Are You Watering Your Merchant-Funded Loyalty Program?
Watering Your Merchant-Funded Loyalty Program Merchant-funded loyalty programs are not fire and forget All too often we see brands go to great lengths to design a best-in-class merchant-funded loyalty program, focus a lot of energy on the program design and launch strategy and then completely flounder when it comes to ongoing consumer engagement. Why go through extensive processes of competitor analysis, concept design, rounds of creative revisions, platform optimization, hand-selecting merchants to appeal to your Read more …
Big Data and Loyalty
Big Data and Loyalty By Linda Butcher, Chief Business Development Officer We’re all collecting data on our customers. We know all about their behavior, age, income, geography. We know the products they use, how they search, their payment source, sex, nationality, email, source, brand, spend, and the list goes on. But what does it actually tell us? Can you really change behavior by looking at analytics? Data Offers Profiles, not Predictions What the data does Read more …
Science, Healthcare and Loyalty
I have been in technology, healthcare, and loyalty for 30 years. Yes, even I agree that it’s an odd combination. My first career was actually as a Registered Nurse. The science behind the clinical applications has always intrigued me. Science and healthcare are never ending pursuits for understanding. It is so easy to get caught up in analyzing lab results or treatment results that we forget there is a person on the other end. It’s Read more …
Why Do Customer Loyalty Programs Fail?
Why Do Customer Loyalty Programs Fail? Engagement is the life blood of any loyalty program. The higher the engagement, the better your program looks to those from the outside. You could hire consultant after consultant and do focus groups all day and night to build the greatest program ever. Next, you could spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to build this shrine to loyalty. Imagine, you get excited as the launch grows near. You are about Read more …
Customer Loyalty Programs for Healthcare
Customer Loyalty Programs for Healthcare Loyalty programs for healthcare should be simple. Patients are customers. They want the same perks and benefits that any customer wants. Patients are no different than our retail counterpart’s customers. They are demanding. They have high expectations and they expect something for free. Using customer loyalty and rewards programs to increase compliance, improve health, improve satisfaction, save money, and increase revenue should be a no brainer. We should always be Read more …
Is 1% Cash Back Enough for Anyone to Really Care?
Is 1% Cash Back Enough for Anyone to Really Care? I think we can all agree that 1% cash back only matters to people when they are about to make a large purchase; otherwise, it isn’t enough to change a behavior unless it is combined with something else. We know from our surveys and program stats that cash is king. When customers have a choice, cash is the number one redemption option. It really doesn’t Read more …
Why Google Analytics is the 51st Shade of Grey (Part 2)
Why Google Analytics is the 51st Shade of Grey (Part 2) Last time, we touched on the highlights of Google Analytics’ service offerings: Google Analytics Reports Google Analytics Dashboards Users Flow Demographics In this blog, we will deep dive into more areas of Google Analytics to show you just how much you can learn about your customers. Before we get started, it would be prudent of me to point out that collecting data about your Read more …
Even With Loyalty, Timing is Everything
Even With Loyalty, Timing is Everything In the past, I have talked about using merchant-funded rewards to both reward your members and to make your program profitable. I have also spoken of goals and budgets for your program. Now let’s talk about how we tie all those things together. Timing is EVERYTHING When I say timing is everything, I do not mean the timing in which you give the reward to the member. That is important, Read more …
Does It Pay to be Loyal to Your Company?
Does It Pay to be Loyal to Your Company? Welcome to 2015. I know we are halfway done with the year, but today is a new day. We have come to a point in the war for consumer loyalty that a good product, fair price, and friendly service are no longer enough. Consumer Benefits These days, everyone now has a loyalty program and most of them look the same. Most people I talk with would not Read more …
What Is Your Budget?
What Is Your Budget? This is a question that gets asked in some form in just about every sales conversation. Sometimes the question is never asked. A good consultant will always ask. I know it is uncomfortable to ask, but it is something that must be asked. Even though it can be hard to say, it is one question that should always be asked. My wife watches a ton of HGTV. She is always complaining about the Read more …