One of the top reasons businesses report wanting to create a loyalty program is to find out who their customers really are. Now that your loyalty program has built a customer profile, use it! Extend what you have learned about your best customers into your general marketing strategies. Program members will tell you where they live, when they shop, how old they are - it's all in the data. Use that data to not only communicate to your loyalty program members but also when planning your broader marketing initiatives.

It takes time to establish a baseline of performance within your loyalty program. Now that one is emerging, a way to stay focused on improving your program is to start paying attention to year over year performance data (and continue to do so on a regular basis).

Many loyalty programs have "tiers" which are established as the program matures. Most frequent flier and hotel programs have these characteristics. The loyalty rules within the different tiers of these programs can be very complex. The complexity is the result of many small changes within the program over time to treat specific customer segments within the loyalty program differently - the key is to make this complexity visible to loyalty members who are already familiar with the base program. As your program matures, consider tiering as a way to establish more value to more loyal members and to give them "performance targets" to strive for.

If you have established a powerhouse of a loyalty program your marketing power extends beyond the walls of your business. Suppose you are running a theatre chain and that there is a restaurant chain that is almost always situated near your theatres. Adding value to your loyalty members, without affecting your business could be as simple as rewarding frequent movie goers with a restaurant offer (restaurant sponsored) or having the restaurant award and pay for loyalty points within your program when your members dine there. The key to any initiative like this is to protect your brand, and add value to your member at no cost or even a profit to you.

Loyalty programs are living, breathing, beings. As long as they adapt, they never get old. Continually adjusting your program to address changes in your business, customers, and market trends will make it always relevant and valuable. Keeping up with these adjustments requires an ongoing commitment - one that pays off handsomely when executed well.