Are Loyalty Programs Still the Best Path to Loyalty?

If you need to water your lawn, you grab a hose.

If you need to get in shape, you purchase a gym membership.

And if you need to stem customer churn, you get a loyalty program.

Cause and effect, right? These are all problems with obvious solutions.

But are these the best solutions to the problems?

Maybe not.

A hose will help you water your lawn, but a sprinkler is more effective. An automatic sprinkler system is even better.

A gym will help you get in shape, but a nutritional plan will help out just as much, or even a good pair of running shoes.

And loyalty programs are just one of many avenues businesses can take to reducing churn, increasing spend, and building affinity.

At least, that's the position I take in this interview with omni-channel rewards platform Zinrelo.

Loyalty programs are effective when they engage members with relevant value.

The problem is people are active in less than half of the 20+ programs they're enrolled in.

What's the problem?

Most of them are too complicated, or the hurdles to getting a reward are too high, or they just don't offer anything of value.

Quite frankly, many of the programs that masquerade as "loyalty programs," are just upselling tools in disguise.

So if I were designing a loyalty program from scratch, what would it look like? And how would I measure its success?

Click here to read the interview with Zenrelo, and please share your thoughts!