Our vision for the future of loyalty

In their June 2011 issue, Travel & Leisure names Topguest one of the 10 Hottest Loyalty Programs in the World, alongside two of our many esteemed partners: Hilton HHonors , and Voila Hotel Rewards. Topguest did not even exist one year ago, so we’re incredibly honored. I’ve spent some time today considering why it seems we are making waves despite our early stage.

Old School Loyalty is like “Full House”

Loyalty programs have always rewarded us for our transactions with a business: if we fly United, we get United MileagePlus points. This model is very popular; there are over $48 Billion worth of loyalty points in US circulation right now. Because loyalty programs are so popular, and so similar to one another, they are also boring. Yes, loyalty programs today are vaguely boring in the same warm, innocuous way as Full House reruns, apple pie, or long drives on country roads. We like them well enough…they just don’t get our blood pumping.

On the other hand, social applications do get our blood pumping. Unsurprising; after all, humans are social animals. Accordingly, we spend a ton of time on social applications and they’ve changed our lives…we always know where our friends are thanks to Facebook Places and Foursquare…Instagram is connecting us with the world via beautiful user-generated photos…Twitter is giving rise to revolutions. The list goes on.

You know that feeling we get when Facebook notifies us a friend has commented on our status? The joy of sharing our special moments with the people who matter most, effortlessly, with the swipe of a thumb? That’s blood pumping. When’s the last time a loyalty program made you feel like that?

Loyalty Programs + Social Applications = Engagement Goodness

Just as we use social applications to share with each other in new ways, we use them to share our experiences with businesses in new ways (and yes, many of those businesses have loyalty programs). This sharing is called Engagement.

When we “check-in” at a business with Foursquare, that’s engagement. When we share a link from our favorite airline or restaurant chain or brand on Twitter, that’s engagement, too. Those jealousy-inducing Facebook photos of our pimped out hotel room in Manhattan? Yup, you guessed it. Even that scathing review we wrote on Yelp or TripAdvisor qualifies as engagement, albeit engagement of the negative variety.

And guess what? Social engagement is incredibly valuable for businesses. Heck, it’s replacing advertising. So if loyalty programs reward us for our transactions, shouldn’t they reward us for our social engagement also?

Yes.

The New Way: Engagement-Smart Loyalty Programs

Topguest is the only product that makes it extremely simple for your favorite loyalty programs to reward you for your engagement, not just your transactions. Our patent-pending product lets any loyalty points program give you more points you already care about for your related engagement and sharing on any social application you already use. From Facebook to Twitter to Foursquare to Instagram to Gowalla (and probably more in the future).

Here’s the best part: you don’t have to do anything different. No strange new applications to use. No barcodes to scan. No crazy points systems to think about. No cheesy contests to enter. Just connect your favorite loyalty programs and social applications at Topguest.com, and we take care of the rest. Next time you check-in with Facebook at that cool attraction in Vegas, you’ll get delighted with a bonus jackpot from Caesars Total Rewards. Your Instagram picture from lunch at the hot Sushi bar at that new Kimpton hotel will get you a stay credit. That tweet you tagged from SFO about to board Virgin America means 25 Elevate points.

We believe that these these special touches lead to “blood pumping” loyalty. And our early users seem to agree. But they’re only the beginning. The loyalty programs of the future will give you hyper-personalized rewards, in real time, based on your engagement, influence, and more. They’ll anticipate your needs and desires before you even share them, and be at the ready 24/7 with a helping hand. And most importantly, they won’t be invasive; they’ll engage back with you on your terms alone. At Topguest, our goal is to make every large established loyalty program an Engagement-Smart loyalty program that delights, never frustrates.

Lots of people are taking about Loyalty right now – it’s a “hot” space in tech circles. But Topguest’s approach is unique, as is our potential for scale. Thanks to our fantastic partners, Topguest is already available to a combined 170 million loyalty program members, and growing fast. We’re off to a good start, and indeed, we’re just getting started.

Thanks so much for your early support. As always, we welcome your feedback. Please email me directly at geoff@topguest.com