Consumers only actually have five ‘Best Friend Brand’ companies, from which we’ll repeatedly open emails and buy products from.
In line with this ‘Best Friend Brand’ trend, more than 70% of those consumers questioned said they would be more likely to make a purchase from a company if their initial email outreach had been personally tailored to their specific needs and likes.
The study, commissioned by Silverpop, an IBM company, surveyed nearly 4,000 consumers across the UK, US and Germany. It has shown that building meaningful relationship with customers and reaching out to them with personalised and relevant content is now of critical importance if looking to win their market, beat competitors and ensure repeat custom.
Other key findings from the research include:
• 64 % of consumers would be more inclined to open an email if they already trusted that brand
• Only 14 % of respondents worldwide said that email wasn’t important in the communications they received from their favourite brands
• People only open half of the total emails they get from brands (55%)
• 26% said a brand’s email approach would stop them from buying from them in the future
View the infographic here:
The research, which examined the online shopping habits and communications preferences of nearly 4,000 consumers across the UK, the U.S. and Germany, found relevance and trust to be at the heart of building these relationships.
More than 70 percent of surveyed consumers indicated they would be more likely to make a purchase if a brand’s initial email outreach was tailored to their likes and preferences, while 64 percent of consumers polled said they would be more inclined to open an email because they already trusted the brand sending the email. The importance of trust was even higher in the U.S. – with 70 percent of respondents influenced by it, nearly 10 percentage points higher than the UK and 5 percentage points more than Germany.
“Consumers prioritize brand relationships much like they do personal relationships, with some being closer and more important than others,” said Dave Walters, product strategist at Silverpop, an IBM company. “While brands are competing for attention, it’s critical for them to get their correspondence with consumers just right in order to be considered a Best Friend Brand. Brands can no longer simply take the same-for-all approach. Outreach must be tailored to each individual’s needs and email offers a fantastic opportunity for this type of relationship building.”
In addition to underscoring a strong consumer desire for relevancy the report also highlighted the important role email in particular plays in helping brands build relationships with customers. Only 14 percent of respondents worldwide said that email wasn’t important in the communications they received from their favorite brands. This was even lower in the U.S. and Germany, where 8 percent said receiving communications with their favorite brands in this way wasn’t important to them. But, individualized email is what matters most, with more than half (58 percent) of consumers across the globe saying they wouldn’t open an email if they thought it was irrelevant to them or their needs.
And becoming a Best Friend Brand should be a priority – especially as the research showed people only open half of the emails they get from brands (55 percent) and will only tend to purchase from three brands online within the space of three months.
The research also found that, when it comes to brand communications, more than two thirds (67 percent) of consumers want to receive information such as new products, special offers, transactional information and newsletters via email. And yet, over a quarter (26 percent) said that a brand’s email approach would stop them from buying from them in the future.
View the complete Best Friend Brands research report here.
www.silverpop.com
