Knock-knock-knocking on loyalty's doors

Knock-knock-knocking on loyalty's doors
Tags: Consumer Behavior, Loyalty Programs, Marketing
January 16, 2012

Never take for granted the mere act of a customer walking through your door. Every time it happens, it symbolizes the passage across many thresholds to customer intimacy.

Think about it. The relationship between a company and its customer is a collaborative bond, after all, fostered through meaningful and well-timed communications and recognition. Without reaching the consumer with the well-pitched message at the desired time and in the right place, a company cannot secure relevance and prosperous interactions.

Of course it is not an easy task, which is why the path to relevance lies not beyond one magic door, but four, all of which reveal insights that can be used at different times or in the aggregate.

These doors open to four key behavioral dimensions of the consumer that together will make your message STIC:

Spatial, which refers to the physical location, such as the neighborhood, in which the customer lives, his or her daily travel routes and the places where he or she does business;

Temporal, which in the most basic sense means timing but can also be expanded to reflect a big lifestyle shift such as a new baby, a move to a different state or a career change. But they also can be rather small, such as a home renovation project or a family reunion;

Individual, which reflects the consumer's unique/personal interests, passions and values, from motorcycle riding to recycling;

Cultural, which includes any ongoing activities that regularly group people together. In addition to the standard definition of race, religion and even sexual preference, it includes any committed action or lifestyle choice that defines a person's activities, from triathletes to churchgoers to avid sports fans.

Once you master the tools of responsible data collection, you will be able to better appreciate and recognize your customers as they move through these four doors.