Note: this is a transcript of Episode 2 of our podcast, available soon.
Welcome back to "100 Things I Learned About Marketing in 35 Years That AI Won't Tell You!" I’m your host, JP Clement, and after decades navigating the wild world of marketing and building brands across B2B and B2C, I'm here to spill some inconvenient truths AI just can't compute. Today, we're asking a big one: What is the one metric that truly measures customer loyalty? And let me tell you, it's probably not what your data dashboard is screaming at you!
You see, everyone's chasing the latest KPI, the retention rate, the NPS score, right? And sure, that's customer data, tells you what happened. But here’s the kicker, the dirty little secret that many marketers miss: loyalty isn't a number you punch into an algorithm. It's that deeper, squishier thing we call customer insight. And you get that by listening, really listening – the most powerful marketing tool there is.
JP always says, you can't automate empathy. AI can crunch numbers all day, but it can’t sit down, shake a hand, and truly understand the nuances of human emotion. That "art of the handshake"? It still beats algorithms. Loyalty is about building a brand that people want to belong to, a brand that connects on a gut level because, let’s be real, people buy on feeling, then justify with logic.
So, if you want to know if your customers are loyal, pull your eyes away from the screen for a moment. Instead of just tracking repeat purchases, look for the word-of-mouth, because that’s the original viral marketing. That's when your brand isn't just something you say it is, but it's what they say it is. It’s about cultivating strong referral networks because you've genuinely built relationships. And remember, even in B2B, you're not selling to companies; you're selling to people in companies. These are all human truths that AI just won't, and frankly, can't, tell you. AI is a tool, not a strategy. It can’t replicate the one thing I learned in 35 years: it's all about people.
So, next time you're trying to measure loyalty, pull your eyes away from that glowing screen for a moment. Instead of just chasing data, start listening to your customers. Look for those genuine connections, the referrals, the stories people are telling. Because in a world obsessed with noise and algorithms, the future of marketing is becoming more human, not less. And it's that human touch, that trust, that will always be the truest, most powerful measure of loyalty. That’s it for today. Until next time, keep it human!