Has someone ever started talking to you in the grocery store or on the street, but you knew there was an incoming sales pitch?
Well, that’s how your customer feels every time you send them a text or email.
Today's consumers can smell a steaming pile of impersonalization from a mile away, and they’ll run twice as far to get away from it.
This means that brands must find a way to move beyond surface-level personalization to create deeper bonds with their customers.
That’s where Lived Experience Data comes in.
In this article, we’ll dive into why loyalty isn’t transactional anymore and how real-world brands need to tap into the emotional needs and understanding of their customers to improve customer loyalty in 2025.
Transactional “Loyalty” as You Know it is Dead
What does brand loyalty mean?
Most executives would say, “Simple! The more customers spend with us, the more discounts we give them.” And that makes them love our brand more than competitors!”
30 years ago, you’d be correct. But things have changed. Just think about how many times you’ve experienced this:
A customer buys your product 3 times in a row. You’re thinking, “This is great! They must love our brand!”
Then, all of a sudden, they go ghost… and you see them riding off into the sunset with your competitor.
Vice Versa:
A customer who seems as happy as can be with brand B switches to you for no apparent reason.
It’s the all-too-familiar cycle of customer hot potato between brands.
However, with 35% of consumers planning to quit their favorite brands, finding a solution to this mass exodus of customers will become the most important task for brands moving forward.
Luckily, the solution is simple: don’t engage to sell, engage to connect.
Consumers want to know that you won’t just be there to offer them discounts, but you’ll also take the time to know who they are as a person outside of their digital footprint.
This can only be achieved with real-time customer data, or what we call Lived Experience Data, that shows brands how customers interact with their brand in the real world, not just on their computer or phone.
The LX Gap: The Missing Data Layer to Boost Customer Loyalty
Great run, Alicia!” “Did the shoes
hold up okay?
That’s great to hear. But your body
temperature has been higher than
normal for your past 2 runs? Luckily,
our new and improved Breathable
Tank Toptm comes out next week.
Get 15% off with this code.
How did the shoe brand know that Alicia completed a run, her body temperature information, and that the weather was hot?
Simple. Alicia gave them consent to capture her smart-watch data so they can see how she interacts with their products in real-time while she’s outside and away from a computer screen.
This data, Lived Experience data, gives lifestyle brands the keys they need to unlock the next-gen of customer loyalty.
One built on trust and authenticity instead of transactions.
Whether your customers are biking or golfing, on a street or in the mountains, or if it’s sunny or raining, you’ll know it all with LX data.
For years, lifestyle brands lacked the means of harvesting this form of data, but with over 40% of U.S. households owning wearables, these brands can now use wearables data to gather insights they need to understand their customers like never before.
By combining Lived Experience Data with AI, brands can automate customer engagement to improve brand loyalty on a mass scale.
• A shoe brand can send a message of encouragement to a runner after noticing that he isn’t running as much as he used to.
• A Ski brand can warn skiers of an incoming snowstorm with a 20% discount on powder skis at a store nearby.
• An eyewear company can alert runners to UV levels to minimize the risk of prolonged exposure.
Brands will now be able to satisfy ever-growing customer expectations and their need to be engaged as individuals.
And with data dripping from customers every day, companies that fail to use LX Data will leave millions of dollars on the ground – literally.
Common Mistakes With Loyalty Programs
If there’s one thing that customers hate, it's signing up to a loyalty program that looks exactly like the ones they’re trying to avoid. So with that in mind, here are the 4 mistakes you want to avoid to improve your loyalty program.
1. Transactional rewards that have no meaning behind them
Are you really staying true to your company’s mission statement? Yes, you say? How many of your current rewards are triggered based on how often a customer logs into your app or makes a certain number of purchases? Meaning – you reward your activewear customers for sitting inside, scrolling on their screens.
Many real-world brands set up their loyalty programs to do the opposite of what they say. Not because they want to, but because they lack the tools to motivate their customers to get away from their screens and enjoy the outdoors.
Solution: Instead of rewarding users based on their screen time, brands should use activity-based rewards to encourage customers to go outside and start moving those stiff joints.
Miles hiked rewards, trail meetups, and status badges based on outdoor movements can greatly impact loyalty motivation levels and increase brand engagement – and are aligned with what your brand stands for.
2. Discount only rewards
You get a discount! And you get a discount! Everyone gets a discount!
Discounts are good, but they get boring and repetitive quickly. And while it can be a good way to engage lapsed members, it won’t improve brand loyalty long-term.
Solution: Humans love to be part of a community as it builds trust and deepens emotional connections.
So, reward members for participating in community events. Provide community milestone badges, limited-edition pins, and gear upgrades to improve loyalty program participation. Even better: if your brand and products are about getting out in the real world, reward community events that happen out there - not sitting at home.
Doing so creates a sense of belonging, elevating brand perception, social proof, and organic word of mouth – and might even spark some new friendships.
3. Irrelevant messages and rewards
Inviting members who live in Florida to an event in Oregon…
Offering free spinning classes to customers who only do yoga…
Offering discounts for tank tops in the middle of winter…
Turns out, people tend to notice when a message isn’t meant for them. And sending the wrong message at the wrong time can have huge consequences.
Today’s consumers like to be engaged with as individuals, not as a persona that was put together in a market research report.
And by following outdated, traditional mass marketing methods, you alienate large portions of your most loyal fans, tanking loyalty program engagement and memberships in the process.
Solution: Lifestyle brands must use real-time customer-specific data to hyper-personalize the buyer experience. This means using LX Data to know where your customers are and what they are doing in the moment. This way, you’ll know when a member is in Alaska and could use warmer clothes, or that a user could probably use new shoes after their fiftieth hike.
4. Using outdated customer data
Not to mention the users who sign up for your loyalty program using false information (probably to get a discount – see above). Not only do they not participate in events and challenges, but they’re also alienated further when you message them based on the information they gave you, resulting in low retention and engagement. You’ve lost them before you even had a chance.
Solution: To survive the ever-changing customer data landscape, lifestyle brands must use real-time data about what their customers do to engage deeply with them and make accurate, speedy decisions.
It’s no longer good enough to know that John checked the box that said he was a hiker when he signed up a year ago. Brands need to know that John is actually on his way to the trail, how long he likes to hike for, what types of terrain and weather he goes out in, and whether he’s a hard-core trail runner doing insane vertical ascents or just likes a casual stroll while bird-watching. That way, you can offer the right message – whether it’s about stretching to avoid injury or about a nearby trail with a great view of the Olive-sided Flycatcher. And which hiking shoe is perfect for him, of course..
Brands that use real-time data to interact with customers will lead the way in this hyper-personalized era.
The Category Shift: Loyalty Must Be Reimagined
The days of real-world brands thinking that customer loyalty is built through discounts and perks have gone the way of the dodo.
Consumers are now gravitating towards brands that understand them beyond a number on an earnings report.
They want brands that converse with them between transactions. That’s where the magic happens.
LX data provides a realistic and powerful way to tackle this issue.
By tapping into the only data source for understanding customer behavior – Lived Experience Data - marketing executives can make their brand vision a reality and achieve ultimate brand engagement.
Loyalty Programs Reimagined with Lived Experience Data
With Lived Experience Data, dying loyalty programs are transformed into marketing powerhouses that understand and connect with their customers, relaying the right message to the right person, at the right time.
Take a glimpse into what life on the LX Data side could look like for you:
Offer activity-based rewards
- Brooks Run Club can reward each member when they hit a 50-mile, 100-mile, or 250-mile running streak.
- You've logged over 120 miles this month on your bike—swing by your local shop for a free chain tune-up, on us.
That's your 3rd run or walk this week – Nice work!
You've walked or run 14 miles since you started your new goal - Keep going you're doing great!
Rewards for attending events
- That was one hell of a finish at Boston—seriously impressive. Come see us at the booth for a free medal engraving and a well-deserved high five from the crew.
- We loved having you at our community wellness event. As a token of our appreciation, enjoy a free week of meditation classes—or gift it to a friend who needs some calm.
Congratulations Tom!
You finished the Boston Marathon!
Your stats:
3:52:40
That's a great time!
61% percentile this year
59% percentile last 10 years
5:31 | Pace 158 | Avg HR
Stop by our booth for a free
medal engraving!
Community building
You came for the trail and stayed for the company. Thanks for making our community hike unforgettable. Claim your exclusive “Trail Together” patch and 15% off your next adventure gear.
4 Inches of snow tonight!
We've got you !!
Here's a 15% coupon for powder skis
at the Ski Village Shop .3 miles from you.
How was Pebble Beach?
That's a bucket-list course however you did – here's a code for a free beer at the club on us!
Communicate efficiently: Sending a message at the right time
You just wrapped your evening ride—awesome work!
Here's a 5-minute recovery stretch to help you wind down.
Great ride today Katie!
stats this month:
SPINNING (indoor)
205 m
CYCLING (road)
432 m
CYCLING (trail)
9 m
35 | ATTACKS 88 | INCLINES
Yoga: 12 days
Walk: 180K steps
Sleep: 7.2 hr avg.
10% off some new clip-ins
Next time you come in!
Go! Go! Go!
Old Loyalty Programs vs New Loyalty Programs
What This Means for Brand Executives
With AI and technology advancing at unbelievable speeds, and the rising costs of customer acquisition, brand executives must now shed the old way of viewing loyalty marketing to improve true loyalty and Customer Lifetime Value.
Brand executives must harness the full capabilities of AI-powered personalization to tap into LX data, reclaim their power, and change the definition of what loyalty marketing is: a relationship between transactions.
Not only will this reduce costs, but it will free up time for human employees to focus on more complex and critical tasks.
Customers are craving for brands to be there, not just for the big moments in life, but for the small wins as well.
Escaping the falsehood that is transactional loyalty, brand executives will now aim to build symbiotic relationships with their customers, where customers agree to share their lived experience data with brands that offer real, personalized value that improves their lives.
Learn more: https://www.dashlx.com/solutions/brand-executive
The Solution: Turn Loyalty into a Digital Nervous System
With Lived Experience Data at our fingertips, DashLX can deliver customer data analytics and behavioral insights for brands, turning lagging executives into trailblazers.
By using AI to gather real-time data and responses, brands instantly transform their marketing strategy into a digital nervous system, able to collect data, analyze, and respond without human interaction.
It’s marketing and customer engagement that would be driven by customer behavior instead of transactions.
You’ll be able to see a customer coming from a hike in New York in the winter and offer them a cozy coffee spot where they can get warm.
Or notice a member from your yoga class not sleeping well at home and message her to find out if she’s okay.
CONCLUSION
LX data has now revealed the hidden truth of loyalty: It’s no longer transactional. It’s 1-1. It’s human.
Brands that invest in AI-powered loyalty solutions, such as LX data, will lead the way in loyalty marketing and brand engagement.
Those who continue to rely on transactional marketing will be left behind.
Don’t leave the future of your company in the hands of outdated CRM data. Work with a partner that has a proven track record of helping brands leverage LX data to supercharge their loyalty marketing.
Schedule a demo today.
FAQs
Why are traditional brand loyalty methods no longer effective?
Because they only focus on transactional rewards (you do this, then you get this). They don’t go the extra mile to understand their customers’ goals and aspirations, losing them as a result.
What is Lived Experience (LX) Data?
LX Data represents what your customers do when they aren’t buying from you. This could be anything from running a marathon, stretching, or exploring a different city. Real-world brands can use this data to create tailored experiences and increase brand loyalty.
How do wearable devices help brands collect LX Data?
Wearable devices show brands where their customers are and how they interact with the products they make.
What risks do brands face if they ignore LX Data?
Customers crave their favorite brands' attention and support. Brands that ignore LX Data will lose out on millions of dollars due to customers recognizing that they don't take the time to engage with them as an individual.
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