This post is the first in a series called "A Quick Survey."
As a new decade begins, it’s apparent the digital landscape has altered the way brands connect with consumers. Meaning, for marketers, there's an opportunity to reach them directly.
Putting that into numbers, Visual Capital reported that a single minute on the Internet in 2019 consisted of 188 million emails sent, 3.8 million Google searches queried, 4.5 million YouTube videos viewed, and 1 million people logging into Facebook.
Needless to say, all of that online activity is a significant amount of noise to cut through for a marketer who is trying to grab the attention of customers, both existing and new.
Which got us wondering – how are consumers responding to brand outreach on different platforms? Are consumers still engaging with brands and if so, how?
We here at Quikly, conducted a survey to find out. Nearly 2,800 consumers responded and what the data showed surprised us:
Engaging more with brands is on the up
This past year, consumers said they have been engaging more with brands on all channels surveyed (email, SMS/text, loyalty programs, mobile apps, and social media).
Depending on the platform, about 50-60% of consumers said their engagement increased with brands in the past year. Compared to 33-41% of consumers who said their engagement remained consistent. Less than 9% of respondents said their engagement with brands declined on all platforms.
The more outreach, the more engagement
Consumers indicated they are more likely to engage with repeated outreach on every platform.
When brands continued to reach out to consumers, a range of 47-70% said they were more likely to engage, with social media being the lowest and loyalty programs being the highest. Wherein, 23-33% responded they were just as likely to engage. Notably, 5-18% indicated they were less likely to engage, depending on the channel.
Not overwhelmed
Perhaps the most shocking find is that people said they weren’t overwhelmed by repeated outreach.
A range of 6-34% of respondents said they were rarely or never overwhelmed, with email coming in lowest. Now that’s not to say marketers should send communications ad nauseam since 9-24% said they were always or most of the time overwhelmed by the amount that brands tried to reach out to them. There did show to be a solid middle ground of 31-39% indicating they were sometimes overwhelmed.
It appears they've become used to the amount of outreach, deciding when to pick when they tune in or out.
As the noise in 2020 continues, take solace in knowing consumers indicated they are still listening.
