Loyalty programs are more important for creating loyalty with Millennials than any other group, especially for CPG, telecommunications, entertainment, and retail sectors, according to the just released Bond Brand Loyalty 2014 Loyalty Report.
According to the report, 68% of Millennials indicated they wouldn’t be loyal to a brand that doesn’t have a good loyalty program–considerably higher than Boomer parents.
Building loyalty with Millennials isn’t just about points and costly benefits, the report says. There are a lot of powerful and inexpensive ways to build loyalty with Millennials–which means smart marketers can spend a lot less money to build bonds with Millennials than their less-savvy competitors.
Millennials want a dialog with brands, the report notes. Millennials also obsess about their social following, and see the Internet as a platform to broadcast who they are and what they care about. Marketers and programs that provide Millennials with ways to share their product experiences and to make suggestions to enhance the brand have much higher satisfaction ratings.
In fact, one in two Millennials wants an opportunity to provide ideas to marketers for ways to enhance products. Millennials trust and are more influenced by their peers than most other customer segments. Loyalty programs that offer ways for Millennials to be recognized by peers and social groups have higher engagement.
For 33% of Millennials, the simple act of being recognized by their peers and social groups positively impacts how satisfied they are with the brands that enable this type of recognition.
Millennials’ mobile devices are central to everything they do, including how they engage with brands. Mobile is the primary way Millennials connect online, chat with friends, share photos, read emails, access websites and social media, and provide product ratings, the report says.
While Millennials are often characterized and criticized for their collective expectation for instant gratification, they are a generation filled with incredible possibilities.
“Marketers that create authentic experiences can bring these customers closer to their brands, creating a rich dialog for advocacy in place of a one-to-many marketing bullhorn,” the report says.
The report engaged more than 6,000 people to uncover insights on brands and loyalty initiatives. The study included industry verticals such as retail, CPG, banking, travel, and hospitality. The primary findings of the 2014 Report underscore Bond Brand Loyalty’s assertion of the shift in the marketplace with regards to brand-aligned programs, and the increasing importance and relevance of non-monetary rewards.