We’re excited to release a new feature today – map view for joinable programs. It’s a simple yet powerful feature. Our intent is to provide more perspective regarding programs that are located near your current location. Think of it as a new way to explore for joinable programs rather than scrolling through a simple list. Once you select the retailer you’ll be taken directly to the simple enrollment form. Hope you like it!
We were pleasantly surprised to see Key Ring featured in the Oct edition of Entrepreneur Magazine. The title of the article being “Ditch the Cards”. No doubt we’re heading to a cardless / mobile wallet society. Considering Key Ring already has millions of users, it’s quite obvious consumers are tired of the plastic. We’re just getting started and are looking forward to further driving innovation in this space.
No doubt we’re living in an interesting time. Technology is moving at an amazingly fast pace and marketers are doing their best to stay ahead of the latest trends. Considering the advances in the smartphone technology, mobile is a subject that’s top of mind for almost any brand or retailer. Most retailers are asking themselves, “how can we leverage mobile as an effective channel to connect with our customers in a meaningful way.” The short answer is, there isn’t one right answer. Unfortunately though, most markers knee-jerk reaction is to create their own app which can be a very costly mistake. Instead, investigate ways you can connect with your customers without having to build your own platform.
From time to time a retailer will respond to using the Key Ring platform with, “we already have an app, why would we need to use Key Ring.” Depending on the retailer, the value proposition varies, but in general Key Ring works well for most retailers for the following reasons:
DALLAS, Sept. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — On The Border, a full-service, casual dining Mexican restaurant brand, has added a mobile component to its Club Cantina program. On The Border is using Key Ring Reward Cards’ mobile coupon and customer acquisition platform to introduce the mobile Club Cantina program for 150 restaurant locations. Key Ring has increased Club Cantina enrollment by nearly 40,000 members in 3 months’ time. Gerald Mann, SVP Marketing for On The Border said, “We’ve been impressed with the results we’ve seen using Key Ring, especially regarding customer acquisition and offer redemptions. It has proven to be a great mobile marketing tool!”
Hi everyone, we’re happy to announce a new feature: Messages. Think of this as your Key Ring message inbox. We’ll use to notify you of new programs, special offers, and messages from your Key Ring community. If the bubble next to the Key Ring logo on home screen is orange this means you have new message(s). Messages will first be available on iPhone and Android and later added to Blackberry and Windows Phone 7.
Key Ring has been supporting digital coupons (i.e. save to card coupons) for almost a year now and it has been quite successful. Key Ring users love the convenience of being able to save coupons to their loyalty card and then never having to present a paper coupon at the checkout. There’s no doubt digital coupons are the wave of the future which is why we’re working hard to make the process that much easier. Key Ring now has the capability to aggregate digital coupon content from any source and provide it to Key Ring users in one easy to digest coupon stream. We’ll be rolling out a new digital coupon interface over the next few weeks and will be adding new digital coupon content the app very soon. Here’s a few screenshots of the new UI. Hope you like it!
Making an offer available in a mobile app without notifying the consumer it’s available is like cooking dinner for 20 people and then forgetting to send an invitation. Sure, your lonely neighbor may show up randomly and get a free meal, but most likely you’ll be eating alone. If you rely on the consumer for self discovery of a mobile coupon you’re setting your offer campaign up for minimal results at best. Think about it, your customer will have to first make a conscious decision to think about your brand, then open a mobile app, and then check to see if there are available coupons. We’d all love to believe our customers think about us as much as we think about them, but sadly this just isn’t the case. If a mobile app company pitches you on sending coupons through their platform without a messaging strategy, BEWARE!
5 ways Key Ring keeps your consumer up to speed with your latest offers:
REI recently announced that they have decided to try a new social media strategy. Instead of casting tweets out to the masses, they’ve decided to create 53 new twitter handles, one for each market. The idea is to empower local store managers to start engaging with people in their own backyard as apposed to HQ dictating the conversation. Imagine that, relevant content based on your location. Makes sense to us.
We’ve spent quite a bit of time over the past year designing and building a system that allows each store to do their own independent marketing, i.e. LSM (local store marketing). Using the Key Ring business portal any retailer can send targeted offers to their users based on location. Better yet, any store manager can have access to the tool to manage their member database, create targeted offers, and then instantly distribute the offer to their user base. If corporate is concerned with the integrity of the brand, an approval process can be implemented which gives corporate the right to approve or reject each offer sent by a franchisee and/or store manager. Imagine having the capability to send an offer to targeting group of users letting them know that 20% of Wednesdays sales will be donated to the local High School Booster Club.
Sending relevant content is key to engaging with your audience. Location is a simple yet powerful way to filter content to make your connection that much more meaningful. If you’re not using Key Ring’s location based features today, feel free to reach out and we’d be happy to provide a demo.
Happy Social Media Day! That’s right, Mashable.com has declared June 30th, Social Media Day 2011 From their site:
Social Media Day is a global event that celebrates the technological advancements that enable everyone to connect with real-time information, communicate from miles apart and have their voices be heard.
We’re all about sharing, especially when it comes to finding ways to save money.
Have you come across a great deal in Key Ring lately? Let everyone know by clicking the “Share” button – your friends and family will thank you for it.
Also, if you enjoy using Key Ring you please help spread the love. You can do it with one click right within the app. What are you waiting for? Go out and get your sharing groove on.
