Introduction
Creating a VIP program is a proven strategy to increase customer loyalty and drive repeat purchases. With Ako Marketing, you can motivate your loyal customers to make more purchases by offering flexible upgrade methods, tier-based rewards, and cashback incentives. This empowers you to tailor a VIP program that effectively drives revenue growth. In this article, we will guide you through the process of building a VIP program that works.
Before you start
✅ VIP Program is available in our Platinum plan and above. Please go to More > Service Plan to make sure your current plan is on Platinum plan or above.
✅ Please go to Program > Settings in the navigation bar and check if "Points" is in the green "Enabled" state.
Step 1: Determine membership duration
From Ako Marketing dashboard, go to Loyalty Program > Settings > Click on VIP.
In Expiration section, click Edit to set the expiration type as Lifetime or Custom Year (valid for 1-5 years) > Click Update to save.
📝 Difference between Lifetime & Custom Year
Lifetime: Once a customer reaches a tier, their membership will last for their lifetime.
For example, if Amy reaches the highest level and does not request any refunds or exchanges that would decrease her accumulated spending or points, she will retain that level for her lifetime.
Custom Year: The system will recheck the member's eligibility and automatically upgrade, downgrade, and dynamically extend the membership duration after each valid purchase.
For example, if the membership duration is set to 1 year, and Amy reaches the Silver level on January 31st, 2023, her membership will be valid until January 31st, 2024. If she continues to make purchases and reaches the next level of Gold on March 31st, 2023, her membership duration will be updated to March 31st, 2024 until she makes another valid purchase to unlock the new tier.
Step 2: Determine customers' tier unlocks based on Spending or Points
From Entry Method section, click on Edit.
In the Select method for customers to unlock selector, choose either Amount spent or Points earned as the upgrade method. If you also want to check the accumulated orders count, please tick the Orders count option (only paid orders will be considered as valid orders count) > Click Update to save the entry method.
Step 3: Create new tiers and set tier entry goal
In the VIP Tiers section, you'll notice that there are already 4 default tier levels. If you want to add more tiers to your program, click "+Add new" to create a new tier
💡It is recommended to have tiers under 5 for an effective VIP program.
Tier Name: Set a name for your tier. The name should be unique and appealing to your members for building a sense of loyalty and connection with your customers.
Entry Goal: Set the requirements for each tier to upgrade. For example, if you have chosen the entry method as "Amount spent + Orders count," you can specify the entry goal as 3 purchases and a total amount spent of $100 to unlock the Silver level.
📝 About Starter level
When a visitor registers as a member through email or the social login but hasn't made any purchases will be assigned to the "Starter" level. You can offer a first-purchase discount to encourage new customers to place their first order by adding an entry reward in step 4.
Step 4: Add Rewards & Perks
4.1. Add entry rewards
Reward your customers when they unlock a new tier. You can offer a maximum of 20 entry rewards for each tier, including Points and Amount off order reward.
📝 Reminder
Customers will receive the entry reward only when they upgrade to the new tier during their membership duration. If they are downgraded to a lower tier, they will not receive the entry reward again. However, if customers maintain their eligibility for the same tier in the next round of membership duration, they will receive the entry reward once again.
A. Reward with Points
Click "+Add new" in the Rewards to unlock section > Click "Add" next to "Points".
Reward Title: Enter the name of the reward.
Reward Value: Specify the number of points to be given.
Reward Expiry: Set the expiration period for the points, which can range from 1 to 120 months. Turning off the switch means that the reward will never expire.
Activate by toggling on Status and click Save, then return to the previous page by clicking "← VIP" in the upper left corner to continue with the rest of the settings.
B. Reward with Discount
Click "+Add new" in the Rewards to unlock section > Click "Add" next to "Amount off order".
Reward Title: Enter the name of the reward.
Reward Value: Set the discount amount as a "Percentage" or a "Fixed amount".
Minimum purchase requirements: Decide when the discount can be redeemed on orders.
Reward Expiry: Set the expiration period for the points, which can range from 1 to 120 months. Turning off the switch means that the reward will never expire.
Activate by toggling on Status and click Save, then return to the previous page by clicking "← VIP" in the upper left corner to continue with the rest of the settings.
🔔 Each customer will be provided with a unique discount code for their own use.
4.2. Add checkout rewards
Exclusive shopping discounts are applied to orders for each tier. For instance, Silver members automatically receive a 10% discount when placing orders. The checkout reward serves as a powerful incentive for members to make more orders, as they can enjoy greater savings with higher membership levels.
4.3. Add perks
Perks are not issued through Ako Marketing. They are additional benefits provided to members upon tier upgrade, such as early access to sales or special products.
Step 5: Set tag key & choose icons for VIP tiers.
Tag keys work similarly to customer tags in Shopify. They help manage membership levels and send email notifications. Once you add tag keys, you cannot change or remove them. Therefore, it is important to carefully consider the names you choose for the keys before adding them
After adding the tag keys, you can either use the default icon provided or upload a custom icon for each tier. If you choose to upload a custom icon, please ensure that it is in either PNG or JPG format, has a 1:1 aspect ratio, and a file size smaller than 50KB.
Final check before enabling program.
Once you have finished setting up the VIP program, click "Enable program", then a popup "Enable VIP program?" will appear, please double-check the membership's duration here and click "Enable".
