Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Forrester’s data shows that marketers have their sights set on improving loyalty in 2016. In fact, 80% of marketing decision-makers at large organizations call it a top marketing priority for the next year. And, my recent conversations with loyalty marketers reveal a desire to shift from transactional loyalty to more emotional loyalty. Marketers want a deeper, lasting relationship with customers that tugs on both emotions and purse strings. But are they actually executing on it? We surveyed 60 loyalty marketers from North America to find out.

From a strategy perspective, the marketers we surveyed aspire to, and are investing in, evolving their loyalty programs and initiatives. They turn to loyalty to drive multiple business outcomes, including retaining existing customers (of course), engaging customers, improving customer lifetime value, enriching relationships and even acquiring new customers.

Plus, they are invested in their current approach: literally and figuratively. Nearly 80% of survey respondents indicated that their programs and initiatives are effective at retaining existing customers, and a majority thinks they are effective at boosting customer profitability, improving share of wallet, enriching relationships and enhancing the customer experience. And, the majority of respondents plan to increase investments in important components of advanced loyalty, such as customer experience, analytics,...

It’s finally happening.After years of putting up with blackout dates, broken promises and bait-and-switch games, American travelers — particularly air travelers — are saying “Enough!”

They’re refusing to play the loyalty-program game, jettisoning blind brand allegiance in favor of a more pragmatic view of travel. Price and convenience are trumping mindless devotion to an airline, a car rental company or a hotel.

In a recent survey, a plurality of travelers (38 percent) said that finding the best deal topped their list, a tectonic shift from previous years, when collecting credits in a frequent-flier or frequent-stayer program was more important. Only 9 percent of travelers will book their trips based on loyalty to an airline or hotel chain, according to the poll conducted by Wakefield Research on behalf of Capital One....

For many, coupons have strange connotations. They're something moms cut out, or they're only used by poor folks or the elderly.

In reality, the opposites of these are true - coupons are incredibly popular among affluent folks and millennials (not to mention every other demographic), and they don't even have to be printed out anymore, so keep your scissors in the junk drawer.

As these statistics reveal, the coupon is still a driving force in commerce that connects people (and their wallets) to brands. People will never tire of saving money, and brands are always looking to bring in new customers. Mix in a decade-long struggling economy, and you have a savings-savvy mindset that isn't going away anytime soon.

Enjoy this collection of coupon stats, which we plan to keep updated with the most current and relevant research on an ongoing basis. If your company has completed research into these fields that we should include, please let us know....