The level of marketing fatigue continues to escalate at an astronomical rate. Consumers are actively unsubscribing as they close their wallets to irrelevant communications. The one-size-fits-all marketing tactics used in email blasts, flashy banner ads and generic direct mailers are no longer effective methods for talking to your most valued assets. Today the customer is in control and has all the power – and knows it – and they are voting with their dollars and their social network.
The recent report, The Leaders in Loyalty: Feeling the Love From The Loyalty Clubs, highlights that 54 percent of consumers polled stated loud and clear:
“keep sending me spam and irrelevant messages and I will disconnect from you and your brand.”
This backlash could not have come at a worse time as marketers are justifying their budgets, side stepping requests for headcount reductions and constantly monetizing their efforts back to the boardroom. Interestingly, acquiring and retaining motivated and engaged consumers is the number one problem facing 50 percent of marketers, yet sadly, 27.5 percent of marketers admit they have not mobilized brand loyalists to become active advocacy agents. What’s worse – nearly 20 percent don’t even have a strategy
for leveraging loyalty and brand preference among club members.
But it is not all doom and gloom. Seventy-eight percent of consumers
surveyed say they are very, or pretty, satisfied with their loyalty and
rewards program experiences and 52 percent say these programs and club
memberships strongly motivates, or is a big factor, in infl uencing buying
decisions. Consumers want to be engaged as well over half of the respondents
say they want more compelling personal benefi ts and services, as well as more relevant offers or individualized deals.
One could predict that if the savvy marketer could capitalize on these simple
requests for improved relevant touch points, by providing more personalization based on existing data and consumer interests, more loyalty and revenue could be created.
A good example of leveraging your loyalty data to grow revenue and create new revenue streams is American Airlines. Touted, and rightfully so, as the pioneer of the frequent flier program which monetizes program partnership, American Airlines’ AAdvantage is able to pull in more than $1 billion annually from its program. Unfortunately, fewer than 25 percent of marketers are following suit by seeking to add new revenue through third-party offers in their programs.
To be successful in the “tens”, marketers have to realize customer behavior
has changed markedly in this new economy. The best way to recognize these
valued relationships is to reward your customer with the right offer, at the right time in the right channel. The fastest way to quickly gain this insight is to begin leveraging your data (surveys, profi les, and other points) to deliver relevant multi-channel communications.
“Leaders are leaders only as long as they have the respect and loyalty of their followers.”
– Hans SeIiye
An important point you make is that every interaction either increases or decreases the perceived value of the brand. It’s a bit like a cocktail party of a classroom. If you have nothing important to say, often the best strategy is to say nothing.