Loyalty platform Antavo Loyalty Cloud is offering free training courses and certifications to people looking to upskill in customer loyalty.
The business will offer 100 free training certifications during the month of May to support marketing professionals to bolster their CVs with practical customer loyalty skills. The certification will provide people with a means to gain new knowledge to enter the loyalty industry as well as to open the door to new work opportunities for those already working within loyalty.
Customer loyalty is an important element of brand building, with loyalty initiatives accounting for an average of 32% of marketing spend each year. Yet with economic uncertainty and the onset of recession, job losses in marketing functions are beginning to be felt. Two in five (18%) of recruiters reported noticing job losses from the start of 2023.
Meanwhile, career opportunities within loyalty specifically are expanding. Over 90% of brands already running loyalty programmes report that they aim to revamp their program and 65% to replatform their technology within the next three years.
Zsuzsa Kecsmar, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Antavo, was recently named Loyalty Personality of the Year at the International Loyalty Awards in recognition of her commitment to the development of the loyalty sector. She said: “The importance of customer loyalty is often overlooked, as businesses take existing customers for granted. But smart organisations have customer and loyalty teams, whose sole focus is to make existing customers happy. It’s a rapidly growing field. That’s why we launched the Antavo Academy, which offers training to help people in the sector further develop their skills.
“People faced job losses in marketing, customer engagement and sometimes loyalty. Many freelancers operating in this space face regular pressure to win new work. To help all these people we’re offering free training and certifications to help people upskill themselves, update their CVs and bring their talent into the loyalty sector,” she added.
“The loyalty industry is growing. Over a third of marketing budgets on average are now dedicated to customer loyalty and the rate of adoption for loyalty programmes among businesses is accelerating. The value of the loyalty market is projected to grow from $6.47bn in 2023 to $28.65bn by 2030, signifying that the sector that is very much on the up.”
Loyalty programmes are commonplace among brands operating in both consumer and B2B spaces. The 2024 Antavo Global Customer Loyalty Report indicated that nine in 10 businesses run a loyalty programme. A majority of consumers (79%) participate in at least one loyalty programme and 90% are more likely to buy from brands which they believe understand their buying preferences.
The Antavo Academy will provide 100 scholarships throughout the month of May 2024. Applications are now open by visiting Antavo.