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The Top 4 Trends in Customer Loyalty
| So much talk about loyalty and loyalty programs, especially as everyone tries to stay afloat in these up and down times. Although more and more the talk is shifting from having a loyalty program to, as one recent restaurant blog post said, "86 your existing ‘loyalty’ programs (which are nothing more than frequency schemes) and create real loyalty through actual guest engagement programs." Now Loyalty 360, a loyalty marketer's association located in Cincinnati, Ohio, has released their "11 Key Customer Loyalty Trends for 2011." The four I found most important to the industry were: (for the entire article, click here) (1) Marketers will increasingly understand that loyalty is not a program --- it is a journey and a strategic business goal. While points programs have been around for a while, from a strategic marketing perspective building true loyalty based on a total customer experience is still relatively new and a burgeoning area most brands. Loyalty initiatives will focus on engagement and building long-term relationships. (3) Companies will increasingly look at how customer engagement and employee engagement work together to drive bottom line results. A 2009 Gallup quantified the impact of customer and employee engagement. They found that those in the upper half on customer engagement and the lower half on employee engagement, or vice versa, get a 70% boost in bottom-line results; those in the upper half on both customer and employee engagement get a 240% boost. (9) The Restaurant industry will be investing more in loyalty initiatives. Just-released research conducted by the National Restaurant Association in partnership with Loyalty 360 and rDialgue found that 84% of respondents plan to invest more in their loyalty initiatives because of their proven ability to drive business growth. (11) Marketers will integrate social gaming into their loyalty initiatives. Social gaming has become a widespread activity across practically all demographics, with AllFacebook.com reporting that there are now 200 million people playing games on Facebook every month, and 24 games have more than 10 million users per month. Traditional incentive-based marketing does not drive the level of consumer participation that can be achieved via gaming --- and it’s this sought-after participation that builds lasting relationships, engagement, brand affinity, and brand loyalty. What success are you having creating customer loyalty? Please let me know! -Margie |
3 comments
our successes are achieved through providing customers with a memorable experience, particularly making sure that the children where relevant are happy-leads in turn to happy parents who will use our accommodation time and time again.
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see our link on youtube under "oaks barn farm"
12/02/10 @ 11:15
Margie, interesting article. Another way of expressing the 4 trends is that consumers are tired of being treated like cattle and will demand that businesses treat them with more respect. Its very hard to engage a customer if your are not treating them with respect or as just another sales opportunity. Looking closely at how they are engaged, providing loyalty programs, and social gaming is just another way for businesses of telling their customers that we care about you as individuals and we appreciate the business.
The tremendous capability of consumers to communicate and the desire to hear (and respect) their peers recommendation will not allow a business to act cavalier about any aspect of their customers' experience.
Mark Norman
The tremendous capability of consumers to communicate and the desire to hear (and respect) their peers recommendation will not allow a business to act cavalier about any aspect of their customers' experience.
Mark Norman
12/03/10 @ 10:17
RE:
#3..."how customer engagement and employee engagement work together to drive bottom line results"
Getting better wine product knowledge into the customer/employee interaction mix along with passion will go along way in keeping that customer coming back to buy. Tastings, seminars and attractive pricing points are already a great start!
Rick Ellems
#3..."how customer engagement and employee engagement work together to drive bottom line results"
Getting better wine product knowledge into the customer/employee interaction mix along with passion will go along way in keeping that customer coming back to buy. Tastings, seminars and attractive pricing points are already a great start!
Rick Ellems
12/03/10 @ 10:18
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