Customer Engagement: How to Win Trust and Loyalty 2020

After a two-year pause, we are back with our data and insights on customer loyalty.

The DMA has teamed up with Collinson and dotdigital to create this report, which showcases a number of changes to consumer behaviour and brand engagement since the survey was last fielded in 2018.

Clearly, our lives are all different from a year ago and, as expected, the pandemic has accelerated many key customers trends. For instance, consumers are becoming more receptive to digital-first brand engagement.

Indeed, due to lockdowns and social distancing rules, consumers have had to turn to digital channels to maintain daily communications in every area of their lives. 47% of UK consumers are making video calls weekly; 1 in 10 have video called a brand; and nearly a quarter are interested in brands using video calls to engage with them in the future.

Zoë Senior, General Manager at Collinson, said:

“The high street has seen a significant drop in footfall and, according to the ONS, clothing and footwear retailers are suffering even more than most. Unsurprisingly, we have also seen a huge jump in online shopping, as consumers have moved online to buy everything from weekly essentials to luxury goods. Encouragingly, despite all this change, we see some of the fundamentals of loyalty have remained solid.”

Furthermore, Brits want to see the human side of brands. 77% of customers feel like brands should show compassion during the pandemic; 66% want brands to communicate how they are helping customers; and 58% want to know how they are supporting staff.

Scott Logie, Chair of the DMA Customer Engagement Committee and Customer Engagement Director at REaD Group, said: “Compassion is something we have heard about a lot in recent times, but this in connection to a brand is still relatively new. Over time, we have seen that the ethics and credentials of brands are becoming an important part of the consideration phase for many consumers, and this is a natural extension of that during these difficult times. This is definitely something for brands to consider.”

So how does this tie into customer loyalty?

Despite the pandemic disrupting habits, 51% of consumers remain actively loyal (compared to 49% in 2018), and those who are more loyal by force of habit have increased to 17% from 13% previously.

As marketers, we should not forget that “trust plays a significant role in the relationship we have with our customers,” Gavin Laugenie, Head of Strategy & Insight at dotdigital explained. “However, consumer trust is not quickly earned. It has to be developed over time, and with each interaction we make, carefully choosing the right channels to direct and manage that interaction. When we earn that trust from a consumer, our jobs become more straightforward, so we need to nurture that trust by rewarding existing customers regularly.”

Discover more details on these and other insights in our full report.

Download Customer Engagement: How to Win Trust and Loyalty