Research: Coupons don’t determine which brands we stay loyal to

For many, an average weekday morning starts with the same tedious ritual: opening the email account, then within a few seconds dozens of unsolicited newsletters go to the trash. Inboxes are full of coupons and “must-miss” offers, which often have no connection to what the customer needs at the moment. It is especially annoying when someone, after lengthy consideration, buys a more expensive electronic item or piece of clothing at full price, and then two weeks later receives a letter from the same company: a fifty percent discount on the exact product they have already paid for.

This is a sign that in modern marketing, companies collect a lot of data, but still cannot handle it well. Loyalty cards, apps, registrations and purchase histories are entered into systems, but the information is often not compiled into real knowledge.

The root of the problem is often prosaic: disorganized databases, systems that do not talk to each other, and a partial or complete lack of a customer retention strategy. And personalization is often just an appearance: the subject line contains the first name, but the body of the letter is the same template for everyone. The customer’s life situation, customer journey, activity and needs are not reflected in the content, while this is precisely what makes so many data requests worthwhile.

“Companies often collect a lot of data from customers, but do not use it meaningfully, which leads to completely alienating communication,” says Anita Papp-Nyilas, COO of Nitro. “We should respect the customer so much that when we address them, we do it in a personalized way, instead of alienating them with unfiltered marketing messages from the brand.”

Despite the sale, it doesn’t make us loyal

The recent representative brand loyalty survey conducted by Nitro of 2,000 people provides an important clue to dispelling misconceptions. One of the most interesting lessons is that loyalty is not dominated by sales. According to the numbers, the main driver of brand loyalty is the brand’s performance: this is the most important decision factor in forty-one percent of cases. In comparison, quality, personalized communication follows in thirty-six percent, while the role of loyalty programs and price discounts falls to twenty-three percent.

The research also showed that fifty-one percent of respondents prefer messages specifically tailored to their personal needs, and the majority consider email to be the most suitable channel: eighty-five percent indicated this. At the same time, the threshold for relevance is high: sixty-four percent of respondents only want to receive an inquiry if it is truly interesting and contains an offer that is personally tailored to them.

“our data also shows that loyalty is determined much more by brand performance and quality communication than by discounts,” emphasizes Anita Papp-Nyilas, Nitro’s Chief Operating Officer. “With a discount, we can at most bring the purchase forward, but that does not create a lasting bond. If the customer spends time and money on a brand and provides their personal data, they rightfully expect to receive real value in return.”

Artificial intelligence is now part of the picture, which can speed up many processes. However, AI alone does not bring order to chaos: if the data behind it is disorganized, or if there is no clear strategy and human control, it can easily lead in the wrong direction.

They spend millions on new customers, while losing old ones

One of the greatest insights of modern marketing – and also the most difficult change to make – is that retaining existing customers is a key issue. Acquiring new customers is becoming increasingly expensive, while the hidden loss of churn is constantly being generated: a previously active customer suddenly stops buying, and if no one notices this, timein, the brand does not even get a chance to correct itself. This cannot be offset by attracting endless new customers, because the costs of aggressive advertising noise and expensive acquisition are ultimately always paid for by the consumer, either in money or in attention.

This is where the idea of ​​“smart brand loyalty” comes into play: data-based, intelligent communication that does not compulsively want to sell, but rather provides relevant information at the right moment. In this approach, the loyalty program is not a points-collecting card, but an operation that notices when the customer gets stuck, when he becomes inactive, or when he is worth rewarding.

“Appreciating the customer is more important than constantly offering promotions, because discounts alone do not build a bond,” says the expert. “If someone feels that they understand their situation and do not just want to sell to them, they are much more likely to remain loyal than if they received a new coupon code every week.”

From a consumer perspective, this is not an extra request, but a completely legitimate expectation. Consumers know exactly that their time, attention and data have value. When they give all this to a brand, they expect relevant information and real value in return, not spam. Less is often more: a rarer, but precisely targeted, truly useful message can bring much stronger engagement than everyday noise.

The correctness of the approach of Nitro is also supported by the 3 awards they won at the Digital Marketing Forum to be held on March 4th. This year, at the Marketing Diamond Award ceremony, there were also award winners in the Customer Experience and Loyalty Programs and Small Budget Business Campaigns categories.