Twilio, a customer engagement platform that provides personalized and real-time experiences for companies around the world, has just released the 1st edition of the Consumer Preferences report, which brings relevant information to understand the consumer today. According to the report, 91% of consumers worldwide expect engagement through their preferred channels and are willing to spend 32% (value that reaches 45% in Latin America) more with brands that provide them to speak through these channels. In contrast, only 54% of brands consistently demonstrate this expectation, globally.
The document, which analyzes the responses of 3,900 consumers worldwide, including Brazil, provides an in-depth analysis of the main digital communication channels used by consumers, including bringing regional and generational data, as well as presenting insights to explain changes in consumer behaviors and practical tips to improve communication with them, promoting engagement.
“Consumers are being bombarded with messages from companies across all communication channels: WhatsApp, email, voice, SMS etc.It is imperative that brands reach customers not only on the right channels, but also with the right message at the right time.Companies have access to data about these preferences of their customers, but do not use them to improve their campaigns.Those who do so will win the hearts and minds of” customers, says Vivian Jones, VP LATAM at Twilio.
The report points to consumer-preferred communication channels, how brand communications (branded communications) influence consumer trust, and how quickly consumers expect a company to respond to communications.
Generally speaking, consumers prefer digital contact. Email and SMS/MMS remain the most popular communication channels worldwide, preferred by 79% and 49% of consumers, respectively. WhatsApp is very popular in countries like Brazil, where it is the preferred communication channel (77%) tied with email. Adapting the communication strategy to preferences significantly improves engagement, ensuring a service to the public where it is already more active.
By choosing the best channels to drive engagement, you can see an increase in revenue. In addition, there is a greater retention of customers, given that 40% of consumers say they are more likely to repeat purchases when brands use their preferred channels. Finally, there is a better acquisition of customers, because when brands use preferred channels, 30% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase for the first time.
Ignoring these consumer preferences, on the other hand, can be detrimental, as ineffective communications drain resources and generate sales and customer losses.57% of consumers report getting “sometimes, often or always” frustrated when brands use the wrong channels to communicate with them.
When we talk about generational preferences, the report points out that each generation has distinct preferences, shaped by their experiences with technology. That is why 87% of baby boomers and 83% of Generation X members listed email as their preferred channel, compared to only 77% of Millennials and 70% of Generation Z members. Younger users like more of social networks and messages. An interesting fact is that Generation Z wants to chat on the phone. 34% of them are open to phone calls from the members of Generation already two Millennials, and they are the most likely to serve the generation with the Millennials.
Another important factor is that consumers often prefer different channels for different types of communication, in addition to being necessary to take into account the urgency factor of a notification or contact. Understanding this allows companies to develop an omnichannel communication strategy, which dialogues with what your audience wants and needs.
Confidence and response time
Consumer Preferences still focuses on the issue of consumer trust, pointing out that 66% of consumers did not buy from any brand last year due to lack of trust in brand communication and 49% of them claim that they would trust brands significantly more if their messages or channels displayed a type of markup, such as the company logo.
Despite this, this reality is already changing, as many companies are already using messages that identify the brand. Last year, 56% of consumers received text messages with the brand evidenced and, of these consumers, 75% said that this increased their confidence in communication. This number was even higher among Latin American consumers, reaching an impressive 88%.
In addition, 88% of consumers who received a communication with a brand identification reported increased trust, with this number rising 95% in Latin America. And to conclude, 42% of consumers made repeated purchases from brands that used reliable communication methods, with this number reaching 53% in Latin America.
Finally, we come to the question of response time.The report indicates that 86% of consumers claim that the ability to message a brand in real time increases the likelihood of completing a purchase, but only 41% of them feel that brands often or always meet their response time expectations.Slow responses have left 65% of consumers feeling frustrated and/or angry and 72% believing that their time is being wasted by a brand.
The optimal response window, called Golden Hour, is one hour for more than half (51%) of consumers. This is reflected in 40% of consumers making a new purchase and 25% making a first purchase thanks to a quick response.
The report contains many other data and insights, and can be checked in the link.
