But small business rewards programs can be looked at differently, too. Entrepreneurs and small business owners can take advantage of a rewards program that does more than just benefit their business. They can take part in a program that benefits the entire community.

Take note of what’s happening in Columbus, Ohio, where close to 200 local business are participating in what they’re calling the Small Business Beanstalk community card program. This is a program that aims to benefit all small businesses in the local area that sign up to be a part of the card. So if you’re a resident of Columbus, Ohio, and you receive one of these cards, you can get discounts for shopping at not just one business, but an entire community worth of small businesses.

There’s strength in numbers, and this is also true when it comes to small business rewards programs.

All kinds of discounts, freebies and rewards are available through the card. And some companies turn the card into a full-fledged loyalty program where customers can get even larger rewards or advantages the more frequent they make a purchase.

Here are six ways you can spice up and promote your small business rewards and loyalty programs:

Use With Email Marketing: Always make sure you leverage your existing email marketing and landing pages to promote any small business rewards programs you’ve got in the works. Have fun with the design but make sure to include the appropriate branding in your marketing.

Social Media Rewards: Promote your small business rewards and loyalty programs via your Facebook and Twitter account. Create a special “hashtag” and offer up some even deeper discounts or rewards for the person that “retweets” your promotion with the hashtag included.

Promote Through Newsletters: Hopefully you’re sending out monthly or quarterly newsletters talking about different aspects of your company. Make sure you use this opportunity to talk about your rewards program so that your most loyal customers know about your latest updates.

Blogging and Web site Promotions: Set up a blog that’s dedicated to your small business rewards programs or designate a special section on an existing Web site. See the user-generated contests below for additional ideas in leveraging your blog.

Guerrilla Marketing Campaigns: Get out on the street to promote your small business rewards programs. Get creative in finding ways to promote your program within the community.

User-Generated Contests: Have your customers make videos or take photos depicting the different ways they used products they purchased at your store with the small business rewards programs points or discounts. People love to feel a part of the action, so include them in a fun way. Plus, these videos will hopefully serve almost as little commercials and endorsements of your product or service.

Try incorporating these ideas into your next rewards program and be sure to come back and leave us a comment of the results.

Fellow blogger Ben Coy shares an interesting story about an experience he encountered with a loyalty program at his local Smoothie King small business, which makes me think small business and franchisees still need more loyalty program tips. Above and beyond the loyalty program, though, Ben first ran into trouble with a coupon he tried to use. Smoothie King wouldn’t honor a coupon during a “Happy Hour” promotion open to all customers – not just ones in their rewards program.

No big deal, right? It’s understandable (sort of) if you can’t use a coupon during a special promotion. But at least Ben’s a “loyal” customer and he had his rewards card on him where he gets a stamp each time he purchases a smoothie, ultimately resulting in a free smoothie once he has filled up his stamp card.

Again, no dice because of the Happy Hour promotion.

So Ben asks the question, is it fair to keep your loyal customers from taking advantage of a loyalty program in favor of every other paying customer? And above and beyond it being fair, is it smart?

Ben sent Smoothie King a question and an executive-level company official did in fact get back to him with an explanation and free coupons. Sure this impressed Ben – as it would I – but in our opinion the damage had already been done.

Here are some loyalty program tips. Loyalty programs should be designed to truly reward the customers that keep coming back. Small business should always go above and beyond the call of duty to keep them happy. As Ben points out, these customers no longer mean just an additional entry in the piggy bank for companies. They’re also brand advocates talking up your company experience to friends, family and the potentially thousands of acquaintances in their social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Here’s Ben’s full story.

What’s your take? Was Smoothie King right or wrong for taking away the loyalty program during a special promotion? Please leave a comment.

1. Search Engine Optimization: SEO is useful because it’s all based on specially placed keywords that help your blog or Web site rank in Google and other search engines. People and businesses are going to continue flocking to Google to find everything that’s on their minds. But small businesses are still fuzzy on what makes a good keyword and how to use it to rank higher in searches. Add in the importance of long-tail keywords and you’ve got a situation ripe with confusion. Despite all of this, SEO is going to continue to be one of the biggest drivers of online marketing success for small business – and many know it. Plus, there’s lots of places on the Web to help small business learn how to do SEO successfully (ahem, you’re at one of those places). Here’s an additional resource to help you with SEO: Search Engine Optimization Bible

JA says test

UM (UnderstandingMarketing.com) says invest

2. Paid Search: Also known as Pay Per Click (PPC), paid search is the sister of SEO. You still rely on specially selected keywords to drive traffic to your site, but instead of natural placement in Google, you’re competing for the paid placements and ads on the Google pages. PPC works but only if you’re spot on with your keyword selection. Although the prices will continue to come down, those little costs can certainly add up if you’re not on target with your keywords. Because there’s an investment here we’re not as bullish as John, but we still feel you should test it out. For small business marketing advice here’s an additional resource to help you understand paid search techniques: Pay-Per-Click Search Engine Marketing Handbook

JA says invest

UM says test

3. Email Marketing: This is one area we both agree on. Email marketing is a great way for a small business to reach out to customers, existing and new ones, because of two primary reasons: 1) most people still prefer email as their number one source of information, and 2) it’s a relatively inexpensive way to do marketing. These two reasons, coupled with the big opportunities in landing pages for even stronger conversions, makes us very high on this tactic in 2010. Here are a few additional resources for you to do landing pages and email marketing: Landing Page 101, and of course The Constant Contact Guide to Email Marketing.

JA says invest

UM says invest

4. Social Marketing: Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and a host of other social networking tools came on strong in 2009, especially for small business. Every time I went to a small business in the last six months the owner not only told me he/she was highly interested in social marketing, but many of them were already using one or two tools. Look for social marketing to be even bigger in 2010 for small business because of it’s very inexpensive cost for marketing as well as it’s strength in local marketing focus. Here are a few more resources for social media marketing for small business – Twitter, or check out Facebook Marketing, or even take a peek at The Facebook Era.

JA says test

UM says invest

5. Blogging: More small businesses now have blogs either to complement their existing Web site or actually to replace their Web site. Small business online marketing advice says either one can be an effective strategy, even for events promotions. But John makes a good point in saying blogging to drive traffic is different than blogging to drive sales. Using a blog to drive traffic is still a good idea. But even we’re not sold on the notion that you can set up a blog and all of a sudden turn your blog into a cash register. Add in the fact that a blog is most successful when it’s a community and you may want to consider putting on the brakes if you want your blog to be a sales machine. Here is another resource for building a successful blog, 42 Rules of Social Media for Small Business.

JA says let it rest

UM says let it rest

6. Web Presence: This one is a bit interesting since it may not be what you think. Yes, having a Web presence is an important fact. John’s not debating this, nor will we. Where you place emphasis on your Web presence is the discussion here. In 2010 small business will have to change its way of thinking in that it’s all about getting traffic to your Web presence. Rather it’s more important now to place your Web presence where the traffic is. Do paid search on others’ Web sites or even places like YouTube.com, for example. If you know lots of eyeballs will be on other Web sites, you’ll want to consider placing your Web presence there as well. Here’s another resource for you The Online Advertising Playbook.

JA says invest

UM says test

7. Mobile Marketing: An interesting marketing platform that will get more looks in 2010 is mobile marketing. Some companies now have the technology to beam messages to your cell phone from wherever you may be headed. For example, if you are walking through the doors of a Best Buy, imagine if you all of a sudden get a text message on your phone that includes a Best Buy coupon. Small business can take advantage of this kind of technology as well. It deserves more look, though. Here’s another small business online marketing advice resource for mobile marketing, The Mobile Marketing Handbook.

JA says test

UM says test

8. Podcasting: Ask yourself if you can name five podcasts or Internet-based radio shows/stations? If you failed to do so you’re probably in the majority. We like blog talk radio and we also like podcasting. But is it something you’ll want to focus heavily on for marketing as a small business in 2010? Probably not. Podcasting is a technology that has struggled to get on its feet and will most likely continue to struggle in 2010, and it doesn’t help that many small businesses are often intimidated about doing their own podcast. It may still be in its infancy with a bright future, but just not right now. There are some really fantastic shows on blog talk radio and you should put on your PR hat to take advantage of these. Here’s another resource for podcasting for small business, The Complete Guide to Audio and Video Podcasting or also check out Podcasting Bible.

JA says let it rest

UM says let it rest

9. Online Video: Not only are videos fun and easy to watch, but with YouTube also a part of Google, videos are very searchable with keywords and tags. Small businesses should definitely be running to purchase video cameras like the Flip to easily produce videos they can post online. 2010 will be a big year for videos and online marketing. Here’s another online video resource for you, Marketing With Video.

JA says invest

UM says invest

10. Coupons: The use of tools like social media marketing and mobile marketing will make coupon offerings pretty innovative, intuitive and exciting for small business. Technology even makes it easy to utilize coupon marketing for local audiences, too. Even some “older” marketing tools like landing pages, which have proven their worth in providing great ROI for incentives like coupons, will continue in 2010. We’re bullish. Here’s another resource for you in using coupons for your small business, Hug Your Customers, and also Customer Loyalty is Priceless.

JA says invest

UM says invest

Here’s John Arnold’s list.

What are some of your marketing predictions for small business and 2010? We’d love for you to chime in here.

In other loyalty program-relates news (anti-loyalty program may be a better fit), Gwilym Davies, the World Barista Champion (I’m not a coffee lover so I’ll reserve judgment here) has launched what may be the first “disloyalty program.” Under the program (which apparently benefits multiple stores, not just one), the world’s favorite ambassador of coffee wants to encourage people to try different brews in and around London. If you use the card at eight or so different coffee shops you’ll get rewarded with free coffee.

Here at UnderstandingMarketing.com we’ve always been big fans of loyalty programs that are tied in together with other small businesses that don’t necessarily compete with each other but rather complement each other. As an example (and pointed out by resident marketing expert Chrisanne Sternal), a wedding photographer, cake decorator, planner and invitation company can all team together since they, for the most part, share the same customers without competing directly with one another. This type of a relationship is great to share in the costs of marketing so that you each help to grow one another’s business.

What are your thoughts of a disloyalty program?

She’s still focusing on her core business, which is designing fashions, but she’s entirely dedicated to making her new retail location a success. Her designer fashions and customer service are key reasons why many of her long-time customers are now shopping at her retail location. But do keep them coming back she needs to be focused on all the little details that make a good customer service program a successful one.

The customer experience is a big part of her store’s successful customer service levels. Lamonica has a piano and coffee bar for shoppers (making her retail store more of a ‘fashion destination,’ adding to an already welcoming experience for many shoppers). She also makes it a point to host events at her location to drive even more traffic. In addition, she has additional customer service rules that include subtleties like returning customer phone calls, meeting deadlines and double-checking orders. These little details work in concert with other areas of marketing to provide the big picture. for example, email marketing tied in with direct mails and postcards to promote events. And Lamonica is also on Twitter as a way to engage with her audience in a social networking community.

Many small business owners need to pay close attention to these details because good customer service can often make all the competitive difference in the world. We often preach here about having attention-grabbing marketing and PR programs, but it all means nothing if the customer experience falls short.

How do you go the extra distance with your customer service? Tell us about it here.