In this podcast we are joined by the Queen of Loyalty Jillian Dimoff, Strategic Account Executive at Marigold Engage+.
For those with sharp memories and keen ears, yes Jillian and Julian are back together with all their “J’s,” “I’s,” “L’s,” “A’s,” and “N’s.” Kayla has a couple of “A’s” and an “l” to offer as well.
This time around, we’re going to tackle the business challenges we often face when chatting to brands interested in changing up and evolving their existing customer loyalty program.
Keep an ear out for Ratatat, Flight of the Conchords, and Cookie Monster.
Highlights include:
00:44 to 07:34
We start off by discussing the evolving needs and demands consumers have for the traditional loyalty programs they are part of. Many brands are struggling to keep up with changing consumer expectations. How do you adapt your existing loyalty program to include more and go beyond discounts? If your current vendor can’t create more emotive programs what are some of the obstacles in the way for a brand to prevent wholesale change?
To keep up brands can either create an entirely new program or try and patch together their existing one – both can seem daunting. With the former there are uncertainties that accompany ripping up all that has gone before. With the latter, the challenge is that they can only work within the constraints of their existing setup. Thus the conundrum, invest in a new vendor and partner or patchwork your existing offering.
08:05 to 11:59
For those bold enough to say “out with the old, in with the new” what are some of the latest trends in loyalty?
The most important shift has been towards understanding loyal customers better, using all the data available in much smarter ways, such as adding layers of personalization. Personalized incentives and offers, native to any current loyalty program, are key. People are different — embrace it. Just don’t offer Jillian a baguette.
12:30 to 18:51
We now move onto best practices when it comes to communicating with your loyalty members via your loyalty program. With so many mediums available the overarching theme for a successful loyalty program is to meet the customer where they are at the right time. Is your current offering able to do this?
To emphasize the importance of this subject Jillian and Kayla discuss a recent Econsultancy report which stated 27% of consumers aren’t loyal because they aren’t being communicated to. How can brands prevent this? Furthermore according to Forrester, in their “Future of Enterprise Marketing report,” 39% of marketers are trying to find out ways to truly integrate online and offline interactions. What would Jillian suggest to encourage brands to make the right investments around loyalty and developing a single customer view to help with this?
19:31 to Close
What is the tipping point for a brand marketer to drive them to create a completely new loyalty program?
- Building frustrations with existing program limitations.
- Lack of insights and analytics to help their loyalty offerings moving forward.
- A feeling that the existing provider is holding their creative vision back.
As for an approach to solving these, our flexible solution and our ability to help with data and function migration is key. Marigold Loyalty can lift and shift, taking the existing successful elements and incorporating these into the new program, including all of your existing member data.
To conclude we briefly discuss how those brands with a more rounded and robust Loyalty program have coped with Covid-19 better than those without. Loyalty is more important than ever to maintain and retain the customer relationship. Customers today relate to brands that better understand them as individuals; brands who understand the emotional impact they can have in the wider world.
For more of the same why not check
out other episodes of Uncaged Wisdom?
