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This comprehensive and practical guide to the latest ideas in customer-focused marketing hands you over 200 packed pages of strategy, best practices, do's and don'ts, practical know-how, facts and figures, and ideas to optimise your marketing strategy, boost sales, market share, increase ROI and profit.

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Don't ignore the new '3 Cs' of customer loyalty

It should perhaps come as no surprise to most retailers that the web has put consumers more firmly in the driver's seat than ever before, and the evolution of loyalty programmes in the US seems to reflect that trend quite clearly, the company's research found.

But, according to Laura Saati, vice president of strategic marketing services for 89 Degrees, to ignore that trend is to risk not only the membership base of your loyalty programme but also the quality of your customer relationships.

The company split its examination of customer loyalty into three key categories:

1. Convergence
   There is an ongoing merger of technology, devices and messages into one, with ever-greyer dividing lines between them. By 2016, half of the money spent by US retailers will be influenced by the web, according to Forrester Research. And research by Reach Local found that an average of 43 American consumers convert to smartphones every minute, and Cisco forecast that by the end of 2013 there will be more mobile devices on Earth than there are people. Prestige Marketing found that over 50% of e-commerce store visits occur when consumers are logged into Facebook.
2. Content
   Messages and brand conversations are becoming much more fluid as they are now being shaped by both the consumer and the retailer. Helpscout found that 64% of customers have a strong relationship with a single brand because they share the same values, and Prestige Marketing found that conversion rates are an average of 105% higher for consumers who interact with internet-based ratings and reviews. Pew Internet Research found that 46% of all adult internet users post original photos of videos online that they themselves have created, and that 41% take photos or videos that they have found online and repost them on other sites for sharing with others.
3. Contradiction
   Technology and the web are not isolating the customer experience as expected. In fact, the digital age is actually making relationships more personal, and companies now need to work harder to understand their individual customer segments: what motivates them, what's important to them, and what they really want from relationships with brands, according to a study by Accenture.

So, asks Saati, what does this emergence of the new 3 Cs mean for US loyalty programmes? Statistics also show that, for the member, discounts and savings remain a top motivator, but they want them delivered relevantly and personally. But there is a gap between member expectation and the delivery of programme value, with almost a third of members seeing little to no added value from their loyalty programme membership.

Meanwhile, retailers are working against message fatigue, irrelevance, poor experience - even geography, as some consumers in certain parts of the country are much more likely to not belong to any type of consumer loyalty programme.

Overall, the financial services sector leads US Loyalty programme membership by a large margin, followed by airlines - but the next in line, specialty retail, grew by 109% between 2006 and 2010. The entire retail industry has grown by almost 25%, and that represents a lot of momentum. Given current adoption rates, there is a very real opportunity today for greater loyalty impact and differentiation in the US retail market.

"Retailers need to deliver a customer experience that synchronises with their brand promise," concluded Saati. "They need to create an emotional imprint built on member needs and wants and, in terms of bricks-and-mortar operations, they need to drive the organic growth of store visits and spending. Failing to act on consumer demands for relevant, compelling loyalty programmes that offer real rewards will produce yet another useless loyalty programme, and a weakness that competitors will exploit."

Have you seen The Customer-Focused Marketing Playbook?

This comprehensive and practical guide to the latest ideas in customer-focused marketing hands you over 200 packed pages of strategy, best practices, do's and don'ts, practical know-how, facts and figures, and ideas to optimise your marketing strategy, boost sales, market share, increase ROI and profit.

Learn the insider's tricks and techniques to turn every customers into a 'super spreader' for your brand. It's better than free advertising. Once you start this ball rolling, your brand can grow rapidly through word-of-mouth, advocacy, influencers, and customer loyalty. Super-charge your company's marketing strategy, build up your market share, and make more sales through repeat business and customer loyalty.

Find out what works - and what doesn't - and who's succeeded, and how they did it. See how the world's top brands keep their competitive edge against all odds.

The Customer-Focused Marketing Playbook walks you step-by-step through the techniques, metrics, reporting, analysis, marketing models, technologies, tools and innovations for successful marketing strategies - both traditional and emerging - with expert guidance from thought leaders in every major market. Find out the best ways to gather, analyse, and act on customer data to increase profitability, build your brand, empower your customers, beat the competition, reduce churn, and increase customer profitability. This is a marketing book you simply can't afford to be without.

This book aims to hand you all the facts, figures and research data you need for the best decisions for a more profitable, more engaging marketing strategy. It also highlights all the facts, forecasts and trends identified by our experts from the global Marketing Factbook's vast database of market data, news, studies, research and articles, and presents you with an invaluable library of ideas and practical support you can call upon at will.

With The Customer-Focused Marketing Playbook at your side, you'll have instant access to a true goldmine of easily adaptable and up-to-date strategies, walk-throughs, trends, research and market data, plus all the supporting arguments you need to build a solid, profitable marketing strategy.

Get it on Amazon (Kindle/Print)