Customer trust is important; however many customers have the mindset that they are being lied to by businesses.
In fact, 74% of customers believe that brands lie in their marketing communications.
“Brands invest so much in acquiring new customers,” says CEO of Customology, Mark James.
“…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.”
Additionally, the research also reveals:
- 77% of customers believe that new customers receive better incentives than loyal customers.
- 55% don’t believe they are rewarded for their loyalty.
- 63% believe they should be rewarded for referrals.
- 82% could be tempted by a competitor.
Mr James continues: “It costs a lot more to acquire a new customer than it does to retain an existing one.
“It’s ludicrous that brands are still offering new customers a better deal.”
However, 64% of customers loyal to a brand that doesn’t have a loyalty program.
Customer communications is key
Another mistake present in the survey results, is that 51% of customer did not receive any form of communication after their first purchase.
- 61% believe that stores are pushy in their marketing communications.
- 51% believe they are being remarketed to, too often.
- 48% believe they are being emailed too often.
- 45% believe that brands are not targeting them in a relevant way.
“It’s like the customer is invisible,” says Mr 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 them.”
This information was gathered by a survey commissioned by Customology, among 2506 Australian consumers.
