Use industry standard methods such as CSS to ensure that customizing your engagement platform to support your brand's unique visual aesthetic is easy and painless. A loyalty program is an extension of your brand and thus should fit under the same branding umbrella.

One example of a brand currently mastering this concept is Staples.

To foster engagement, the office supply company created the Staples Boardroom, an online portal that allows customers to voice their opinions and experiences. Users earn points by leaving reviews, interacting with content from other users, and sharing that content on Facebook. As users earn points, they progress from intern all the way to CEO. From the badging system down to the graphic elements, such as the colored name tags denoting rank, the Staples Boardroom clearly ties back to the brand with a focus on garnering the opinions of office workers using their products.

2. What behavior do you want to encourage?

Another key step to a successful engagement-based loyalty program is determining the specific behaviors you'd like to promote and crafting your strategy around them.

For example, do products with more ratings and reviews convert better? Motivate that behavior. Are you looking to increase share of voice on social channels? Encourage customers to share photos or feedback of recent purchases on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

When developing your loyalty strategy, identify the behaviors you want to encourage and then put incentives behind them. Understanding your goals from the start will help you determine the right criteria for how users earn points and rewards.

3. Does your program have the right mix of accessibility and exclusivity?

Another important consideration for engagement-based loyalty programs is the attainability of ranking. You need to have achievable, yet appropriate, badging and rewards. Ideally, the program you create will be part of your e-commerce presence for a long time to come, allowing participants to move up the ranks in reasonable time. Loyalty levels should not be so easy that consumers can breeze through them in a matter of weeks, yet they also shouldn't be so difficult that they deter people from even trying.

Some 70% of customers abandon loyalty programs because it takes too long for rewards to accumulate, according to CRM Trends. Customers need to feel that they're making progress while being engaged a long time.

An example of a brand successfully implementing all three factors is children's toy company Step2. The company wanted to create a platform that would provide authentic content directly from its customers. It created an online platform called the Buzz Board, where shoppers can rate and review purchases and share photos and videos. As participants contribute, they earn points and move their way up the ranks, from New Bee to Queen Bee status. As users accumulate points, they earn rewards such as credits that can be applied to future purchases. From the graphic elements of the Buzz Board, like the cartoon bees and fun colors down to the whimsically named badging system, the platform's branding is clearly aligned with Step2's target audience (parents, especially moms, with young children).

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Ultimately, engagement-based loyalty is a two-way street. Participants can earn recognition, prizes and rewards, while brands and retailers collect valuable, authentic opinions and content from their most passionate customers. When implemented with these three questions in mind, engagement-based strategies create communities of brand advocates who drive repeat purchases and referrals through their advocacy.