GiftCard Partners Blog

Marketing has come a long way from the days when it relied heavily on intuition. Today, thanks to a wealth of consumer data available through online transactions, social media, loyalty programs, and real-time feedback, companies can develop data-backed marketing strategies. In fact, 90% of marketers say they rely on data to make decisions that improve customer journeys, increase retention, and drive revenue.

We talk a lot about employee engagement, but today let’s focus our attention on customer engagement (and as you may know, customer engagement and employee engagement correlate with each other).  The best companies know that acquiring new customers and customer retention are key to real sustainable growth, no matter what industry your company is in.  Jobs follow customers. Without your customers there would be no company. Over the last 5 years, gaining and retaining customer has been difficult and the customer base has changed dramatically.  Customers are more cautious about spending and demanding more in return. Over the next 30 years, roughly
$140 trillion in new customer spending will be up for grabs! The best companies set out to win their customers over for life. They also understand that customer engagement is not something that happens overnight. Each encounter with a customer has a chance to strengthen and even undermine a customer/company relationship. Strong customer engagement creates customers that spend more, visit more, and promote your company, all while resisting competitors and forgiving mistakes. The economic landscape has improved over the last year and companies can make significant progress in growing their customer base. Last year the greatest percentage of customers were fully engaged based on global data analysis – more than at any other point in the last 5 years.  Companies should focus on optimizing every customer interaction, create emotional connections with their customer, and constantly measure customer engagement (a good method is surveying customers either online or in-store). With meaningful data, companies can easily spot positive trends to build on and eliminate negative issues before they become problematic. Want more insight into your customers?  Download the State of the American Consumer:
Insight for Business Leaders from Gallup, Inc.
here!

Everyone's walked into (and presumably grabbed a coffee from) a Starbucks at least once. In many American cities you can't stand on a street corner without seeing that Mermaid logo somewhere in your 360 degree view. Starbucks has led the way in a lot of areas including employee compensation, employee training and consumer experience. Starbucks cares so much about consumer experience that they offer a full feedback loop with consumers and their app is so well designed that it has made them a (if not the) leader in mobile payments. The Starbucks app combines mobile payments and their loyalty program enables them to get consumers through the line faster, reward them for repeat purchases and streamline the consumers' checkout process. Starbucks is the mobile payments ideal, as it exists to enhance a consumers' experience at the point of sale. Setting aggressive goals to almost double their mobile payment transaction this year is what makes Starbucks an example for mobile payments across the board. Since consumers are so attached to their cell phones, bringing the check out process to their device is a great way to ensure the revenue potential skyrockets.
For more information on Howard Shultz' view on mobile payments head over to Bloomberg Businessweek.

In the bustling world of consumerism, one demographic holds a significant sway over household purchases, brand loyalty, and repeat business: moms. These influential decision-makers not only drive a substantial portion of household spending but also play a crucial role in shaping brand perceptions and driving repeat purchases. To harness the full potential of this demographic, brands must prioritize engaging moms with tailored strategies that foster brand loyalty and drive long-term growth.

Achieving customer loyalty is no doubt one of the biggest challenges our clients face…it’s a moving target. Not only are consumer needs evolving by the day, but retail marketing is impacted by new consumer technologies, for online and brick-and-mortar buying. We have a general picture of how technology is effecting our brand content flow, buying experience, and rewards and loyalty – we are consumers ourselves and we participate in one or all of these brand experiences every day. But how are these technologies effecting our clients? They are retailers and merchants who partner with us to promote their gift cards in programs such as customer loyalty, engagement, and rewards. They are on the front lines of technology evolution, retail marketing, and customer loyalty and engagement and their challenges are multiplied by selling in the B2B marketplace. Check out the
Ten Ways Technology Can Enable Customer Loyalty Infographic posted on the Huffington Post online.