Cross-Functional MarTech Strategy Is Powering Loyalty and Guest Experience

As restaurant brands grow, there is an increasing realization that loyalty and guest experience cannot live in isolated departments anymore. Today’s guests do not separate marketing from technology, or digital from in-person. They expect one seamless brand interaction, regardless of how, where or when they engage.

That is why breaking down silos between marketing and information technology (IT) has become more than a smart operational move, but a competitive imperative.

After nearly two decades in marketing and technology leadership across hospitality brands, I have seen how aligning these functions can drive measurable results. From loyalty retention to order accuracy to app reviews, cross-functional collaboration is what transforms guest expectations into business outcomes.

If you are trying to elevate your guest experience or build a loyalty program that actually performs, here is what I have learned that can help.

Why Marketing and IT Is a Growth Engine Now

It used to be that marketing came up with the campaigns and IT figured out how to support them. That old model is too slow, and too disconnected, for the demands of the modern guest.

Growth today requires agility. Responding to data in real time, testing offers dynamically and delivering hyper-personalized communication through multiple platforms. That only works if marketing and technology are in sync from the beginning.

The brands seeing success right now have flipped the script. They bring marketing and IT together at the planning stage, so promotions, loyalty programs and digital experiences are built as one unified guest journey, not a handoff between teams. This allows for better use of first-party data, more strategic testing and fewer breakdowns between concept and execution.

The key is to analyze how these teams are structured. Is your loyalty program being shaped by the people who know your guest best and executed by the team that owns your tech stack? If not, there is a good chance you are not getting the return on investment (ROI) you are aiming for.

Build Loyalty Programs that Go Beyond The Transaction

A successful loyalty program is not just about points and rewards, it is about acknowledging each guest’s importance in a meaningful way. Guests want to feel like their business is noticed and appreciated in ways that feel personal to them.

Too often, loyalty programs are built around the brand’s needs (e.g. driving frequency, increasing check size) rather than the guest’s motivations (e.g. feeling valued, saving time, gaining access). The most effective programs are built at the intersection of both.

Whether working with a loyalty partner or building something in-house, make loyalty personal by connecting with how your guests see themselves and what they care about. Use guest data to create differentiated experiences, not just tiered discounts. For example, reward frequency with early access to new menu items. Recognize anniversaries. Highlight local engagement.

And just as important: make it simple. If a guest cannot easily enroll, track their progress or redeem a reward without friction, they will not stick with it.

Make Tech Seamless and Feel Human

Guests want speed, personalization and reliability, but they also do not want to lose the warmth that comes with personal interaction. The most powerful guest experiences are the ones where digital tools do not feel like barriers, but bridges.

When someone places an online order, tracks delivery or modifies an app-based pickup, they are still seeking a sense of hospitality. So, the technology cannot feel cold or transactional. Every touchpoint should reflect your brand tone, reinforce trust and make life easier for the guest.

That means the experience needs to be intuitive and emotionally intelligent. For example, if an order is delayed, the app should not just show a progress bar, it should offer a heartfelt message and maybe even a goodwill credit. That is marketing and IT working together to deliver more than functionality: delivering care.

For brands, that might involve auditing digital touchpoints through a hospitality lens. Are your tech tools just efficient, or are they emotionally engaging?

Use Automation to Empower, Not Replace

A common concern is that increasing technology means losing the human side of hospitality. But in reality, smart automation frees teams up to focus more on the guest, not less.

For instance, a well-integrated customer relationship management (CRM) platform that surfaces guest preferences at point-of-sale (POS) helps frontline staff make smarter recommendations. And a streamlined back-end order management system means fewer order errors and faster throughput.

All of this helps teams stay focused on what really matters: delivering the kind of high-touch service that builds loyalty in the first place.

The important takeaway, no matter what facet of the business you might operate in, is to view tech investments as enhancements to labor, not replacements. Choose tools that reduce friction for staff and increase clarity for guests, and you win on both sides of the counter.

Break Silos Early and Often

No matter how great the tools or systems are, they do not succeed without internal alignment. Some of the most innovative ideas I have seen never made it to market because departments were not aligned on the “how,” or worse, the “why.”

Breaking down silos means integrating teams from the ground up. For leadership, this might mean forming cross-functional teams around key initiatives: one for loyalty, one for app UX and one for new store openings. Each team includes a marketer, a tech leader and ideally, a field operator or franchisee.

For restaurant level employees, collaboration might look like working closely with regional marketing and tech support to flag pain points and pilot improvements.

When teams see each other as partners instead of checkpoints, momentum builds faster and the guest experience benefits. 

There is no shortage of great guest experience ideas out there. What separates brands that break through from those that stagnate is execution, and execution relies on alignment.

Marketing might know what makes guests tick. IT might know how to scale up a solution. But only when those two functions collaborate as one do you unlock the kind of loyalty that drives real growth.

So, whether you are launching a new concept, reimagining your loyalty program or simply trying to elevate your app reviews, start by looking inward: Are your teams working together as well as your tech promises to?

Because in 2025, cross-functional strategy is not a trend, it is the foundation for loyalty that lasts.