Consumers share brand experiences – so make yours positive!

A new survey indicates consumers will almost always take action after engaging with a brand, whether the experience is good or bad.

According to a poll of 1,000 U.S. and U.K. shoppers from customer experience platform Iterable, the top actions respondents take to express their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with a brand is either recommending the brand to friends and family (67%), or warning their friends and family (51%) after having a negative brand experience.

Other popular responses to a positive experience include making another purchase from the brand in the future (57%), writing a positive online review (50%), writing about the experience on social media (29%), and reaching out to customer service directly (25%).

Conversely, popular responses to a negative experience include not making a purchase from the brand ever again (47%), reaching out to customer service directly (47%), writing a negative online review (28%), and writing about the experience on social media (21%). Only 5% of respondents do nothing after a negative experience, with even fewer (4%) doing nothing after a positive experience.

Eighty-seven percent of respondents said they’re more receptive to a brand’s messages if they know the company’s beliefs and values. More than six in 10 (62%) respondents said knowing a brand’s beliefs and values makes them feel more trust toward the brand. Substantial percentages also said it helps them better know the brand’s authentic identity (44%) and better believe the brand’s purpose (34%). Nearly three-quarters of respondents (71%) said they felt positive toward a brand after receiving a social or political marketing message.

When asked how COVID-19 has affected what information they hope to receive from brand messaging, a leading 38% said they now prioritize the brand’s customer safety plan. Thirty-one percent of respondents also indicated a preference for localized content, and 30% said they need to know a brand’s alternative purchase options, like buy online, pick-up in store (BOPIS) and curbside pickup.

Other interesting findings include:
•    Almost six in 10 respondents (58%) said they feel positive about receiving a personalized online ad, and 23% said they feel neither positive nor negative about the matter. The remaining 19% said they feel negative about receiving hyper-personalized ads, with 8% saying they feel very negative.
•    A promotional/sales-driven tone resonates the most with respondents for brand messaging delivered across purchases (53%), email/newsletter subscriptions (49%), and social media (36%).