Matt Smolin

Loyalty programs are god-awful and customer engagement is broken. There, I said it. My goal for 2024 is to expose just how bad it’s gotten and provide solutions on how to fix it. So, I’ll be starting to post a lot more about how to create better loyalty experiences for brands…

Been cooking up some new stuff @HangLoyalty. Check out our ChatGPT-like product that puts a data analyst into every restaurant operator's pocket. Ask any question about your business in natural language—get back answers & insights instantly.

Happy Birthday Jerry ❤️

Customers are tired of email & SMS messages. When most marketers think of customer engagement & retention, they default to lifecycle marketing campaigns sent via email or SMS. But these channels are noisy and saturated – it’s difficult to stand out. Rather than compete for…

One of the biggest issues with loyalty today is that it’s almost entirely passive. Most loyalty platforms out there automatically give points to customers simply for using the same credit card, whether they realize they’re in the loyalty program or not. Spend money, then earn…

Segmentation in marketing campaigns is broken. In most cases, brands start with a segment of customers they deem to be similar by some set of characteristics, which they then use to inform some sort of promotion (i.e. send out a 50% off coffee promo after 2pm to customers who…

Starbucks was widely lauded as a trailblazer in the customer loyalty space, offering an easy-to-use mobile app with built-in online ordering. But that’s now changing. In the US, 31% of Starbucks’ sales now come from the mobile order and pay feature. @TrungTPhan explains that…

When discussing loyalty programs with restaurant marketing executives, a common issue is increasing in-store opt-in rates – getting more customers to sign up for the program while they are in the restaurant. How can they solve this? The key is to simplify the enrollment process.…

While loyalty is top of mind for brands today, so many programs are disconnected from POS systems, leading to friction surrounding enrollment, earning rewards, redemption, and tracking. Integrating loyalty programs directly with your POS system is critical in streamlining the…

The term "gamification" is chronically misunderstood. Many people associate it with video-game-like experiences, such as Roblox, but gamification can be much simpler and more subtle. It’s about integrating immersive experiences and better progression systems into the customer…

As we discussed last week, Gen Z’s massive spending power is reshaping brand strategies across every consumer industry. Here’s how some brands are responding: * Caribou Coffee is creating a dating show on TikTok. * Bojangles is launching Instagram-famous menu items like Bo-Berry…

🚀 earning points and redeeming your rewards at checkout has never been easier with our new unified flow – out now across all @HangLoyalty-powered apps ✨

Cracker Barrel, the classic roadside country store we all know and love, is working to regain its iconic status by revamping its brand and business model in light of a 4% decline in sales last quarter – their new CEO is focusing on digital technology and off-premise capabilities.…

While Shopify is a robust platform powering countless E-commerce businesses, there's a significant gap in how loyalty programs are integrated within the purchase funnel, hindering customer engagement and incremental revenue. While shopping, most customers don’t know the number…

We have seen mini games as a genius way to engage with customers and drive value for restaurant brands. Imagine tying customer actions like purchases to unlock lives or levels in a game, offering tangible rewards for winning – ultimately benefiting both the restaurant and the…

Struggling to make sense of the disconnect between orders placed through 3rd party delivery platforms and your restaurant's own customer database? At a recent restaurant conference, the frustration was palpable— no one seemed to have a solution. Orders from platforms like Uber…

In the rush to scale in the digital age, many brands have traded the intimate customer experience of the local mom-and-pop for broader reach, inadvertently losing that special touch that makes customer relationships truly meaningful. Today's lifecycle marketers face a daunting…

It was great to speak with @glossyco about our work with Ulta Beauty to create immersive and engaging loyalty experiences for their customers. The minigames have been especially fun, with 86% of playing customers retained week over week.

Krispy Kreme recently announced that it’s relaunching its loyalty program that allows customers to earn points and perks faster than the previous iteration. The old program was archaic – a free item for every 12 purchases. This doesn’t work because modern consumers seek quick…

Last week at the Food on Demand Conference, we left people speechless with our demonstration of how brands can now access customer order data from third-party delivery apps and tie it back to their customer databases with our new 3PD attribution product. That said, there were…

Let customers eat your lunch, not UberEats or Doordash. We're at Food on Demand today, but we're taking a break from our usual discussions about loyalty. Instead, we're diving into a topic that’s reshaping the restaurant industry: third-party delivery attribution. Nearly 20% of…