Executive Summary

Keeping current customers is still cheaper, easier and more efficient than acquiring new ones. Tactics may have changed somewhat in a digital world, but loyalty marketing and ensuring a good post-conversion customer experience remain key responsibilities of marketers.

How loyal are consumers in today’s landscape of choice and fragmentation?

It’s hard to measure an overall concept like “loyalty,” but one indicator is the continued health of loyalty programs. Most US internet users across all age groups over 25 belong to some type of loyalty program, including more than two-thirds of those 35 and older with supermarket memberships and a majority of younger adults who have some type of retail membership, according to YouGov.

How are marketers messaging to current customers?

Email is still the most important digital channel for current customer relationships, though some marketers’ email programs leave a lot to be desired. Display retargeting, social media marketing and direct mail also have a place. And for some brands, a subscription basis is another way to keep in constant touch with customers.

What upcoming trends and influences may affect future practices?

In some ways, post-conversion marketing efforts avoid the pitfalls of the current privacy debates because past customers have chosen to have some type of relationship with marketers. But simply being a past customer doesn’t mean consumers want to keep sharing data or approve of all the ways marketers are using that data. So, regulation and consumer sentiment still have an important effect here. A continued push toward a customer-centric focus may also affect marketer priorities as they look to do what consumers say will keep them coming back.

WHAT’S IN THIS REPORT? This report investigates how marketers are messaging to current and past customers to keep them loyal and satisfied in the post-conversion stage of the purchase journey.

KEY STAT: According to November 2018 YouGov polling, two-thirds of US internet users were members of some type of loyalty program, with many traditional types of programs attracting large followings—especially supermarkets.