NFTs give brand loyalty a whole new meaning. Unlike the traditional loyalty programs, where the benefits are limited to a certain group of customers, NFTs give a special access to any kind of customers. This gives these tokens significant value and helps create a strong acquisition and brand loyalty levers.
Brand loyalty is very important in the retail industry. It is the main reason why consumers buy a particular brand or product. NFTs can provide brand loyalty in a couple of ways. As customers have started to alter their habits, companies have to evolve digitally, which is why many are leaving behind classic loyalty programs and utilizing spurs such as non-fungible tokens.
Why are NFTs and brand loyalty so intimately intertwined?
The reason why NFTs work so well with brand loyalty is because they offer a new way for companies to reward their loyal customers and create deeper connections with them. As the fever of creating Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) has somewhat subsided, luxury brands are beginning to understand that the real innovation behind this technology.
This lies in its ability to fuse physical merchandise with a permanent digital asset. This gives a brand’s sneakers for instance, a concrete presence in the digital realm. This makes it a secure medium for brands to constantly stay in touch with their consumers. It is as well a useful tool for preventing counterfeiting and allowing for fair secondary trading.
What benefits in using NFTs in brand loyalty?
There are a variety of unique advantages that come with incorporating NFTs into a loyalty program or an overall plan for acquiring and keeping customers engaged. Those digital asset make sense in case of improving the brand awareness. They are a great way to make sure that the brand stays top-of-mind with their customers. NFTs are as well an excellent way to collect data on customers and get valuable information such as what they are buying, how often they shop with a given brand, and what products they are interested in.
In the end, they stands as a great way to reward customers and make sure they feel appreciated. There is no major hurdle to overcome in creating NFTs for a company relying on METAV.RS for example. Brands can make use of tailor-made strategies that help them save money while still bolstering their brand awareness. The real investment comes from developing and sticking with a long-term plan that aligns with the brand image and convictions. Beyond all those previous benefits, NFTs have some other specific advantages in acquisition and brand loyalty programs.
NFTs strengthen the bond between brands and their customers by building trust
For brands to stay in the game, they must create an identity that is long-lasting. This requires them to be creative and work with novel technology. NFTs provide a special chance to directly reach out to customers. It is also about building effective collaboration with other companies. Lastly, they are to engage their users in a social cause and form an online community. These factors can persuade folks to stay and engage with the brand for a lengthy period.
NFTs Digital twins to deepening the connection
With NFTs digital twins for instance, the process becomes easier in a sense that NFTs allow to find and monitor admirers of a brand. Those digital properties also create a two-way connection between the seller and the buyer, which can be used for promotions, payments, or both. After the bond is formed, token-secured experiences, either digital or physical, are a piece of cake to execute and automation takes over. And more than that, it is easy to add a story to the item so that the collector or anyone to whom they might resell the product, can learn more about its provenance.
That’s how NFTs work to establish trust and provide transparency about the origin of products and materials. They can be used to track the journey of a product from the farm where it was grown all the way to the store shelf where it is purchased. QR codes or tags can be applied to products to track their journey from the farm, through the supply chain, and to the final purchase.
Tracking the product journey
NFTs can also be used to track the journey of products from the manufacturer all the way to the recycling facility where they are discarded. This provides another level of transparency that can be very valuable to brands. This is especially for those that manufacture a large volume of products that may be sourced from countries with a questionable track record in terms of worker rights and environmental protections.
Rarity and uniqueness are keys in an acquisition strategy
It has been observed that exclusive items tend to be more valuable than those readily available, and the same can be said for NFTs. Leveraging NFTs’ rarity and uniqueness is on of the best way to grow users and customers for a brands. The rarity characteristic adds an extra layer of exclusivity and allure. This is especially when brands attach additional benefits to owning the token.
Taking a game as an example, users will more often look for rare items other players don’t have. If their digital collectibles are all the same, then users will not want to use them as they are likely to see others with the same. Making NFTs valuable and desirable is making them scarce and unique, as well as creating an air of urgency and thrill among users.
NFTs are a great way to give customers plenty of room to be inventive and imaginative
New technologies also means finding additional ways to keep users interested and involved. This can be done by providing them with experiences where they as well become actors in the creating process. Audiences now expect more that just eating contents. They want to be a part of building the future.
Embedding NFTs into brand loyalty programs can make the difference and become increasingly crucial to provide users with co-creation, rewards. An NFT can certainly enhance brand dedication. This happens if customers feel they are contributing to the brand image in ways other than just purchasing items. In virtual Fashion for instance, brands can connect to the real pieces that can be adorned by avatars.
People may want to dress up their avatars in a complex or regular kind of way. Non-Fungible Tokens can be used by anyone, and also be crafted as an individual work of art with distinctiveness, created jointly by the brand and the user. This gives users a unique kind of authority over their creations. NFTs are the ideal method to take advantage of the metaverse to introduce, advertise, and expand brand patterns with NFTs, and at the same time present users a creative and stylish way to be rewarded.
In blockchain gamification as well, users can make use of some of the creative features available. The content can now be stored by the users. Consequently, users can modify some content unlike in the conventional games. The Create-to-earn system typically provides users with the opportunity to make their own Non-Fungible Tokens and then sell them on specific platform or games. This model allows the creators to own what they have created.
Future generations will make more use of NFTs and brand loyalty programs
With the ever-growing interest in new technology and the broadening market, it’s a great chance to attempt something different and stand out. Although the initial thrill may abate, those who get involved early and implement their plans will benefit in the long run. Brands are aware of the advantages of blockchain. This why they are making use of it to drive business results.
NFTs and brand loyalty programs are most widely used for increasing brand loyalty and improving customer experience, especially for future generations such as Gen Z. As the NFT market is still structuring, some processes and habits related to the Web3 culture will only be effective with the post-millennial generation. Gen Z is the demographic that will gain the most from NFT-based loyalty programs.
As they are conscious of this, they desire to collaborate in building a future where personal data is not solely held by organizations with absolute control and where financial resources are not constrained to centralized bodies with unrestricted decision-making capabilities. Razofish and Vice Media Group concluded in their study that Gen Z gamers for instance tend to spend twice as much time in virtual reality games than they do with their mates in real life. This could be due to the fact that a lot of their friendships are established online first before they are created in person in the metaverse life.
Nowadays, the primary venue where young people tend to flaunt their stuff is digital, not the physical world. If they are thrilled with a luxury purchase, they won’t wait to post it on social media. It doesn’t even have to be seen in real life. The message here is that virtual worlds give them the opportunity to get away from certain boundaries of real social life.
NFTs is the bridge between the physical and the virtual world with engaging activations
In the same way a physical gift card can be purchased on a mobile device and then delivered to a friend or family member, digital assets are the new and innovative way of bridging the physical and the virtual world. Best use cases can some well known brands activations such as Nike.
Nike brand is looking to bring together the physical and digital aspects of their products. Further, Nike wants to monitor their legitimacy and origin. Nike and RTFKT studio are moving forward regarding the creation of digital twins. Adidas on a different note linked up with Bored Apes Yacht Club, selling 30,000 NFTs for 0.2 ETH a piece which could be exchanged for physical goods, such as hoodies, tracksuits, and hats.
Tiffany brand for instance has rolled out an impressive NFT offer, dubbed NFTiff, that is designed to look like the already existing Cryptopunks. Only the holders of Punks could create the NFTiff, which retails at an eye-watering 30 ETH, with a value of 50,000$. Each pendant featured 30 gemstones and diamonds and to make sure they don’t sell out, they have combined a real-world item with a digital twin NFT. The upmarket jewelry firm earned a whopping $12.62 million from the sale of 250 CryptoPunks tokens.
The potential of Web3 wallets combined with NFTs unlock new opportunities for reward systems
NFTs are more about the journey than the destination. Folks are eager to be a part of something revolutionary and share it with others. This is why NFTs are part of a wider blockchain trend. As situations become more intricate, the distinction between the real and virtual worlds will become quite fuzzy, enhancing the financial and social worth of a token.
Rewards, whether virtual or in real life offer various great opportunities for brands to create strong bonds with their customers. The metaverse and NFTs provide more captivating methods compared to other regular ones. Furthermore, NFTs provide a potential for growth, making customers feel that the brand is offering a long-term benefit.
Brands can even take this a step further by providing free NFTs that can be united with more expensive ones using a gift-box. This can make rewards more attainable for the entire user base. In order to utilize this tool to its fullest, brands must be able to recognize and interact with NFTs through the Web3 user wallet. This wallet is the new touch point for the brand and a great source of data.
It contains various virtual assets such as numbers, recent purchases, tickets, loyalty cards and the like. These are great for brands wanting to boost their loyalty strategy. For instance, a brand could send messages to the user’s wallet after some amount of visit by the latter on their website or a given event. It could be set to receive automatically a voucher thanks to the multiple visits.
Creating a Web3 brand army thanks to NFTs
NFTs have achieved what lots of marketing efforts have not: they have developed a band of devoted customers. By involving NFTs into a loyalty approach, brands can make their business known to a global audience. Obviously, not everybody is a buyer, but increasing a brand’s reach is never a bad idea. A brand willing to go into Web3 can construct its own community with NFTs.
Remaining up to date and setting one’s business up to be part of the next big trend along with faithful customers is THE path. As the metaverse narrative unfolds, more people will choose branded NFTs to be part of their virtual personality. A new category of user, the brand advocate or persuasive customer will bridge the gap between the physical and digital realms in a unique way. Ambassadors or a brand army is the ultimate sign of brand loyalty.
Your brand image is however still more powerful than NFTs
Even if NFTs are outstanding levers for customer acquisition and retention, a brand image remains the most important thing to monitor. The real deal is to become a charismatic brand.
It is important for brands to look for new ways to connect with their existing and potential customers. To stay in their minds, brands must create a clear link between themselves and their consumers. They have to convey a message that resonates with the values they promote. This is an effective way to strengthen their identity, beyond just selling merchandise.
Living up to the consumers expectations
Doing this will help create engagement with their usual target audience as well as a younger demographic, who are more into new technologies. Just having a cause or set of values is not enough. Brands need to make sure their products or services are able to live up to the expectations of consumers, regardless of whether they have an NFT campaign or not.
NFTs are not a miracle solution. They can recreate a good’s worth digitally. When it is linked with a physical good, an NFT will be the perfect way to boost the pre-existing value of the brand product. Before jumping into the NFT bandwagon, brands should ask themselves, “What is the benefit I am bringing to the table?” This is the question to ask yourself before embarking on NFTs brand loyalty programs.
Building the future of brand loyalty with NFTs
NFTs are just beginning to be embraced, but many leading companies are already taking a shine to them. It’s the younger generations that will really boost their appeal and use. Wise organizations recognize this. They could be used to encourage loyalty and engagement, such as granting privileges and access rights, rewarding specific actions, and crafting a piece of brand history.
Brands will raise the stakes when it comes to digital resources and platforms to create new income sources. Some even completely replace their traditional sources of money with digital ones. As the years pass and technology advances, more and more digital assets and new applications are being channeled into the loyalty sector. Probably, the most popular use cases are yet to be realized. METAV.RS is building the future for NFT loyalty programs for brands wanting to join the Web3 wagon.
To learn more on NFTs and how they are repurposing the brand customer relationship, read WHY WEB3 AND NFTS CAN TRANSFORM BRAND CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP
