Loyalty programs are not using enough technology to give customers the convenience they want, according to research firm Incisiv.  For example, 70% of consumers want to manage loyalty programs through an app but just 26% of brands offer this.  Grocery chains are especially backwards, while quick service restaurants are the most advanced.

Martech keeps taking larger bites out of marketing budgets: 17.3% last year, 19.9% this year, 23.5% next year, and 30.9% five years from now, according to the latest CMO Survey. This despite barely more than half (56.4%) of current tools being used and nearly half (48.8%) of the survey respondents reporting worse-than-expected results. Oddly enough, marketers rate selecting marketing technologies as the thing they do best.