In today’s crowded marketplace, creating loyal, engaged customers is more important—and more challenging—than ever. Here are some tips for overcoming the challenges:

1. Don’t treat loyalty like a program. Instead, approach loyalty marketing as if it is a journey with a specific goal. While points programs have been around for a while, look at the total customer experience when building loyalty.

2. Focus more on emotions than on rational, incentive-based initiatives. Behavioral economists tell us economic decision-making is 70 percent emotional and 30 percent rational. It’s the emotional side of the decision-making process that creates connected, passionate, and engaged customers.