Respond better to customer needs with loyalty data

Loyalty programs are an effective way to learn more about individual customers and customer groups. They enable you to respond even better to their needs and realize more targeted special offers and marketing and loyalty campaigns. How do customers behave on the different channels? What do they buy from you that makes them stay with you? Is it always the same or does it vary? Which elements of your loyalty program make the difference when it comes to customer loyalty?

To make sure you don't have to rely on customer service feedback or online customer reviews, we recommend that you look at data you can gather and analyze from your loyalty program. This is not a 'standard function' within these kinds of programs, so it is a good idea to build this into your loyalty platform, preferably at an early stage.

Really get to know your customers with existing and new data from your loyalty program

Your existing channels (physical store, online store, website, mobile app and social media) already generate a lot of data about customers and visitors. It is important that you start analyzing this data. You can do this by following these five steps:

1)    Focus primarily on the active customers and thus on the most valuable group. Determine for your brand what the best metric is for this value. For example, total turnover per customer, satisfaction, the duration of the customer relationship or another metric.

2)    Start with the data analysis of that select group so that you get a good picture of the key customer groups and profiles.

3)    Start the engagement of the first loyalty campaign. Enrich existing customer data with the generated loyalty data.

4)    Start small and then roll out the enhanced loyalty program more widely.

5)    Innovate the loyalty program based on insights from the loyalty campaigns and the enriched customer datasets.

Connecting systems

Many companies already have an e-commerce platform and / or use CRM and CMS systems. Customer data is already being monitored within this type of platform. Existing systems with customer data should therefore be linked to your loyalty platform.

The process of linking systems can vary in terms of complexity. Often this is done via APIs, and in some cases it is more custom-developed at the technical level.

In some cases, for example if the loyalty program offers 'rewards' in the form of partners' products, it is necessary to establish links with third-party systems. So make sure you keep insight into the data on the performance of your loyalty program, even if the handling or processing of rewards is done by partners. After all, you want to know whether the products of third parties that you offer within your loyalty program actually appeal to your customers.

you can find details in our loyalty case bundle about which systems other companies have linked up with

Making the right data accessible can therefore determine the success of your loyalty program and provide new insights about your customers. Make sure you have a data-driven loyalty strategy to further deepen customer relationships and reward them in a way that suits both your brand and your customers.