loyalty Program Emails 

Every loyalty email is crafted to fit the customer’s preference and behavior. Tracking your email performance will allow you to send relevant information and develop lasting bonds with customers.

Once a customer converts into a loyal brand advocate, it’s important to keep celebrating their continued support. Nurturing them with the right loyalty program emails will help you gradually upsell and cross-sell offers and increase the average purchase value.

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The Importance of Loyalty Program Emails in Customer Retention

Loyalty emails can boost retention rates by reinforcing a customer’s value to your brand. As they become familiar with and build trust in your brand, consumers will be more willing to become repeat buyers. 

Reward emails must be a critical part of your email marketing strategy. 

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Types of Loyalty Emails

Customers are presented with varied options every day, so how do you make them choose your brand?

The answer is — diverse email campaigns.

We’ll deep dive into the different types of loyalty program emails to retain customer attention and interest.

Type	Purpose	Key Elements
Welcome email	It introduces the loyalty program and its benefits.	‣ Program overview ‣ Signup confirmation ‣ Initial reward
Points update email	It updates the customers on the remaining points and their progress towards rewards.	‣ Progress bar ‣ Points balance ‣ Suggestions to earn/redeem points
Reward redemption email	It encourages members to redeem their rewards on time.	‣ Expiration reminders ‣ Highlight available rewards ‣ Explain the redemption process
Milestone email	It celebrates an achievement, such as reaching a reward target or celebrating a customer achievement.	‣ Congratulatory message ‣ Reward badge or other forms of acknowledgement
Anniversary email	It’s sent to celebrate the timeline a customer has spent with your brand.	‣ Special reward of discount ‣ Appreciation message
Exclusive offer email	It rewards loyal customers with special offers.	‣ Limited time discount ‣ Exclusive perks
Tier upgrade email	It informs customers of their promotion to a higher loyalty tier.	‣ Congratulatory message ‣ Tier-specific perks ‣ New benefits
Program update email	It explains the changes or updates to the loyalty program, if any.	‣ FAQs ‣ Contact information ‣ Clear communication of the loyalty program update.

Let’s review inspiring examples from the common types of loyalty program emails above. 

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Rewards Program Welcome Email Example 

The welcome email sets the tone for the rest of your brand communication. Make it warm and inviting so the customers can emotionally connect with your brand while quickly learning about your loyalty program.

In this loyalty program welcome email example, Ancient Nutrition uses a simple email layout and warm messaging to welcome readers. 

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Loyalty Points Update Email Example 

The points update email is designed to inform customers about their points balance, encouraging them to make purchases. These emails are straightforward and don’t usually require compelling email copywriting.

In the example below, McDonald’s uses vivid imagery of food with a simple CTA to inform customers of their remaining points. 

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Milestone Loyalty Program Email 

Celebrating customers’ achievements is a powerful way to express gratitude for their continued support. Milestone loyalty program emails add a personal touch while acknowledging a customer’s brand participation.

Peloton’s milestone reward email includes details about the customer’s achievements and rewards earned.

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Anniversary Reward Email Example 

There’s nothing like bringing a little smile on your loyal customers’ special day. Drop a wish or share a discount as a thank you for their support. You can incorporate funny email subject lines or utilize ChatGPT prompts to get more creative with your anniversary reward emails.

In the anniversary loyalty email example below, DavidsTEA uses fun and engaging language to glorify a customer’s stay with the brand. In addition, they use creative doodles and images of chipmunks and tea mugs to increase intrigue.

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Exclusive Offer Reward Email 

Offering a special reward, complementary gifts, or percentage off on items is a great way to encourage repeat purchases from your loyal customers. Make space for these email types in your email content calendar to regularly remind customers of their contribution and value. 

Chipotle sends an irresistible unique offer reward email, persuading customers to try their new Smoked Brisket. The email is designed around a limited-time offer where customers can earn extra points by ordering the latest addition to the menu.

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Loyalty Program Tier Upgrade Email

Sometimes, customers may not be aware that their loyalty program status has been changed or upgraded. Sending a tier upgrade email can be a reminder to return for more.

Marriot does a good job with its tier upgrade email by thanking the customer for their commitment and mentioning their status change. The email also provides program updates and urges users to log in to their accounts for detailed reading.

Loyalty program tier upgrade email example – Full version at the source

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Poor Brand Loyalty Appeal Examples

While offering rewards can benefit the brand and the users, certain brands have made noticeable email marketing mistakes, like the ones below.

Bad Reward Email Example — Tattly 

A bad reward email is one without personalization, emphasis on reward points, and mention of other details. 

Tattly’s reward email is plain and does not include relevant information. It fails to create a sense of exclusivity and leaves customers feeling unappreciated. 

A well-managed loyalty program contributes to better word of mouth marketing and increased revenue. Ensure you segment subscribers properly to send the right email content and offers.

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Preparing to Send Loyalty Emails

Customers might interact with your brand through various marketing channels, and each individual customer journey can be unique. A generic loyalty email approach makes it hard to resonate with all your email marketing subscribers.

Instead, follow these methods to provide relevant information and offers tailored to each recipient.

1. Segment Your Loyalty Program Customer Base 

Email segmentation strategy can help you divide customers based on their unique characteristics, behavior, and preferences. This categorization will help you send loyalty emails with specific discounts and rewards according to the customer’s purchase behavior.

You can also deep-dive into details and classify customers based on demographic data, psychographic segmentation, behavioral traits, or geographic data. 

2. Personalize Your Loyalty Emails

Like any email marketing newsletter or thank you emails, adding the subscriber’s name to your loyalty emails can help. However, you must also add personalized email references based on customers’ past purchase behavior. 

One way to do that is by using dynamic content blocks in your emails that automatically include data from each customer’s records. 

3. Consider Customer Preferences 

Customer preferences extend beyond products—consider their choice of email timing, type of content, and email frequency. 

Targeted and personalized loyalty program emails are more likely to have higher email open rates and click-through rates. Remember, your reward email structure has equal weightage in determining your email campaign metrics.

Let’s learn to structure loyalty emails well so customers can easily take the necessary action.

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Structuring Your Loyalty Program Marketing Campaign 

A proper reward email format allows you to draw more attention to the crucial parts of your email campaign. Start with a simple layout and adapt to consumer psychological principles to govern your email body, CTA, and other aspects.

We’ll review the essential parts of a compelling reward email to help you modify your own.

1. The Email Subject Line That Creates the First Impressions

When the inboxes are flooded, people often skim to spot the most urgent emails or relevant ones. The email subject line paints a little backdrop of your email body copy, informing recipients that the email is important.

Focus on the main idea of your reward email that helps customers understand the purpose of the email quickly. It’s natural to share as many offers and discounts to grab customer attention. However, too many offers can overwhelm users and cause them to back out.

2. Call-to-action Button to Guide Customers to the Destination

Keeping your loyalty email CTA diverse yet compelling will give clients more opportunities to engage. You might want to stick to a single CTA and use action-oriented words such as “Redeem Now,” “Claim your Reward,” or similar. 

Make the CTA button prominent by using contrasting colors or unique fonts for emails. If you wish to use links, ensure to secure or encrypt emails to safeguard private data. 

3. Loyalty Email Visual Design Tips for Readability and Appeal 

Using a clear and simple email campaign template is one way to foster brand loyalty and trust. Your reward email design must be visually appealing and convey the main idea quickly. If you’re starting out, consider these email design best practices to help you craft relevant and attractive reward emails.

Next, we’ll understand the process behind writing powerful loyalty program emails that leave customers raving about your brand.

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The Dos and Don’ts of Writing an Effective Loyalty Email

Here’s a table summarizing the Dos and Don’ts of crafting a loyalty program email that works.

Dos	Don’ts
Personalize the email by using the customer’s name, loyalty status, or other relevant information.	Send generic messages that fit every customer segment.
Highlight the reward and make the subject line engaging.	Avoid misleading subject lines with fake promises or irrelevant information.
Explain the benefits of the loyalty program.	Don’t overcomplicate the message. Keep it simple and straightforward.
Use actionable words in your CTA.	Avoid burying the CTA in the text or making it hard to find.
Use time-sensitive offers to create urgency.	Avoid pushy language or sales tactics that might overwhelm customers.
Include images of rewards of people using them.	Don’t include too many images that could clutter the layout.
Express gratitude by thanking the customer for their loyalty.	Celebrate the customer’s success instead of merely trying to sell.
Tailor the email to different customer segments.	Avoid sending irrelevant offers that don’t match customer data.
Regularly test and optimize your loyalty email subject lines and content.	Avoid relying on assumptions.

 Sometimes, no matter how great your loyalty emails look, customers cannot take action unless the emails reach their primary inboxes. This translates to maintaining higher email deliverability, sender reputation, and adhering to clean sending practices.

If more of your email campaigns reach the other tabs or are spotted by spam traps, it might be time to use a reliable email service provider like Campaign Refinery.

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Build Spam-free Loyalty Program Emails With Campaign Refinery 

At Campaign Refinery, we follow sending practices and have a solid email infrastructure to help your loyalty program emails avoid the dreaded spam folder. This practice starts with handpicking clients with responsible sending mechanisms and opted-in email lists. 

Deliver effective loyalty program emails that drive revenue and brand reputation — apply to become our client.