Loyal Customers

“When making a purchase, a consumer has a choice between using frequent-flier miles, cash, or some combination thereof. Which will he or she choose? Another consumer has an opportunity to participate in a special program to get a free car wash after paying for a certain number of washes. What’s the best way for the car-wash owner to motivate the customer to participate?”

Here is a very good summary of the latest in the area of customer loyalty in academics. Article and associated papers talk about efficacy of ‘combined currency’ (dollars and miles) programs, ‘artificial advancements’ and ’status’.

As marketers use more complex loyalty schemes and techniques, the importance of testing marketing campaigns becomes very important. Proper campaign management processes and governance structure within the marketing department helps the companies to structure test and roll out the most profitable marketing campaigns to the customer base.