Skip to main content

​
Overview

A loyalty program rewards participants for the actions they take with your brand over time, rather than for a single outcome. Participants earn points for actions you choose, accumulate those points in a Reward Bank, and redeem them for rewards you configure.

​
How a Loyalty Program Works

A loyalty program has three moving parts. Ways to earn. Each way to earn is a business event paired with a reward rule. When Extole receives the event and the rule passes, the participant earns a Collectible Reward worth a set number of points. Ways to earn are configured inside a Reward for Action program. See Ways to Earn. Accumulation. Collectible Rewards accumulate in the participant’s Reward Bank. The balance persists across campaigns and channels, and the participant decides when to spend it. Redemption. The participant converts points into a reward from the Redemption Options you offer. Those options are not limited to cash value — a 25% off code, a gift with purchase, a gift card, or a charitable donation are all rewards a participant can claim. Where you would rather not ask the participant to choose, a coupon code or an account credit can be issued automatically as soon as the action qualifies, with no redemption step at all. The Redemption Ratio sets the conversion — by default one point is worth one dollar, and a ratio of 10 makes ten points worth one dollar. See Redemption and Reward Options.

​
Marketing

Promote your loyalty program with the same placements you use for any other Extole program: on-site and in-app calls to action, email, and links from your account or member pages. Because a loyalty balance grows over time, the most effective placements are the recurring ones — a balance shown on an account page, a reminder when a participant is close to a redemption threshold, and a confirmation each time points are earned.

​
Participant Journey

  1. The participant joins the program — through an enrollment page, by being added to an audience you maintain, or by activity that qualifies them, such as a purchase over $500. Activity-based entry is a targeting rule on the event; see How to Target a Program.
  2. They complete an action you reward, such as a purchase, a review, or a referral.
  3. Extole receives the event, applies your quality and reward rules, and issues a Collectible Reward.
  4. Points accumulate in the participant’s Reward Bank and appear in the My Rewards section.
  5. The participant opens the Redemption Center, reviews the available options, and redeems.
  6. Extole issues the chosen reward and records the redemption in the participant’s Redemption History. Extole or your system fulfills it, depending on the reward provider.

​
Rules and Rewarding

Loyalty programs use the same rules engine as every other Extole program. Quality rules decide whether an event is legitimate before it earns anything. Reward rules decide who earns, how much, and how often — including whether a participant earns on the first action only, on every action, or once per unique value in the event data. Reward limits, blocking, and manual issuance all apply. See Rules and Quality.

​
Performance and Data

Track a loyalty program through the Reward Bank reports and the standard reward reports. You can see points issued, rewards redeemed, and the full audit history of every Collectible Reward. See Reward Bank Reports.