Regardless of the type of incentive or recognition program being designed, a key element of a successful program is successfully registering your targeted participants. In a recent blog by Roy Bergameska of Deluxe Corporation called “Reward Program KPIs: How to Measure Registration Success,” the author tackles this key element to getting a program off the ground.

We spend quite a bit of time on helping our clients design a successful recognition or incentive program that will help their business grow or reduce costs to the bottom line by improving efficiencies. However, it is important to follow through on your program design to make sure that the targeted participant base is engaged in the program and excited to participate.

We primarily utilize targeted, personalized and branded email communications to the selected participant base inviting them to follow the link to complete their registration in the program. One key element here which is pointed out in the blog is that between the content of the email itself and the content of the landing or welcome page, you need to “sell” your program to the participant.

Does “selling” the program mean that you need to tell your prospective participant everything about the program? Probably not. The key here is to tell them just enough about the program that they are interested enough to complete the registration process and enter the site where they can find out more about the program. Like any elevator pitch when you are having an initial conversation with a prospective client, the message should be concise and easy to understand.

Another element here that is mentioned in the blog is to never assume that the communication itself is perfect the way it is constructed. Try some different messaging and see how they impact the registration percentage. A simple change of a key word or phrase could be the missing element to get the group excited to participate.

Finally, this blog does a good job of answering what a successful registration percentage is for your program. This percentage will vary greatly depending on the type of the program as well as the industry itself. This blog is specifically about a customer or channel program. According to them, an average registration rate would be 21-40% of the potential registrants. Anything over 40% would be considered high. I believe that is a good standard to use as well. That may sound low, but these will be your early adaptors that will help generate momentum for your program. Others will follow over time, but you will likely never approach 100% registration.

These key elements of keeping the message simple and tweaking the message are consistent throughout various elements of a successful program. Companies change over time and the focus of the company will vary over time as well. It is important to make sure your incentive program is tweaked to keep your participants focused on the areas that you are targeting to help your business grow.