This week we made crypto history with the launch of our new Bitcoin Market Journal Reward Token. Our Premium subscribers now get a monthly award of BMJ tokens deposited into their crypto wallets, which they can spend on real-world rewards not available anywhere else.
BMJ is different from other tokens: it’s only minted when real revenue is earned from our Premium membership. We’ve developed a new metric – Real Revenue Earned (RRE) – which gives the crypto industry a new level of transparency and trust.
Our mission at BMJ is to onboard the next 100 million crypto investors. Remember the BMJ Reward Token is not an investment – it’s a loyalty program — but it does get people introduced to crypto in the easiest possible way, which is a huge contribution to the industry.
Yesterday I talked about the journey to launch the BMJ token, including why we chose to build directly on Ethereum, even covering the gas fees for users, so they get the “surprise and delight” of new tokens landing in their wallet each month.
Today I’ll talk about how to run an effective crypto loyalty campaign, for those who want to follow in our footsteps (or integrate the BMJ token into their own loyalty programs – remember, it’s “loyalty points set free on the blockchain”).
Creating a Good Loyalty Program
Good loyalty programs have one thing in common: the benefits outweigh the fees.
As consumers, we know this. The airline miles you earn on a rewards credit card better be worth more than the annual fee.
Even for free loyalty programs (like your local coffee shop), that free 10th cup of coffee better be worth the hassle of pulling out the punch card every time.
As companies, it’s hard to remember this. It takes so much work just to get the loyalty program set up, that you can easily forget to keep adding value.
Amazon Prime is the gold standard of adding value. At first, people joined just to get free shipping, but then Amazon kept bundling more and more valuable stuff into the annual membership. Amazon Music! Prime Video! Whole Foods discounts!
No one was asking for unlimited music and a video streaming service to be bundled with Amazon Prime, but they got them anyway.
Amazon, in turn, got more loyal customers who now use Amazon to order everything (because free shipping).
This virtuous flywheel is what we ultimately aim to build with the BMJ token. It is the hallmark of every successful loyalty program:
In a loyalty program, more benefits lead to more business. (Start thinking about crypto projects like businesses, if you’re not already.) So good crypto loyalty programs will need to pack on the benefits.
For example, currently we offer our Premium members:
- Copy-and-paste investing portfolios that have outperformed the stock market (with quarterly updates on how they’re performing)
- Members-only workshops, where we walk through how to use crypto wallets, DeFi, NFTs, in a friendly small group setting
- Investor scorecards on all the top tokens, giving you an easy 1-to-5-star investor rating (now including top NFTs)
- Our new BMJ Reward Token, which can be redeemed for one-of-a-kind crypto T-shirts, hats, and much more merch
- Bonus reports on Tuesday and Thursday, giving you deep-dive market analysis and weekly charts on our top tokens
The benefits ridiculously outweigh the rewards … and there are still so many more benefits that we want to build, as we grow the business.
The Loyalty Flywheel
As Amazon Prime drives more benefits for users (free shipping), users reward the company with more business (more orders). We call this a “loyalty flywheel.”
As the loyalty program takes off, you must reinvest those profits back into the loyalty program, just as Amazon continually reinvests in new benefits for Prime members.
This is another reason it’s important for crypto loyalty programs to reflect Real Revenue Earned (RRE) – paying out real benefits costs real money, and you can’t do that with a token you’ve minted out of thin air.
Only if you have real dollars coming in – a real business – can you invest in real member benefits. But once you get the flywheel going, you can keep fueling it with more money, to make it go faster and faster.
Loyalty is also about time – you want customers to join, and to stay joined, over a long period of time. Good loyalty programs recognize the value of long-time members: it’s why your AAA and Amex cards have a little inscription: “MEMBER SINCE 2020.”
So our philosophy is that long-time Premium members will accrue more rewards, which ties into our philosophy of long-term investing. It’s how we structured our new token launch: 10 tokens for each month you’ve been a member, so patience and persistence are rewarded.
Just like investing.
Build Community Experiences
Finally, we’ve watched closely what companies like Yuga Labs have done with their NFTs, creating member-only experiences ranging from exclusive concerts to Metaverse memberships.
Obviously our audience is more sophisticated, but we’re taking steps in this direction with our member workshops, where we’ve learned a ton about the community by talking with you in these small group settings.
One thing we’ve learned is that different audiences appreciate different channels. Some of you love Discord; some don’t even know what it is. Some appreciate in-person meetups; some prefer online. The closest to a “one size fits all” channel is email, which is why our newsletter is our primary mode of communication. (And it’s free to subscribe.)
But you can imagine much greater community experiences, available only to BMJ token holders.
I’d like you to imagine something like the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting, which is equal parts business conference, community gathering, and party – and available only to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders. Imagine that for BMJ Reward Token holders!
Or imagine smaller regional events which are fun and educational – good friends getting together to learn something new. Imagine crypto investing clubs, where members discuss the long-term potential of various tokens. Imagine members-only BMJ events at big conferences like Consensus.
Crypto makes checking membership easy: just show your MetaMask wallet at the door. If you own BMJ tokens, you’re in.
These IRL events should be a part of any crypto loyalty program: building community with like-minded investors makes the flywheel turn faster.
In my last article in this series, I’ll talk about the current state of the crypto industry, and why we believe these crypto loyalty programs (starting with the BMJ token) will kick off the next great phase of crypto growth.
Stay tuned – the future is rewarding.
