New Year’s resolutions were so last month. But if devising a mobile loyalty strategy wasn’t already on your to-do list, you should add it ASAP. All signs point to continued explosive growth in consumer adoption and use of mobile devices across the customer life cycle — from discovery to purchase and beyond. And as the charter for loyalty programs expands to encompass emotional as well as transactional engagement, mobile will be crucial to meeting evolving consumer expectations. Still not convinced? Taking your loyalty program into the mobile channels yields three key benefits:

1. More access to your members. Most loyalty programs interact with members through purpose-driven activities such as enrollment, online profile completion, point-of-sale (POS) transactions, and reward redemption. But this approach has a limited line of sight into further opportunities for engagement. Enabling a mobile strategy literally puts the loyalty programs in members' hands — wherever they are in the customer life cycle — and creates the potential for a wider range of customer interactions.
2. Expanded member knowledge. Empowered consumers increasingly rely on mobile devices as companions to their interactions with a brand and generate behavioral, transactional, and location data. Since mobile channels are highly trackable, loyalty programs that collect that information can create deep customer insights that drive personalized communications, experiences, and offers.
3. Context, timeliness, and relevance. The nature of mobile and the types of data that mobile makes available — such as time and place — mean that you have more control over how and when you interact with members. For example, a retailer might use geolocation data combined with preference and transaction history to recognize and remind a top-tier loyalty member that they have points to burn as they enter the store.

Check my recently published report, “Five Ways To Mobilize Your Loyalty Program In 2013” (subscription required) for my take on five approaches to mobile loyalty.

How are you planning to incorporate mobile into your loyalty program in 2013?