Uncover insights from Motivforce's latest research on channel partner loyalty programs. Learn strategies to navigate mixed feelings, foster genuine gratitude, and boost overall program ROI.

Dive into the intricacies of loyalty and incentive marketing, and discover the importance of personalised strategies, analytics, and the evolving nature of loyalty programs.

Renewable loyalty still has a way to go to find all the pieces in the puzzle. At Motivforce R&D we are dedicated to helping clients, thought-piece by thought-piece. We are happy to share four of our thoughts:

Non-Fungible Tokens, or NFTs, are a metaverse landmark and something that program managers need to know about as they offer intriguing and real opportunities to future-proof loyalty programmes. Before we dive into the relevance for loyalty marketers, it is good to create some clarity around NFTs.

Employers are witnessing the dawn of the hybrid workforce. But firms are now facing challenges around motivating and engaging hybrid workers and how to draw lessons from what just happened to the world of work. 6 ways to reward employees for collaborative hybrid work practices

Just last month, in a program audit for one of our (Fortune 100) clients, we found that 66% of members’ decision to actively engage with the B2B loyalty program could be attributed to ‘rewards’. This is part one in our trilogy of B2B loyalty program rewards and ensuring you have the right reward for the desired behaviour or action.

As another World Earth Day has come around again (on 22nd April 2021) and we are still very much in the middle of a global health and economic crisis, it has become clear that environmental stewardship is no longer a ‘should do' but a ‘got to do' imperative. That we urgently need a little more action and your B2B loyalty program could (or should) be driving the action.

As loyalty marketers it is hard to not fall asleep at the wheel and lose sight of the bigger picture. But if you sometimes do, be prepared to make the business case for your program when you hear the call from the C-suite. That is why we present you with a nudge - a marketing metrics refresh

Over the past 10 years we have seen the rise of the pre-paid card (both MasterCard gift and reloadable) as well as the use of online retail vouchers, become the preferred reward medium in our loyalty and incentive programs.

Many B2B channel loyalty programs are known for their ‘star’ rewards - the stuff that dreams are made of: a trip to Vegas or the International Space Station on Virgin Galactic and a $100,000 gift card are likely to speak to anyone’s imagination. But does it speak to your business sense? Offering your loyalty program members the opportunity to become an astronaut will set you back by at least $250,000. This would be quite a challenge to your program ROI.

Artificial intelligence has already changed the way we interact with technology. We are almost at the point where we will be conversing with chatbots that text like your best friend. AI will tell you what to do when your dog misbehaves, how to save on your energy bill and whether you really do look good in that suit. But what do these technological advances mean for B2B loyalty programs? Our R&D team list 3 ways that AI can enhance your B2B loyalty program.

A term that we commonly use in channel loyalty and incentive programs is the effort advantage ratio. This is the study of consumer loyalty programs and the effort a participant must undertake to achieve a loyalty program reward and how this effort impacted on attractiveness of the loyalty program for their continued participation. 

These are 7 things to consider when weighing up the Effort Advantage Ratio.

Loyalty marketing and sales activities are inextricably intertwined. Well, that is and always has been the idea anyway. In theory, both types of strategic activity work according to the same mantra; the co-creation of a solid base of loyal and valuable customers. In reality, perhaps not so much. In this blog, we set out to offer a few do’s and don’ts on how loyalty marketers and sales managers can re-think and re-sync and avoid the dreaded co-destruction of customer value.

‘Motivation’ is a complex concept, but it’s what drives loyalty. It determines why your loyalty program participants are willing to increase your share of wallet, or even go the extra mile for your business.

But how can you measure ‘motivation’? Most agencies and pundits will only tell you how to measure ‘loyalty’. Often this is done using the basic method of asking program participants ‘the only question that matters’, aka calculating your Net Promoter Score (NPS). But the science has repeatedly shown that the NPS is at best marginally related to loyalty program success.

‘Social distancing’ is a concept that most of us had never come across before the outbreak of covid-19. Now many people around the world are having to adapt their personal and professional lives radically to adhere to rules about staying at home and self-isolation.

Our human need for face to face communication and camaraderie has been put on hold indefinitely. But within days of ‘lockdown’ there was a surge in people using social media and video platforms.

The light at the end of the Covid-19 tunnel. As countries start the process of emerging from lockdown, many C-suite executives will be struggling with challenging cashflow positions and your loyalty program may still run the risk of being deemed ‘non-essential’. So, we felt we needed to go further than offer well-meant advice.

B2B Loyalty Marketing in the Post Covid-19 Era

We tend to share Motivforce’s prediction on what will happen in the loyalty marketing space at the start of every new year. The Covid 19 crisis has changed everything, including the moment when we put our thinking caps on and reflect on what is in store. Because we feel it is important for loyalty marketers to prepare for a different future:

Covid-19 is continuing to cause chaotic and challenging business conditions where many industry sectors are forced to close, suspend or modify their trading options. But now is the time to invest in your loyalty strategy. Rather than reducing focus and suspending elements of your loyalty program, this is the time for vigorous planning and innovative programme design so that companies are in the prime position to cash in on the tsunami of pent-up demand that will follow when the virus has passed.

Use the current downturn as an opportunity to conduct research among your loyalty program participants. The downturn caused by Covid-19 and government efforts to contain the pandemic is set to continue for the foreseeable future for many industry sectors. But there are ways you can turn this downtime into an opportunity for your B2B loyalty and incentive program, even if your sales have taken a nose dive.

As Covid-19 continues to create chaotic and challenging business condition’s many industry sectors have seen a collapse in sales and huge downturns in trading. Lack of sales is like a horror movie for all businesses. And if your company has a loyalty programme, how can you maintain participant engagement, when the core concept of rewarding for sales has been eliminated?

The answer is to use this downtime as an opportunity.