The strategies that brands must leverage to create customer loyalty are changing rapidly, and marketers can no longer rely on many traditional tactics to successfully engage audiences. New abilities to capture and analyze customer data, and a growing willingness among people to connect across a wide range of mobile devices, have produced dramatic shifts in customer behaviors and attitudes.
Today, brands must strive to understand what consumers find highly relevant and meaningful, and these insights are often gained through customer data. In our highly connected and data driven world it seems that consumers are willing to share their personal information. However, consumers are increasingly beginning to recognize the value that this information holds.
This was one of the key findings of a new global study conducted by AIMIA, a leading a data-driven marketing and loyalty analytics company. The 2015 AIMIA Global Loyalty Lens Report surveyed over 20,000 consumers across 11 countries to gauge a wide range of behaviors and attitudes regarding customer experience, data collection and more.
We are now in what AIMIA calls the “data exchange economy.” Overall, 80% of consumers globally are willing to share important pieces of their personal information. But surprisingly few (8%) feel that brands are actually compensating them for this information. And since customer data is a crucial step in being able to offer a meaningful and relevant customer experience, this suggests a tremendous opportunity for brands that are willing and able to engage consumers in this area.
“Consumers are increasingly aware that there is a value exchange going on,” David Johnston, AIMIA Group COO, told Loyalty360. “That means that their expectations of what they are going to get back from brands, and their expectations for how they are going to be treated by brands, are going up. And so far, on average, companies still are not doing a great job of personalizing experiences and services.”
Another key factor for brands to consider is that there were significant differences between various nations.
AIMIA found that those in “disruptor” nations, those defined as having quickly growing customer loyalty initiatives and noted here as the UAE, India and Brazil, were more willing to share their data than were consumers in other nations.
In fact, consumers in the UAE and India dramatically led in this respect. 71% and 68% of consumers in these respective nations were more confortable with sharing mobile phone numbers and various pieces of lifestyle information.
In India especially, almost 90% were willing to share email addresses and names. In other “leader” nations such as the United Stats, only 39% were willing to share similar information.
“This is a golden moment for companies to build meaningful relationships with their customers, but this opportunity will quickly disappear if companies fail to respond appropriately,” said Johnston. “Companies need to realize that the power in the Data Exchange Economy rests with the customer. To be successful, companies must think about what they can do for the customer, not to the customer, with each personalized communication, experience and offer.”