Mike Blyth, Chief Operating Officer, Aginity will be one of the featured speakers during a session at the 7th Annual Loyalty Expo, presented by Loyalty360 – The Loyalty Marketer’s Association. The event will be held March 17-19, 2014, at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress in Orlando, Florida.
Blyth, who has a broad range of senior management experience in startup, LBO, corporate, analytics, communication, and management consulting companies, participated in an engaging Q&A with Loyalty360 to discuss personalization and customer loyalty programs.
Q: What do you see as the biggest challenges for brands to achieve personalization at the highest level?
Five key challenges: Poor data, poor analytics, poor content, poor timing, and lack of a brand advocacy program
Poor Data: Fragmented siloed data sources versus smart data organization with a 3D customer view
Poor Analytics: Insufficient analytical attributes to help drive individualized content and response predictability
Poor Content: Getting the targeting right, but poor messaging, wrong channel, poor offers, and poor recommendation content
Poor Timing: Right targeting, right content, right offers, wrong time e.g. just bought the product last week
Lack of Brand Advocacy: Brand advocates are a brilliant source of smart buzz for brands; too often brands do not invest the time and resources right to fully leverage their advocates
Q: What sets the best brands apart from the others when it comes to personalization?
The best brands solve these challenges with great data organization, smart analytics, relevant content, clever sense of timing and context, but this is foundational
Best brands develop smart, clear, and engaging brand advocacy programs
Best brands develop a deep understanding of their customers’ wants, needs, personas, preferences, and contexts
Best brands create outstanding end-to-end and cross-channel customer experiences
Above all, it takes an integrated and engaged team that has a passion for understanding and energizing their customer base
Q: With such a push for customer data and leveraging it in the best possible ways, is there ever too much information?
Never too much information–just make sure you can get the most out of it
Never seen a statistician who said limit the data sources
Key issue is how to mine the data and keep what is most relevant
Big Data needs to be translated to smart data by developing smart attributes
Q: How do you think mobile will play a role in personalization now and in the future?
Mobile is critical
It is the fastest-growing channel for customer interaction
No mobile = walking away from 20%-80% of a brand’s market
Q: What is your definition of customer loyalty and has it changed in recent years?
Really depends on the brand’s category purchase frequency and price point
Infrequent purchased, high price brands have very different profiles from frequently purchased, low price brands
Automotive versus toilet paper
Really depends on impulse versus planned purchase
Fashion cross sales versus family vacation
Usual views such as RFM, Share of Wallet, and Customer Lifetime Value are standard fare
As mobile channel and social media continue exponential growth, engagement metrics become increasingly vital loyalty measures