Carlos Porras, our General Director of Loymark Mexico, proudly announced that this year’s Loyalty Summit CXM Americas successfully occurred in Los Angeles on November 15 and 16, showcasing industry innovations.
More than 40 speakers, including directors and managers of significant loyalty programs, as well as consultants and technology and data analysis providers presented and debated the current state of the industry, its challenges, and trends.
It is always valuable to participate in these events, especially to witness firsthand what is currently concerning and occupying the loyalty industry in North America, which in many cases, are the same challenges we have everywhere. This time, I had the opportunity to be there with my colleague Johan LorÃa, representing Loymark.
If you asked me what the three discussed topics were that caught my attention the most, I would say:
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Reflection on the role that artificial intelligence would have in loyalty programs going forward. Especially in analyzing behaviors, personalization processes, and interaction. In this sense, I thought the case presented by Black Tux’s company was very good, which just used AI and robots to write thousands of personalized «handwritten» letters seeking to reactivate clients. What I found most amusing about this case is that it used cutting-edge technology to implement classic and traditional direct marketing, with which, what we must understand is that technology does not necessarily come to replace the methods that work, but to enhance them.
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As a second topic to highlight, I would mention the need for innovation that most participants exhibit. The need for loyalty does not decrease, but customers demand more freshness and impact in their programs, which would not require creating new mechanics but giving them a twist to seek more preference and not just transactionality. This can translate into the opportunity to create programs with more emotional and relationship vocation and less focus on just rewards. For this, more data generated must be taken advantage of.
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Lastly, I really liked the discussion on how to elevate and better argue loyalty programs before the Boards of Directors in companies. At this point, Peter Fader, author and expert in Customer Experience, outlined 13 lessons for loyalty initiatives to be seen more as a strategy and not just as programs. Among these lessons, I highlight the idea of not focusing on all customers, but on the right ones, that is, the most profitable ones.
Many tips, concerns, and ideas to discuss. Some innovative, others classic but with new ingredients and tools to address them. What is clear is that achieving customer loyalty continues to be the number one strategy to achieve profitability and growth in business.
