Customer loyalty is the most valuable asset a company may have. But many brands are not effectively using data to propel it, judging by a study from Zeta Global: The Underutilized Superpower Hidden
In Loyalty Data, conducted by Forrester.
“Most loyalty marketers understand loyalty data is essential for achieving long-term relationship goals but their
ability to execute lags,” the study states. “Instead of using it to its full potential, marketers sit on valuable first-party member data because they lack a proper strategy and/or the
technical resources to turn data into insights that can be incorporated into personalized offers, campaigns, and experiences.”
Of the companies polled, 53% say loyalty is their
primary driver of customer engagement. And 35% say it plays a secondary/supportive role.
Yet most have partially or minimally integrated loyalty data with other internal data sources.
Only 32% have fully integrated it, while 45% have partially done so, 18% minimally and 5% not at all. That’s a big problem, especially for email marketers.
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The biggest barriers to using
loyalty data are:
- Data quality or completeness issues—61%
- Poor integration—57%
- Organizational silos—48%
- Limited internal expertise or resources—45%
- Lack of technology capabilities—37%
- Unclear ROI or business case—25%
None of the respondents said they don’t face any barriers.
How do brands measure loyalty program success? They cite:
- Retention and
loyalty—64% - Customer Lifetime Value—55%
- Purchase frequency—50%
- Revenue per customer—44%
- Engagement rates—38%
- Average order value—34%
- Level of personalization—32%
Meanwhile, their goals are
stronger brand advocacy/reputation (29%), increased revenue per customer (20%), more effective predictive analysis (18%) and more positive word of mouth on social media (18%).
Ready to
game up your loyalty program? Here are the tools that can help:
- Customer data centralization—65%
- Advanced analytics tools—57%
- AI-driven personalization—51%
- Omnichannel activation—49%
- Customer data enrichment—38%
- Identity
resolution—32% - Internal alignment/collaboration—31%
- External expertise or consulting—25%
Forrester surveyed 310
customer loyalty/success and marketing decision-makers and high-level practitioners in February and March.
