Three areas to think about when evaluating your loyalty needs

As you start shaping your loyalty approach, it helps to think in three broad categories. These give you a simple framework to assess your needs:

1. Strategy
   What’s the goal of your program? Who are your customers, and what motivates them? How does loyalty fit into your overall brand experience?
2. Technology
   What tools or platform capabilities do you need to deliver your strategy? Do you require real-time personalization, mobile capabilities, or easy integrations?
3. Support and services
   What internal or external resources will you need? Can a partner help with execution, creative, campaign setup, and troubleshooting?

Top tip: Starting with technology is tempting, but the most successful loyalty programs start with strategy. When brands lead with tech, they often end up overpaying for features they don’t use or missing the ones they truly need. Beginning with a clear strategy helps you choose a platform that supports your goals today and scales with you tomorrow. Some full-service partners like Marigold include all three areas as part of their loyalty offering: strategy, technology, and support.

Choose the right type of partner

There are many types of loyalty providers, and each offers different strengths depending on where you are in your loyalty journey.

• Strategy consultants help design a loyalty approach, select platforms, and align internal stakeholders. They typically don’t handle execution.
• Technology vendors provide platforms but often lack flexibility, requiring you to fit your program to their tech and manage execution separately.
• Specialist service providers can support specific loyalty needs, such as data analytics or campaign creative, but require coordination across vendors.
• Full-service partners combine all three: strategy, technology, and services, streamlining delivery, support, and accountability.

Top tip: For growing brands, a full-service model often makes the most sense. When you’re moving fast or wearing multiple hats, working with a single partner who can support your strategy, program launch, operations, and program growth helps remove friction and accelerate results. Marigold’s offering spans all four areas listed above, so you can launch with confidence and scale at your own pace. Whether you’re just getting started or building out a more advanced program, our solutions adapt to your evolving needs.

Technology: Launch fast and scale with ease.

You want technology that supports your needs today and gives you room to grow. Look for platforms that offer flexible features, real-time personalization, and integration capabilities without a long lead time or heavy IT lift.

Marigold Loyalty offers technology options for brands of all sizes and maturity levels, from Loyalty Essentials, our module for growing brands, to our full, enterprise-scale Loyalty platform. Brands can launch a fully provisioned program in as little as 30 days.* Benefit from loyalty templates and configurable tools built with the knowledge and experience of our loyalty experts. Launch confidently, knowing that your program is built on the same platform that powers some of the world’s most complex, high-scale loyalty programs.

Acronym definitions: SOW – Statement of work; SSD – Solutions specification document; BRD – Business requirements document; UAT – User Acceptance Testing; BAU – Business as usual

Support and services: Designed for real-world teams.

Look for a partner that won’t leave you hanging after launch. Training materials, accessible documentation, and a responsive services team can make all the difference when you’re moving quickly or when short on internal resources.

Marigold Loyalty includes step-by-step user guides and built-in support options to help your team stay confident and self-sufficient after setup.

Final thought: Start simple, stay smart

Complexity doesn’t equal success. You don’t need to build a complicated loyalty program from day one. What matters is starting with clear goals, a thoughtful structure, and a partner who can evolve with you.
Here are three ways to set your program up for success:

• Pick one priority. Focus on a single business goal—like increasing second purchases, reducing discounting, or gathering better data—and build from there.
• Keep it simple. Choose a program structure that your customers will understand and engage with, whether that’s points, tiers, referrals, or a mix.
• Build for flexibility. Select a partner who supports iteration, not lock-in. Your program should grow with your brand, not box you in.

With the right strategy, tools, and support, your brand can build a loyalty program that delivers real impact, now and in the future.

Top tip: Even if your brand is at an earlier stage, you can still get inspiration from enterprise-scale programs. For example, KFC launched a successful loyalty program with Marigold that blends points, personalization, and gamification. One year in, KFC Rewards exceeds 6.4 million members. Read What marketers can learn from the rise of KFC Rewards to find out how they made it happen.