Dive Brief:
- Research conducted by CrowdTwist and Brand Innovators found that 57% of U.S. marketers plan on increasing spending on their customer loyalty programs in 2017, eMarketer reports. The study surveyed 234 digital marketers about their loyalty programs.
- 44% of those surveyed said they would increase the budget for their loyalty programs somewhat.
- 13% expect to increase their loyalty program investment significantly, while only 4% plan to decrease spending.
Dive Insight:
Loyalty programs have long been a marketing staple. Before the advent of digital marketing, they were seen as one of the better ways to track customer purchases, and a method to gain basic customer data such as names, addresses and phone numbers that could be tapped for additional marketing like direct mail or telemarketing.
Since digital marketing has taken over those roles, loyalty programs are evolving into new role in a world where marketing has become more about customer conversations and personalization rather one-way messaging.
The latest research on loyalty programs from CrowdTwist and Brand Innovators shows that marketers still see value in loyalty programs, and expect to increase their investments in them in 2017.
Loyalty programs can still provide marketers with valuable customer insights, but now those insights can be used to personalize the messages those customers are sent. As the name suggests, loyalty programs have become more about opening a two-way dialogue with customers beyond the discounts on offer.