CLO Tops Social Media

Card-linked offers top the list of the most preferred marketing channels, surpassing social media marketing for the first time in the latest digital marketing survey by Digital Commerce Annual Industry Study.

Until this year, Social Media Marketing topped the list for the past several years. This recent finding reveals that marketing leaders count on card-linking now more than ever to engage consumers and drive growth.

The Numbers

The increase in preference of card-linking programs is proportionate to Social Media Marketing's decrease:

• Card-linking was preferred by 27.7% of study participants this year, compared to 21.8% last year.
• Social Media Marketing was preferred by 17.5% — down from 22.6% the previous year.

Even considered separately, the two types of card-linking programs are strong:

• Card-Linked Loyalty Programs are preferred by 14.5% of respondents
• Card-Linked Offers are preferred by 13%

Other Channel Rankings

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Marketing: 13.8% (down more than eight percentage points)
• Affiliate Marketing / Online-to-Offline: 10.9% (up just two percentage points)
• Affiliate Marketing Online-to-Online: 10.9%
• Consumer Opt-in Financial Data: 8%

Perhaps most telling is what didn't rank well: TV advertising was cited as a tool preferred by just 4.4% of those who responded (down from 6.6% in 2020) — further indication of the growing preference for digital channels.

What This Means

Marketing leaders are increasingly recognizing that card-linked programs deliver what other channels can't: direct connection to consumer spend behavior, closed-loop attribution, and performance-based pricing. The shift to CLO at the top of the preferred channel rankings reflects a broader industry move toward measurable, results-driven marketing.