A new survey by customer life cycle management specialist Customology has found that 74% of Australians believe that brands lie in their marketing communications.

“It’s like the customer is invisible,” said Mark James, CEO of Customology. “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 with them.”

The research also revealed that:

  • 77% 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.

“Brands invest so much in acquiring new customers, yet they treat them like transactions and a marketing database. Customers are feeling lied to and over-marketed to. The irony is that their most profitable customer is a returning customer,” said James. “Brands are missing out on significant opportunities by alienating their most profitable customers. It costs a lot more to acquire a new customer than it does to retain an existing one. It’s ludicrous that brands today are still offering new customers a better deal.”

However, it’s not all bad news with 64% of customers loyal to a brand that doesn’t have a loyalty programme.

Another mistake being made by brands is shown in the statistic that 51% of customers did not receive any form of communication after their first purchase, even though they shared their contact details.

In terms of customer communications, the survey found that:

  • 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.

The research report, titled The Unspoken Customer, surveyed 2,506 Australian consumers.

Sourced from Customology