In today’s fast-paced business environment, where brands are constantly vying for customer attention and loyalty, it can be difficult for CFOs and executives to measure the true ROI of their loyalty programs. They might ask themselves, “Would my customers have spent this money with me anyway?” That’s why at Kobie, we don’t stop at measuring loyalty program lift and incrementality. Instead, we offer a fresh perspective. Rather than solely focusing on “How much more will your customers spend?” we also ask, “How much can we save you, and how much more valuable can your data become?”
Beyond Lift and Incrementality
For many brands, loyalty programs are seen through a traditional lens of incrementality. The thinking goes: members will spend more, we can measure that lift in comparison to non-members, and that justifies the cost of the program. While spend is undeniably important, the power of a loyalty program lies in the data it generates.
Let’s talk about it: most brands spend a significant amount of money buying external data to improve targeting, enhance marketing strategies, refine SEO efforts, and more. The truth is, the majority of that data may already be available to you within your loyalty program. By using your internal data, rich with insights from customer behaviors and emotions, you could reduce or even eliminate the need to buy expensive external datasets.
This shift in thinking turns your loyalty program into a cost-saving engine. And the savings? Those can be directly attributed to your program’s ROI.
Kobie’s Approach
At the core of our strategy is what we call, “Triple Play Data™.” This approach offers a comprehensive, 360-degree view of your customers, helping brands drive deeper engagement and create more meaningful experiences. We do this by tapping into three distinct, yet interconnected, data sets:
Transactional Data: This covers the basics – what your customers buy, how much they spend, and how often they shop. It’s the foundation of most loyalty programs.
Behavioral Data: Going beyond transactions, this data captures how customers interact with your brand across multiple touchpoints – whether it’s browsing your website, using your app, or engaging with marketing emails.
Emotional Data: Here’s where we differentiate ourselves. At Kobie, we’re leaders in understanding emotional loyalty. We don’t just know what customers buy – we understand why they buy. We tap into the emotional motivators influencing customer behavior, providing insights that help brands deliver highly personalized experiences that foster deeper connections.
By leveraging your internal data (transactional, behavioral, and emotional), you can reduce your dependency on external data sources. Imagine a world where you no longer need to purchase expensive third-party data to guide your strategies. The cost savings alone could reshape the way you view and optimize your loyalty program.
Turning Insights into Income
Brands with established infrastructure and rich data sets at their disposal often miss the opportunity to monetize those insights. Kobie’s Triple Play Data™ approach offers these brands intelligence that’s not only valuable to them – but to their partners as well.
Let’s break it down: a retail brand, for example, can monetize their customer data by selling it to Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) partners. Typically, these partners only see surface level insights – such as when the brand orders more of a particular product or reduces orders at other times. What the partners don’t see is the why behind the customer behaviors, the missing pieces of the puzzle. The brand’s loyalty program, however, collects rich, detailed data (transactional, behavioral, and emotional) that provides a nuanced understanding of customer preferences and behaviors. This information is much more valuable than what partners typically have access to, turning the brand’s loyalty data into a tool for both cost savings and revenue generation.
By placing a loyalty program at the heart of this data exchange, everyone wins. Partners gain deeper intelligence, customers enjoy a more personalized experience, and brands generate new revenue streams while lowering their data-related costs.
Go Further: You Have the Tools
If you’re running a loyalty program today, you may be missing out on its full potential. By leveraging the data already at your fingertips, you can add a new dimension of value for your brand. Reducing dependence on costly external data sources not only saves money but also creates potential for additional revenue streams, tapping into the untapped value within your loyalty program.
Reach out to our experts today to learn more and get started.
Written By: Rachel Bicking
As Kobie’s EVP of Innovation, Rachel brings a wealth of experience incubating new products and services by harnessing data-driven strategies to drive customer behaviors.
Rachel has spent her career delivering innovation through merging data, analytics, marketing and technology across industries. She injects analytics into both programs and products to generate customer loyalty and lifetime value while enabling clients with deep visibility into their performance and opportunities.
