Loyalty mythbusters: Unpacking 4 misconceptions about building your loyalty program

Building a loyalty program from the ground up sounds intimidating, but it’s no mystery why many companies are investing in them: on average, 65% of a brand's revenue comes from existing loyal customers. Many believe that loyalty strategies are nonessential and difficult to execute; however, neither of these are true. Strategizing, designing, implementing and optimizing a loyalty program fit for your customers (and your brand) is crucial and has never been more synergistic.

The value of fostering long-term relationships with returning customers is evident. According to Forrester, “Customer-obsessed companies report 2.5X higher revenue growth and 2.2X better customer retention." Despite the clear benefits, existing rumors about cost to run, difficulty to implement and payoff of loyalty programs act as a deterrent for some.

Successful loyalty solutions provide answers to common concerns through anticipating trends, offering 1:1 unique customer experiences and continuously optimizing your brand’s program. Epsilon’s leading loyalty solution helps you find the perfect balance of rational and emotional loyalty, leading to more meaningful customer relationships.

Believe it or not, it’s never been easier to build a loyalty program

All loyalty programs are based on similar principles, yet many brands still fall victim to preconceived notions about building a loyalty program that fundamentally aren’t true. When trying to decide if implementing a program is beneficial for your company, it’s important to separate fact from fiction.

Myth #1: Most are too complex & expensive

Busted: Sometimes all you need are the essentials, such as reliable insights, a rewards system, and multichannel activation. With as little as these three things, you can create personalized experiences that provide value to both your brand and your customers. Epsilon PeopleCloud Loyalty has the right-sized solution for your needs right now. We continuously innovate to benefit companies of all sizes, offering options for every program and tiered pricing system.

Myth #2: Platforms don’t support the evolving changes of our needs

Busted: Change is inevitable. We get that. That’s why our solution is designed to grow with your brand. Our future-proof and scalable solution lets you easily set up the right offers for your customers at the right time. Epsilon PeopleCloud Loyalty evolves with your customers to continue delivering the most relevant messages.

Myth #3: I can’t easily set up the right offers

Busted: The Epsilon PeopleCloud Loyalty platform includes an intuitive user interface for loyalty marketers or program managers to seamlessly build and test offers by audience. Whether our clients want help every step of the way or freedom to build and manage programs themselves, we provide the support they desire, with self-serve, hybrid, and full-service options. We couple industry-leading technology with end-to-end support to ensure that our clients achieve loyalty success.

Myth #4: Loyalty platforms don’t allow for multi-channel activation

Busted: Good loyalty platforms are built for much more than owned channels. You should be able to reach your loyalty program members outside of your website, email and SMS, and seamlessly speak to them across the open web. Why does this matter? Because your loyal customers are everywhere! Yes, they get your emails and texts, but you should also be able to reach them with consistent messaging on the sites and apps they visit and browse most. So go beyond owned media channels and deliver more individualized experiences. Epsilon PeopleCloud Loyalty powers omnichannel activation of your first-party data to deliver memorable customer experiences.

How Sally Beauty builds loyalty

If you’re looking to start a loyalty program, it’s important to pick the right partner. At Epsilon, we have over 50 years of experience in the loyalty space, launching programs for Walgreens, Dunkin' and many more. Even more recently, we’ve been helping Sally Beauty enhance their current loyalty program by engaging customers in a more personalized way. The brand recognized that that their customers’ styles were constantly changing, and Sally Beauty needed a way to anticipate trends to continuously deliver relevant messages.

Using Epsilon PeopleCloud Loyalty, Sally Beauty gained real-time insights that enabled individualized messaging for every customer.

“My team and I trust Epsilon as a key partner for years now,” says Gabriel Trujilo, VP of Marketing at Sally Beauty. “It’s not just managing the platform, it’s also a sounding board, a brainstorming partner and a strategic partner on what comes next.”

As the partnership remains strong, we continue to optimize our strategy to ensure Sally’s loyalty success.

Every customer has potential value. . . you just have to unlock it

Loyalty programs don’t have to be as scary as they seem—sometimes you just need the basics. With Epsilon PeopleCloud Loyalty, you can communicate effectively with every customer and alter strategy when needs change.

Don’t just take our word for it, Epsilon was named a leader in The Forrester Wave™: Loyalty Technology Solutions, Q1 2023. The report helps marketers assess Loyalty technology providers to ensure they find a partner to fit their needs.

Start building long-term relationships today by checking out Loyalty Management Software & Program |