If your inbox is anything like mine, you currently have three webinar invites that you accepted but will never attend, five emails from sales reps harassing you to take a trial, and at least twenty articles you’ve bookmarked to read… later.
Marketers are constantly looking for solutions to increase message penetration, optimize programs, deepen engagement… and a ton of other buzzwords we use on the daily. But there is so. much. noise.
We wanted to know more about how our digital loyalty programs could really help the needs of brand marketer’s — help them develop great relationships with their customers.
To cut through all that noise and answer these questions, PunchTab collaborated with talkTECH to host an evening of real conversation with a diverse group of folks from brands, media and technology companies in order to find out what’s really going on for marketers when it comes to loyalty.
After the wine glasses were filled as high as possible, the attendees kicked off the night with an impromptu therapy session, expressing the problems they faced when engaging new and existing customers.
We weren’t surprised to hear that the challenges with loyalty and engagement were the same despite differences in space, product, and focus. What are the main problems at times still eluding, even great brands?
1. Finding the right consumers.
2. Getting customers engaged in meaningful ways.
3. Transforming customers into brand advocates.
And there’s so much fear. Overall consumer participation in loyalty and incentives programs has jumped 19 percent in the U.S. since 2007, according to research by Colloquy, but there still seems to be a challenge in getting executive buy-in to implement a loyalty program. Decision makers are concerned about ROI, and also sometimes doubt that meaningful relationships can be forged using incentives.
And to be honest, things like the classic frequent flyer programs going to help to turn the tide. Traditionally, loyalty programs rely on a BOGO model. Buy something, get points. But what about all the other activity that drives positive Word of Mouth and social advocacy?
Kristen Cullen from Panera Bread said, “We want to move beyond just the POS loyalty program we have now… we want to tie in to all these other online touch points and see what other drivers we can benefit from. We need a holistic solution.”
We heard brands realizing that they can reward users for actions and actually drive preference and purchase. The question is been how to effectively get this done.
“Loyalty is preference. Meaning at the end of the day if you have bad product, loyalty is not going to solve that problem,” said, Angela Sanfilippo, CMO at PunchTab. “If you have a competitive product, loyalty programs can actually mobilize people to talk about it and can do a lot to drive other users to your brand.”
In a recent internal study, we discovered that moms, who represent 2.1 Trillion in annual spend, trust recommendations from other moms. In fact, the study revealed that recommendations from another mom are 2x’s as effective as sponsored ads or content.
“By doing simple things across channels, like rewarded consumers for writing reviews and sharing them on social; well, you’re creating instant consumer confidence,” Mrs. Sanfilippo went on to say.
What about that ROI?
With so much competition, today’s consumers expect to get more from their purchase than just the products they’re putting in their basket. According to the 2013 Maritz Loyalty Marketing Report, the average consumer is a member of 7.4 loyalty programs, with 71% open to joining another. By using loyalty programs that reward behavior on all channels of communication, across the entire portfolio of brands, CPG companies can begin to reinforce loyalty and engagement, and ultimately drive brand preference, creating upsell opportunities.
Research shows that moms, a powerhouse in spend, are willing to go the distance for the best offer. If offered rewards, 81% of moms are willing to interact with brands socially. There’s a huge opportunity to be that brand. 73% of moms would engage more with companies that have loyalty programs. This is a strategic advantage for companies to drive preference. If you provide moms with the right incentives, you can enhance word-of-mouth and drive sales across an entire brand portfolio.
As we wrapped up the evening with the traditional business card swap, one thing was definitely clear: Marketers are as bombarded by marketing messages as consumers. And if we’re going to team up to solve their pain points, we need to listen more.
The ultimate goal for all players involved is to be more relevant when talking to consumers. Whether you’re displaying and ad or making an offer. You need to listen and use data to tailor your communications.
We listened to our customers — the brands — and we were able to gain new perspective about how our company can build better products that meet the needs of our customers,
As technology vendors, we need to internalize the needs of our customers to build better products. As great brands, our customers need to internalize, through good data, the personalities and behaviors of those who love their brands, to better create great offers and targeted marketing opportunities.
When we react, based on listening and learning, we can create better solutions.