Should your loyalty program go digital?

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5. Create brand ambassadors

Great relationships with your guests translate into brand advocacy. If your customers become ambassadors of your brand, they become a marketing tool with an authenticity that traditional marketing simply can’t replicate. Brand advocacy should be the goal of your relationships, as they are incredibly profitable.

“When properly motivated and encouraged, brands’ most loyal customers can become their most active advocates,” says Dave Hanley, co-founder at Banyan Branch, a popular social media marketing firm. “This path of integrating social media with loyalty programs and rewards will ultimately allow brands to grow their online conversation and provide deep and interesting content created by those who know them best.”

6. Target your deals

Targeted deals and rewards provide your customers with an incentive that appeals to them individually while also helping your business grow and meet specific goals. Analyzing your sales numbers and customer behavior to determine what your true off-peak times are is a great way to start. You can then target specific deals and rewards around your off-peak hours to increase sales during those times and maximize your resources.

You can also target your rewards program around menu categories you’d like to promote, such as desserts, cocktails or even limited-time offers. A good digital loyalty program can be easily adapted and customized to accommodate different seasonal trends or sales goals.

7. Modernize

A main advantage digital reward cards have over punch card-based systems is that they’re adjustable. While traditional punch cards are static, reward card apps provide customer data that allows you to tailor your offers and see what works and what doesn’t. The result is a cycle of better customer rewards that will increase visits of both new and current customers, which in turn, provides more customer data, and so on.

Attracting new customers and retaining current customers is essential to the survival and success of your restaurant. Creating relationships with your customers keeps them loyal to your brand and can make them advocates for your business. Reward card apps are a great way to get the ball rolling on a modern rewards program that attracts customers, keeps customers and converts them into advocates for your business.

James Sun is the c.e.o. of digital loyalty platform company Pirq. He is also a TV host—BBC’s “Sun Tzu’s War on Business”—and was a finalist on Donald Trump’s reality show “The Apprentice.”