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Overview

Don’t start from the template list. Start from what you want customers to do, then pick the program that gets you there. Most of the time that goal is one of three things: bringing new customers in (acquisition), giving the ones you have a reason to stay (retention), or getting them to take a specific action (engagement). If you already run a program that does that, change it. Don’t create another one for the same goal. Why those three matter — and why one program is rarely enough — is in Why Clients Need More Than Referral. If a moment in the business is already a reason to add one, see Signals You’re Ready for a Second Program.

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What Are You Trying to Do

A program type is a starting template: campaigns, rewards, and rules already pointed at a kind of result. The useful question is which result you actually want.
  • Someone who isn’t a customer yet signs up or buys for the first time — that’s acquisition.
  • Someone who already bought has a reason to stay — that’s retention.
  • Someone who is already a customer does a specific thing: buys again, downloads the app, leaves a review — that’s engagement.
The same sentence can mean two different goals. “Reward a purchase” is engagement if your existing customers are buying again, and acquisition if a new visitor converts on their first visit. “Thank existing customers” is retention if you want an ongoing relationship, and engagement if you want one action.

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Which Program Fits

Pick one type, and be clear about what you’re leaving on the table. The full map is on Why Clients Need More Than Referral. Here’s where people usually land. This isn’t a rulebook. A few of these land on the same program, and the right pick still depends on what’s already live. Rewarding a purchase once is an Offer program. Rewarding purchases over time, with points they redeem later, is Loyalty. Loyalty still starts from Reward for Action — you’re adding a bank of points, not a one-time payout. See Loyalty.

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You Might Already Have This

You need a new program when you need a new audience, a new flow, or a reward structure your current programs don’t cover. If you already have an Offer program that rewards a different action, another Offer — or a new campaign in the same program — is probably enough. If Refer a Friend is already running and you still want customers to bring friends, change that program. Don’t start a second one. Programs vs. Campaigns is the split. Once you know the type, Creating a Program is how you start it from that template.