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Overview ……………………………….……………………………………
Key Findings ……………………………….…….…………………………
The Best Friend Brand ………………………………........…………………
Getting Personal ……………………………….……..........…………………
BuildingTrust ……………………………….………………............…………
Summary: How to Become a Best Friend Brand ……………...
About Silverpop, an IBM Company …...….…………………………
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Contents
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BEST FRIEND BRANDS
WHY THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT OPPORTUNITY
FOR BRANDS TO ENTER CONSUMERS’ CIRCLE OF
TRUST
Overview
How a brand corresponds with its customers is at the heart of relationship building
and digital marketing is essential to this.
Silverpop’s Best Friend Brands study examines the changing online landscape
and the way consumers now expect to be communicated with. The study is
based on an Opinion Matters survey of nearly 4,000 consumers across the U.K.,
U.S. and Germany, looking at their online shopping habits and opinions on brand
correspondence.
Thiswhitepaperdiscussestheresultsfromthestudy,lookingatcurrentexpectations
from consumers for the way they are being marketed to, as well as the ways they
would prefer to receive correspondence from brands. It also includes comment
from Silverpop’s product strategist Dave Walters on what the results mean for the
Silverpop, an IBM Company, therefore commissioned a study to provide a better
understanding of the way consumers are currently being marketed to online, and
just how well this outreach is resonating. It reveals the high standards consumers
expect from brands when it comes to the content they are receiving in their
inboxes each day, their motivations for opening or deleting an email and the
reasons why they would click through to make a purchase from it.
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Key Findings
The emergence of Best Friend Brands
The most notable aspect the study has shown is a growing trend for consumers
having Best Friend Brands – the companies from which they will repeatedly open
email correspondence and buy products online from.
The research highlighted that consumers only tend to have a limited number of
brands who they always open email correspondence from. Globally, this averages
at around 4.5 brands. For companies, being a Best Friend Brand is crucial as it
messages are encouraging loyalty, and likely, purchases. Delving further into
the phenomenon, consumers were asked to specify how many brands they had
purchased products from in the past three months online. Around the world,
consumers on average only purchase from three brands online within the space
of three months, suggesting outreach needs to be relevant, timely and appropriate.
The Expert Weighs In:
“The fact that consumers have such a small number of Best Friend Brands
makes a really powerful statement for marketers.The relationships consumers
form with brands is, in many ways, very similar to those they form personally.
Once a bond is made, a loyalty is in place which means brands can expect repeat
purchases, but only as long as that trust isn’t broken. It’s a small circle of trust,
but something brands can certainly achieve if they are taking care with their
correspondence and communicating with consumers in a personally relevant
and timely fashion.The power of email is evident here.”
Dave Walters, product strategist at Silverpop, an IBM Company
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Getting Personal
The relationships brands are building with their target audiences clearly matter –
and the study revealed that relevance is at the heart of this. The research showed
nearly three quarters (71 percent) of consumers would be more likely to make a
purchase if the initial email outreach from a retailer or brand had been tailored
especially to them, based on their likes and preferences following previous
behavior.This requirementfor emails to berelevant to the individual was especially
high in Germany, where 81 percent said they considered it to be a vital factor in
their ultimate decision whether or not to go on and make a purchase.
left unopened, the study found more than half (58 percent) of consumers
across the globe reiterated the importance of personalization - saying they
wouldn’t even open an email if they thought it irrelevant to them or their needs.
Ensuring the subject line is appropriate also goes a long way to building the kind
of Best Friend relationship that will encourage consumers to consistently read
your correspondence. The research showed 40 percent of consumers worldwide
wouldn’t open an email if the subject line wasn’t relevant to them.
The Expert Weighs In:
“A critical element to becoming a Best Friend Brand is personalization. It’s
interesting to see just how many consumers not only want correspondence
to be personalized to their needs, but are actually demanding it from brands,
with more than half of people saying that wouldn’t even open an email if they
deemed it irrelevant to their needs. The importance of the subject line is also
key here. After all, sending a message that is destined to remain unopened is
a pointless exercise and waste of money, so making sure that all aspects
of the message are personalized to each individual is something marketers
need to ensure they are doing.”
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
17%
87%
29%
Yes probably
No
Would you be more likely to make a purchase if an email
was tailored to your likes and preferences?
Dave Walters, product strategist at Silverpop, an IBM Company
Silverpop
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BuildingTrust – Don’t Ruin the Friendship
Building relevancy leads to trust, and trust is a major aspect of becoming a
BestFriendBrand– thisexplains whysomeemailsareopenedandothersarenot.
The Best Friend Brands study showed 64 percent of people would open an email
simply because they trusted the brand – this was even more important for
consumers in the U.S., where as many as 70 percent of those questioned said their
existing relationship with the brand went a long way in determining whether or not
they would open an email from them.
More than a quarter of respondents globally said that a brand’s email approach
had stopped them from buying. Email clearly plays an important role in building a
relationship and needs to be executed properly if a company doesn’t want to alienate
a company because of its poor email marketing outreach. Investigating further,
the research showed saturation to also be a key issue, with 34 percent of
respondents saying they would leave emails unopened if they receive too much
correspondence from the brand.
approach
right. Email remains a crucial marketing tool – 17 percent of the people Silverpop
surveyed said they tend to purchase directly from a brand email once a month.
This
percent).
digital marketing campaigns – but they need to give email marketing the attention
The Expert Weighs In:
“It makes sense that getting to know a customer better and listening to their
needs will help a brand evoke their trust, but it’s impressive just how far this
trust goes toward a consumer’s inclination to open any further correspondence.
a brand in the future because they had been irritated by their email approach.
Getting email just right is critically important.The last thing any brand wants is
to deter a customer from buying from them ever again!”
Has a brands’ email approach stopped you from buying from them?
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
74%
26%
No
Yes
Dave Walters, product strategist at Silverpop, an IBM Company
run
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it deserves. The study found only 14 percent of respondents worldwide didn’t
see email as important in the communications they received from their favorite
brands.This number was even less in the U.S. and Germany – in these regions only
eight percent of those surveyed didn’t see it as important.
Exploring the importance of email further shows, despite the advent of mobile,
social and display, 67 percent of consumers want to receive information such as
method.
The Expert Weighs In:
“One of the major takeaways from the research was the overall prominence
of email and how important it is to consumers in the way they interact
with brands. Marketers can’t treat email as an afterthought of their
digital campaigns. This research shows it’s still a very crucial part
of the marketing arsenal and should be treated as such, with
investment put into getting it right.”
What types of information would you prefer to receive via other channels?
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
67%
21%
13%
12%
10%
10%
1%
There are not any types of information that
I would prefer to receive via other channels
New Product information
Account information
subscription renewals, delivery notices, etc.)
Newsletters
Others (please specify)
Dave Walters, product strategist at Silverpop, an IBM Company
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Summary – Become a Best Friend Brand
Worldwide, consumers are developing Best Friend Brand relationships with
The digital marketing space is getting more crowded all the time with consumers
receiving a steady stream of marketing messages each day, so cutting through
the noise and becoming one of these brands should be imperative to marketers
Best Friend Brands, the window of opportunity to become one of these is small,
they follow the correct processes to get their message across.
The most important takeaway is just how crucial personalization is to consumers.
More and morepeoplewant outreach that is tailoredto them, their preferences,
and their previous behaviors. There’s no room for blindly sending out emails
to consumers without any idea of what they want to receive Consumers will
no longer tolerate outreach that has been ill-thought out and doesn’t
Marketing departments need to get processes in place that will help reach their
entire audience with individual emails, all targeted and personalized for
each potential customer. Email is clearly an important part of the marketing
arsenal and there’s a great opportunity for brands that get it right. There’s not
much room in the inner circle, so those who move quickly can build Best
Friend Brand relationships for life.
companies online.
match their needs.
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About Silverpop:
Silverpop, an IBM company, is a digital marketing software company focused on
helping marketers transform the customer experience — increasing engagement
and driving revenue. Silverpop makes this possible by using customer data and each
individual’s behaviors to inform and drive every interaction in real time. Watch our
demo to see our product in action, and contact Silverpop to see how we can help you
accomplish your marketing goals for 2014.