Businesses need to better adapt to the changing needs and desires of their customers to foster brand loyalty in today’s marketplace, according to a study investigating changing trends in consumer behavior from telecoms provider TollFreeForwarding.com, which found that 75% of people think that businesses need to better encourage brand loyalty.
The results, from a survey of 2,000 U.S. respondents, highlight how customers’ expectations are higher than ever before. It also revealed how more traditional boundaries of purchase and loyalty have been broken, partly due to new and innovative means of encouraging repeat purchase.
The study points to a need for brands to not just be faceless corporations, but to have genuine compassion, conscience and attentive customer care. And while this relies on old-school truths such as “being charitable” and “putting the customer first,” companies now have the opportunity to self-promote their consciousness via online and social postings of their activities. When it comes to brand loyalty, word of mouth is still king—and those old techniques brought online and over social media massively increases this loyal reach, the study asserts.
The data also show that:
Women (78%) are more loyal to brands than men (75%)
Loyalty increases with age with nearly 80% of over 55’s saying they are most loyal to one brand, whilst 18-24 year olds are lowest with just over two-thirds
9 out of 10 people said that no brand had done anything extraordinary to keep them going back
Coupons, discounts and rewards were found to be the main reasons for encouraging loyalty. However, the ways these are distributed has changed due to the rise of social media and different forms of advertising
Quality and value equalled those who favored personalized offerings including rewards. The combination of quality, value and great customer service showed to be a significant factor in ensuring a sense of loyalty
The survey also encouraged respondents to give examples of how brands have encouraged brand loyalty, with five common areas standing out:
Value – “Money is tight, so I’ll switch brands to save. I usually have favorites that I switch between, but I’ll try new ones from time to time to see if I can find a better one than the standard.”
Admit to making a mistake – “Be ready to admit mistakes rather than hide or obfuscate them. Don’t get greedy.”
Corporate social responsibility – “I am loyal to a certain brand as they are either the best product or have good corporation policies such as contributing to charity and supporting the arts”
Innovative customer services – “I received a get well card from Netflix once, when I had to temporarily suspend my account due to extended illness causing a loss of income.”
Quality and consistency – “Apple is the only brand I usually go back to. Reliability and good design are the reason, even though products are more expensive, I don’t want to run the risk of purchasing cheap, defective goods.”
These findings reflect how opportunities remain for businesses to enhance brand loyalty and stand out from competitors. Brands need to encourage and implement engagement strategies that involve both traditional and online advertising in order to add a personal touch to the customer experience. This expectation also differs with age—the advance of social media has led younger consumers to demand rewards, coupons, personalized content and the opportunity for mobile payment.
“Effective competing starts with great customer intelligence—not just the usual superficial marketing research type, but psychographics and socio-graphics,” said business marketing expert Chip Bell, in a news release. “It requires thinking like an anthropologist and consumer psychologist, not just like a marketer. Smart brands know that building a core of customers who are groupie-like (like the followers of Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift) provide a beta group for testing attraction techniques and partnership-building methods.”
In the study, participants were asked: “What do you think brands should do to encourage customer loyalty?” When asked this, ‘coupons’ and ‘discounts’ were mentioned by over one in four answers. A sampling of responses follows:
A brand can be more proactive with consumers – for instance a brand can provide a) product samples to consumers b) invite to consumers to visit local facility c) use email communication by sending consumer thank you emails d) send thank you text messages or sale discount promotions
A brand should make sure that it does what it says it will do. In other words, be honest and trustworthy.
Besides things that benefit the customer directly, they can give to charity, not be involved with any type of research that involves animals. Items made in the USA (for me, that is where I live)
Brand should have lots of coupons and maybe even free coupons for your birthday, that would be nice. I also love the loyalty cards; it really makes you feel that you are appreciated for your business.
Brands should provide discounts and specials for customer loyalty. Or even just specials for all customers, say for certain periods of time as a customer appreciation type things. A health food store in my area consistently provides this kind of service for her customers, and has a customer appreciation day once a year with very generous discounts and giveaways. It’s this kind of thing that has helped them build a local business supported by the community.
Companies should reward customers by providing extreme discounts in exchange for loyalty. They should also display their social conscience by donating to charity and being public about this.
I think if they took a stand with the community against an issue such as excessive force by police or discrimination against people based on sexuality, gender, etc. they’d be seen more s apart of the community & not just a company in the community
I think they should respond to customers in a timely fashion. Especially on social media. I have had to reach out to brands that blocked me for a well put, courteous complaint. That’s the worst. I think all brands should have a media presence to encourage loyalty.
Social Media
Apart from ‘friending’ or ‘liking’ them on social media, I believe acknowledging a customer who takes the time to provide feedback or join a mailing list (email or otherwise) should be rewarded with coupons or samples before they are made available to the public or promotions solely offered to preferred customers.
Use social media presence to encourage customers to get in touch and provide feedback
I think they should respond to customers in a timely fashion. Especially on social media. I have had to reach out to brands that blocked me for a well put, courteous complaint. That’s the worst. I think all brands should have a media presence to encourage loyalty.
I think all brands should have Twitter accounts and have people man the account 24 hours a day, so each consumer can feel like they are a part of the family by receiving a quick response. When a brand quickly responds to my tweets, I am more likely to support them.
When I find a product I love, I quickly go to Twitter to see if they have account so I can not only follow them, but to also let them know how I feel about their product. When I love something, I wanna share it with everyone I know, so others can jump on the bandwagon.
Examples
Novel Loyalties
Camel cigarettes sent me a $385.50 check in lieu of the promotional merchandise I saved and sent my empty cigarette pkgs for. Instead of a camel ashtray and pool cue, I received exactly $.50 for each empty pkg I sent in. LOYALTY PAYS OFF…
Certain brands that have kept me engaged have, at times, done so by using gimmicks so transparent and so ill-conceived that I could not resist trying to figure out why the people hired to promote the brand so were permitted to do so. There is a certain sweet spot
(Nostalgia) Coca cola! Does anyone remember the ‘new Coke’ from a few years ago…they had to go to the original taste more or less to woo many of us back…I am also currently blown away by the many strange new types of Pop-tarts and Oreo cookie flavors!
Hand written response in the US mail thanking me with additional gift
Have weird contests, buy a certain product and get a game piece, entice the consumer with chances to win exotic vacations, money, create your own flavor of potato chip.
I bought a keyboard which I made the mistake of ordering the wrong one and I told the company and they told me to keep it for FREE and let me order the right one!
I entered a contest that everyday required me and of course all others to choose their favorite drawing done by kids in a children’s hospital. One of the kids became very ill during the contest. When the 4 winners were picked that child was not one of them. Another child offered to give up her prize to the sicker child. Instead the company added a fifth prize for the other child. I don’t remember the exact prize but the value was $20000 each. Their products are only sold by Walmart I think and I usually can’t find it locally but whenever I get the chance I pick that brand.
Send a Happy Birthday text message on my phone free of charge.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Any brands that are affiliated with or attribute to the welfare of animals are without question imperative to society and therefore held in the upper echelon of my loyalty.
Because I feel that brands that give back, do things for the environment and choose better ingredients are worth being loyal to and I’m willing to spend more money on their products
I am loyal to some brands because of the values that they hold. I tend to choose companies that do not test on animals as well as being better for the environment.
I’ve researched companies to ensure they do not test on animals and they use natural ingredients and sustainable practices.
No animal testing
Because they are either the best product or have good corporation policies such as contributing to charity
Consistency, reliability, always helpful customer service where applicable, healthful ingredients where applicable, stands for and gives back to causes and charities I believe in.
I am loyal to a few organic food brands that are also socially and environmentally responsible. My loyalty is partially based on the fact they agree with some of my personal beliefs, in addition to other pragmatic aspects. Such brands/companies are well worth my continued support.
Trust
I can only think of one brand to which I have a lot of loyalty, and it is a skin care brand. I have come to trust the company’s founder. I believe that she does, indeed, try to put the best ingredients into her products, and that they’ll do what she says they’ll do. I like many of her staff and enjoy them on YouTube presentations. I still try other skin care brands, but always come back to this line.
Customer Service
I am loyal to brands that I feel place the customer first. Many brands have lost sight to how they became who they are.
I am loyal to brands that provide consistent quality and service. They back up their products and provide after-sales service. They are reliable and honest. This makes me want to continue doing business with them.
Positive experience
Because I’ve had positive, personal experience with them, and they have worked for me.
Great products, great customer service and great overall satisfaction with quality
Certain brands that I am loyal to have a very good product. For example I will buy another Kia or Hyundai, because they are redoing under coat of car. Not because there was a problem, they’re just doing it to make car not rust after many years of use.
Helpful accompanying material with product
Bob’s Red Mill because they have high quality products at affordable prices and can be shipped free to my house via Amazon. They also have good suggestions on how to use their products. Also Champion because their clothing is just my style, great quality for the price and available for free ship with amazon
Blind Faith
I get most of the stuff I need under one brand or company/maker. Some stuff may not work for my liking but I never abandon them, I just keep trying. In fact, most of the time I’m also a member of their rewards program.
Nostalgia
Because they are the brands that I’ve used forever, some my grandmother even used.
I am loyal to Dunkin Donuts. It is from my hometown and what I grew up on. Even though I live 3,000 miles away now, I love that I can still rely on a little taste of home!
Source: Search Laboratory; edited by Richard Carufel