Our Loyalty Barometer Report covers emerging loyalty topics and examines how consumer mindsets are shifting, so brands can ensure their loyalty strategies are current and relevant. In the fifth annual report, we took an expanded view of loyalty, looking at how consumers feel about loyalty programs and understanding their view of loyalty within the customer experience and brand messaging.

And when we asked about personalization within the customer experience, the answers are a little more nuanced than you might think. Let’s take a look at how the consumers surveyed responded to questions about what personalization makes them loyal to a brand, and what this means for you as a marketer.

Innovation is necessary to drive business growth with personalization efforts

As a marketer, personalization has been the center of every conversation for years, but we’ve entered a new era where consumers aren’t as easily impressed. While personalization remains an important aspect for your loyalty strategy, what was once cutting edge is now the expectation. In the chart above, you can see that the majority of consumers said that personalized emails, texts, and websites have no impact on whether they do business with a brand. Additionally, only 18% said that personalized experiences were among the top three things that brands should offer to keep their loyalty. Relevant communication was ranked second to last for what makes consumers loyal to brands.

This doesn’t mean that personalization isn’t worth your time or you should immediately pivot your strategies. Instead, recognize consumers are asking more from brands. Engendering loyalty in 2023 and beyond will require more sophisticated approaches to personalization that include identity resolution, predictive models, cluster-based segmentation, and AI-powered machine learning.

Consumers are sending mixed messages about data privacy

This is where the nuance comes with consumers reporting that they are okay with some data collection and not others. While this study suggests consumers want more sophisticated personalization, it also shows our study shows they are less comfortable sharing information needed to deliver the relevant messaging they want to receive than they were two years ago. Rather than relying on traditional ways to capture first- and zero-party, brands need to innovate organic ways to capture data within the brand experience that uses a compelling value exchange for sharing data.

Learn more about brand loyalty

To get insights from the entire consumer study, download the full 2022 Loyalty Barometer Report. In the report, we also cover personalization sentiment, consumer expectations, preferred ways to earn, emerging loyalty topics, and the impact of loyalty on buying behavior and engagement. You can also reach out to our team for a personalized recommendation for your brand’s loyalty strategy must-haves.