Brands 'must earn customer data, not simply grab it'

The coronavirus may have sparked a fresh surge online but these gains could be short-lived if the findings of a new consumer survey are to be believed, with 90% of customers saying online brand experiences need to improve and 68% saying their contact information is the data they are least willing to share.

According to the 3radical and Marketing IQ study, spanning the UK, the US and Singapore, while 81% of consumers interact with their favourite brands beyond transactional activities, marketers are often missing opportunities to build stronger, longer lasting, and more profitable relationships with their customers.

Traditional loyalty programmes that offer discounts remain popular, with 83% of respondents saying such incentives have meaningful influence over their decision-making process. However, the importance of non-financial incentives that enable consumers to engage with brands more frequently is also apparent.

Those looking to build better connections with their favourite brands outnumber bargain hunters and provide brands with a path to improved engagement and improved margins the report claims.

3radical chief executive Michael Fisher said: “If you look at the brands doing this well, they provide consumer engagements that go well beyond traditional loyalty schemes. They offer ongoing and organic value.

“Take casual dining brands that provide complimentary apps and services for customers, whether they be interactive games with real prize incentives, table service, the opportunity to provide feedback directly to the kitchen, or whatever they may be – they’re providing things that are genuinely relevant and fostering a community, but they’re also highly effective data gatherers.

“As regulation tightens, and consumers guard the information that brands value the most, marketers must seize engagement opportunities to earn consumer data. Value comes in many shapes and sizes, and so too does data collection.”

The study goes on to reveal that a quarter (25%) of all respondents say they are willing to share data in exchange for more personalised shopping and more personalised communication experiences, proving consumers want more relevant experiences that are data-driven.

Fisher concludes: “Consumers want a mix of ways and reasons to engage and it’s important they do as the future of marketing will depend on consumers volunteering their data. The days of unregulated and shady data acquisition are numbered. The challenge for marketers is to work with consumers to understand how and when they want to engage, and then making it happen.”