New research commissioned by Customology has revealed 74 per cent of people believe that brands lie in their marketing communications.
The survey of 2506 Australian consumers also found that 77 per cent believe new customers receive better incentives than loyal customers.
“Brands invest so much in acquiring new customers,” said Mark James, CEO of Customology, specialists in customer life cycle management, “yet, they treat them like transactions and a marketing database. Customers are feeling lied to and over marketed to.
“Brands are not sending authentic messages to their customers which prevents them from activating the path to re-purchase. The irony is that their most profitable customer is a returning customer.”
The research also reveald:
- 55 per cent don’t believe they are rewarded for their loyalty
- 63 per cent believe they should be rewarded for referrals
- 82 per cent could be tempted by a competitor.
“Brands are missing out on significant opportunities by alienating their most profitable customers. It costs a lot more to acquire a new customer than it does to retain an existing one. It’s ludicrous that brands today are still offering new customers a better deal,” said James.
However, it’s not all bad news with 64 per cent of customers loyal to a brand that doesn’t have a loyalty program.
Invisible customer a missed opportunity
Furthermore, 51 per cent of customers did not receive any form of communication after their first purchase, even though they shared their contact details.
In terms of customer communications:
- 61 per cent believe that stores are pushy in their marketing communications.
- 51 per cent believe they are being remarketed to, too often.
- 48 per cent believe they are being emailed too often.
- 45 per cent believe that brands are not targeting them in a relevant way.
“It’s like the customer is invisible” said James. “Customers feel that when brands do speak to them, it’s a half truth.
“We were really surprised to hear just how vocal these customers were about how brands engage with them.”
