It’s been a long-standing debate in the marketing world whether loyalty is dead, but we know for certain that consumers will not easily forgive their trust if it has been abused. The new research by Adobe shows 71% of customers across Europe and the UK are likely to stop purchasing from brands who break their trust, leading to damaged brand trust. This means businesses risk losing significant proportions of billions worth of revenue.
Adobe’s new “Future of Marketing” research, released on the 4th of November indicates that poor data practices and failure to act on marketing opt-outs are among the biggest irritations for customers. Brands who commit these indiscretions risk losing future purchases and drops in customer advocacy and loyalty scheme memberships as a result. It is a risk to get damaged brand trust.
The wrong usage of data lead to damaged brand trust
As per Adobe’s examination, the vitally four different ways clients exhibit their confidence in brands are by making more buys (71% say they do this), prescribing the brand to companions (61%), joining a loyalty program (41%), and posting positive comments on social media (40%).
All these actions, which stand to benefit not just a brand’s sales but also customer lifetime value and the cost of acquiring and retaining customers could be suspended or stopped for good if that trust disappears.
More than half of customers say they have stopped purchasing from a brand last year because of damaged brand trust.
The top three reasons customers say they ceased buying from a brand last year are related to bad data marketing practices.
People are getting tired of being spammed with unwanted marketing messages. The most annoying thing about these pests is when they track or contact customers without clear permission (49% cited this). Being annoying is a surefire way to turn off potential clients. They can be irritating, such as by sending too many communications or lacking clarity over their privacy policies and data use (39%). Lastly, people don’t appreciate when brands don’t listen, particularly to requests to stop sending marketing communications (39%).
In a world where customer loyalty is king, it’s crucial for brands to have the right data and privacy policies in place. In fact, over half of those who felt wronged by companies last year took action as soon as they realized what had been done with their personal information. Brand damaged trust leads to a decrease in revenue.
Younger generations are more likely to feel damaged brand trust
The problem of damaged brand trust is already an urgent one, but it’s likely to become even worse in the future.
Younger generations are the most likely to punish a breach of trust, with 74% of gen Z and 67% of millennials leaving at least one brand over this past year. As today’s younger customers get older they will represent a much larger proportion for businesses in revenue so there is a potential risk when it comes down to how brands should be engaging these consumers.
The call to action for brands and marketers is clear: use data responsibly. Data can be an essential tool in the arsenal of any marketer, but it needs care if you want your efforts to produce high-quality personalized experiences with accuracy that will resonate positively among customers too.
This year, less than a third of customers said they have been provided with an improved digital experience while 93% of marketers report being good or excellent at delivering personalized experiences at scale.
In a world where third-party cookies will soon disappear and first-party data becomes crucial for personalization, there is some hope. Though millennials are more likely to say digital experiences have improved over time while gen Z respondents disagree with these statements by showing mixed feelings towards them on social media platforms such as Facebook or Instagram.
It’s clear that personalization will be a key factor in separating successful brands from underperformers. The future success of these companies is dependent on their ability to understand and respond appropriately towards consumer needs, preferences – all while staying up-to-date with data analysis provided by high-quality sources.
Bold Creators Club can help you reach your goals
Dealing with social media influencers is not always easy. Actually, most of the time, companies and influencers can’t communicate clearly, as there is a lack of a cultural, linguistic, and social bridge that connects both.
When it comes to Latin influencers, this communication barrier is even bigger. Not only because a lot of people in countries like Brazil or Colombia don’t English, but also because these countries are highly multicultural, with cities with completely different styles, slang, social and cultural movements within the country.
In the case of Brazil, this aspect is so strong that there are even completely different cultures within the same city, in big metropolises like São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro.
It is really hard to keep up with the constant changes in the pop culture and in the internet world, so contacting an agency whose job is to always be updated about what the influencers are doing, how is the stability in the country, and more important information for your company, is the best strategy.