The Most Loyal of ‘Em All

Millennials by nature are loyal creatures.

According to Forbes, 86% of millennials participate in loyalty programs—more than any other generation. And 68% of them modify when and where they buy in order to maximize the benefits they receive from loyalty programs.

But they’re also much more demanding than other generations—in both their expectation of personalization and their intolerance for irrelevant communications. If you want to market to millennials—classified as those between the ages of 22 and 35—you need a targeted, personalized approach that incorporates the best of digital and physical spaces.

Digital fatigue and the appeal of direct mail

While millennials enjoy managing rewards programs online, when it comes to being motivated to act, direct mail is a powerful tool. According to the USPS, nearly half of millennials ignore digital ads, yet only 15% say they ignore direct mail. In fact, they pay attention to their mail more than any other generation does.

That’s one of the reasons Best Western Rewards invested heavily in direct mail to go after millennials—and other age groups—to promote its loyalty program. According to a blog post from Kurt Allen, general manager of Colloquy, the hospitality chain invested in proprietary millennial research that discovered that 90 percent prefer postal delivery over email for promotional material, and 79 percent act on direct mail offers immediately.

Not only is Best Western using the channel to acquire a younger market base, it’s also engaging with all rewards members by mailing welcome kits, elite qualification kits, and personalized promotional campaigns.

As with any successful marketing strategy, the best loyalty programs are those designed with your customers in mind and ones that are properly communicate