[Editor's Note: Marketers are failing to fully engage their customers] - MarketingProfs - 1/27/10 Even as more marketers adopt loyalty and rewards programs to improve sales, they are failing to fully engage their customers: Most consumers surveyed (54%) say the barrage of irrelevant messages, low-value rewards, and impersonal engagement don't particularly engender loyalty, according to a survey from the CMO council.

Overall, program members want better financial rewards and more individualized communications:

* 70% say they want to see more discounts and savings from loyalty programs.

* 58% want better personal benefits and services.

* 52% want more compelling personal offers as a reward for steering their business to loyalty-program operators.

At the same time, 65% of marketers view loyalty program investments as an essential or quite valuable part of the marketing mix, and 61% say loyalty program participants are among the most profitable customers.

However, only 13% of marketers say they have been highly effective in leveraging loyalty and brand preference among club members. Another 25% admit they have not mobilized brand loyalists to become active advocacy agents. Read the full story.