Loyalty 360 recently asked its members on what should a loyalty program be based. The results:
These results clearly show how the loyalty programs have evolved. Customer loyalty programs were first implemented on a wide scale basis by S&H Green Stamps in the 1930’s. Consumer purchases were rewarded with stamps which could be redeemed for products. The simple idea of encouraging repeat business by rewarding customers for their loyalty has been played out by companies industry wide over and over and over.
But in the last few years, things changed ---- dramatically. Corporate scandals eroded the trust that customers have in marketers. Social media put the customer in the driver’s seat. And the challenging economic environment made commodities out of products that were typically not bought based on price.
Yes… the world has changed. And marketers have realized that while spend and number of transactions are important, customer engagement is the holy grail. Why? Because with engagement comes loyalty, advocacy, trust, passion ---- the soft side of the customer relationships that directly impacts the bottom line.
At the upcoming Loyalty Expo 2010 (www.loyaltyexpo.com) we will be taking a closer look at how best to create and implement loyalty programs that drive bottom line results. Thoughts leaders from a variety of companies ---- including Intercontinental Hotel Groups, Hampton Inn, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Motorola, Citibank, Wells Fargo, Sears/K-Mart, Progressive Insurance, A&P, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Cigna, Delta, Love’s Travel Shops, Kaiser Permanente, Maritz, Brand Keys, Recycle Bank, Farmers Insurance Group, Saks Fifth Avenue, Recycle Bank, Best Buy, LoyaltyOne, Carlson Marketing, AMC Theaters, Hawaiian Airlines, EMC, SiriusXM Satellite Radio, Wells Fargo, Capital One, Speedway SuperAmerica, Sprint, Citi Bank and more --- will delve into social media, mobile marketing, metrics/analytics, point-of-sale, multi-channel marketing, voice of customer, corporate social responsibility, driving loyalty program participation, and more.
I invite you to join us at Loyalty Expo 2010 June 6-8 in Orlando. It’s three days you will not want to miss!
Are you currently using social media to communicate with your customers?
Your Comments2 Comments
by mjblake on August 4th 2010 at 2:13pm
Engaging customers is what it should all be about. Some companis have customers that are passionate about them. Apple has customers like that. Loyalty programs should aim to capture and engage their customers in the same manner.
by Mark Sage on August 22nd 2010 at 4:30pm
Spend/transaction volume are behaviours which can be recognized/rewarded. Deeper engagement however is an outcome of a good programme and is hard to recognize/reward in itself. Instead engagement is created from a number of positive interactions and it is these that need to be recognized and rewarded whatever they are.
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