Typical consumers have only five "BFBs" (Best Friend Brands) from which they will repeatedly open emails and buy products, according to new research by Silverpop, an IBM company and leading provider of digital marketing software. The online shopping habits and communications preferences of nearly 4,000 consumers across the U.S., U.K. and Germany were examined in the study.
Brands built relationships with these consumers based on two main things: relevance and trust. More than 70 percent of surveyed consumers indicated they would be more likely to make a purchase if a brand’s initial email outreach was tailored to their likes and preferences, while 64 percent of consumers polled said they would be more inclined to open an email because they already trusted the brand sending the email. The importance of trust was even higher in the U.S. – with 70 percent of respondents influenced by it, nearly 10 percentage points higher than the UK and 5 percentage points more than Germany.
The research also highlighted the important role email in particular plays in helping brands build relationships with customers. Only 14 percent of respondents worldwide said that email wasn’t important in the communications they received from their favorite brands. But, individualized email is what matters most, with more than half (58 percent) of consumers across the globe saying they wouldn’t open an email if they thought it was irrelevant to them or their needs.
The research showed people only open half of the emails they get from brands (55 percent) and will only tend to purchase from three brands online within the space of three months. That's why becoming a "Best Friend Brand" in the eyes of the consumer should be a major objective for every brand.
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