Brand owners are being urged to tap into the “secret sauce” of effective relationship marketing, with a new study revealing the top 200 companies that consumers believe have what it takes to transform them from every day shoppers into loyal brand superfans.
The latest edition of Marigold’s Relationship Marketing Trends: Brand Rankings Report, asked a nationally representative sample of 21,700 consumers from the US, UK, and France to rank brands on a scale of 1 to 5 across four key categories: personalisation, omnichannel experiences, trust, and loyalty.
In conjunction with Econsultancy, for each of the 200 brands, it collected a minimum of 200 responses and indexed mean scores on a 0-100 scale for each category and calculated the overall consumer relationship score based on an average of the four category scores.
Perhaps unsurprisingly US brands dominate the rankings, although there are a little more than a few points between them all. For instance, Walmart comes out as the top performer (with a total of 78.59 points), followed by Sam’s Club, CVS Pharmacy, Bank of America, and Blue Cross Blue Shield making up the top five. Boots is sixth (on 75.98 points), while John Lewis (12th), Specsavers (34th), Next Group (36th) and Primark (49th) are the highest scoring among the 20-plus UK brands.
The report reveals that while personalisation is essential, it is often lacking. In fact, nearly four-fifths (79%) of consumers say they are likely to engage with a personalised email tailored to their interests and 62% say their favourite brand treats them like an individual. However, 40% of consumers are frustrated by irrelevant content and 33% feel their needs are not met by brand messages.
The report reinforces the need for brands to zero in on first-party data to increase personalisation, rewarding customers for engaging in surveys and polls to deliver highly tailored offers and experiences.
When it comes to which channel to choose, the strongest brands create consistent experiences for their customers across all channels, from email to text to mobile apps to websites and beyond. While email remains the top marketing channel for driving consumer purchases, SMS, social media platforms, and mobile apps are driving substantial numbers of sales, too.
Seamless experiences across channels are something that consumers simply expect to have. Enough brands are doing it right to make less-than-great experiences very obvious.
This area is important enough that nearly a quarter (24%) of consumers go so far as to say that a consistent digital experience (across a brand’s website, mobile app, etc.) is more important than price when making a purchase decision.
Meanwhile, without trust, relationship building is a near impossible feat. Trust is essential for collecting personal data and fostering brand loyalty. For their relationships to flourish, brands need to make consumers feel comfortable – and perhaps even obliged – to interact and share personal data and feedback with them.
It is this dynamic that is key for reputation, data collection, compounding personalisation, and ultimately the creation of brand superfans, the report states.
Consequently, nearly three-fifths of consumers (57%) feel comfortable sharing data with their favourite brands, and half (49%) consider brand reputation more important than price when purchasing.
Finally, it is the old staple of loyalty programmes that really drive long-term engagement, differentiating brands and fostering customer retention.
As the report states: “There is perhaps no better barometer for a brand’s success in relationship marketing than the level of connection or loyalty its customers feel. Will they jump ship the second a competitor tries to woo them? Or will they stick by their favourite brand’s side, remaining loyal even as competitors circle in?
“The latter is a goal for most – if not all – brands. Customer attrition is a reality, with over a third of consumers switching brands in the past year.”
With 68% of consumers willing to pay more for brands they are loyal to, investing in these programmes is crucial for long-term success.
Marigold chief relationship officer Micki Howl said: “In today’s competitive marketplace, gaining and retaining loyal customers is increasingly challenging. Brand loyalty is earned through personalised interactions, seamless omnichannel experiences, and a genuine commitment to understanding customers.
“This report provides valuable insights into the ‘secret sauce’ of effective marketing, offering strategies to help marketers achieve more with less by targeting the right audience with the right message at the right time.”
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