Loyalty programs: use data for goodness (sake)!

The interweb is awash with articles on data (daata/dayta*)… data parties and cookies (sounds like a feast), data and personalisation, data security, data quality, data and privacy, data and hacking, data ethics, data collection and use, data audits, data as a product, data and insights, data is not information, data and analytics, data compliance, data governance, data science, data processing, data and machine learning, data and AI, data and consent, data pooling, data lakes, data warehouses, personal data, transactional data, demographic data, behavioural data, data is the new oil, data as a valuable business asset, data today, data tomorrow, data and technology, customer data platforms, it’s not your data…it’s my data, data this, data that, data here, data there, data everywhere!

(*How do you pronounce data -  daata or dayta?)

I am not demeaning or diminishing the world of data we live in, only focusing on the proliferation and the temperature (it’s hot) of discussion and debate on this one all-encompassing word = DATA!

About 19,030,000,000 research results for ‘data’

Interestingly and for some context (or comparison), ‘google’ had about 25,270,000,000 results when searched.

While there are so many topics around this one word - DATA, there is one aspect of data that I personally feel needs some more discussion.

Loyalty programs: use data for goodness (sake)!

My perspective on the data debate is simple:

  • If you are asking for data, use it. Why bother asking for data and then leave it to pixelate and fade into obscurity? Data not used for ‘goodness’ is one poor indicator of RODI (return on data investment)
  • More importantly, use data collected for the sake of ‘goodness’ for the customer. Use data in a personalised and relevant way to benefit the customer who provides their data.

There are many more good reasons to use data from a business perspective including the insights gleaned to benefit the business, however let’s simply focus on the customer for now and specifically the loyalty program member (loyalty program members are customers.)

Why? Loyalty program members have greater expectations of loyalty programs to use their data in a personalised and relevant way

According to our latest For Love or Money™ 2022 research report, 45% of loyalty program members have a greater expectation of loyalty programs they are a member of to use their data in a personalised and relevant way.

With expectations comes great(er) responsibility.

Use the data you collect. Your customers expect you to use their data (have a look at some of the comments in the image provided).

“Open responses from members of loyalty programs indicate many see it as a privilege for loyalty programs to have access to member personal details and accordingly expect their data to be treated sensitively and in a personalised and relevant way”

Use the data sensitively and smartly for their ‘goodness’.

Use data for goodness (sake)! 

Have a happy loyalty day!