Brands face a current environment where consumers are increasingly loosening ties and changing shopping habits due to economic pressures and shifting expectations. Customers are less brand loyal today than they were five years ago, pushing brands to build stronger communities through providing emotional connections and support.

Here are five key takeaways to how customer loyalty is changing, based on a recent worldwide survey of 154 marketing and retail professionals commissioned by Bloomreach in partnership with EMARKETER.

Build a better journey

Almost six in 10 respondents (59.1%) believe customer experience is key to building loyalty with consumers, per our survey with Bloomreach.

• Building bridges with customers shouldn't stop at the experience itself. 44.2% of respondents also said establishing brand trust and reliability are impactful ways to create loyalty.
• Brands should consider every step in the customer experience when seeking to foster enduring loyalty from consumers.

Appeal to customers' emotions

Some 58.4% of respondents said making emotional connections on consumer aspects like beliefs and values helps to forge loyalty, per our survey.

• “To build the type of brand affinity that drives long-term loyalty, brands have to invest in the types of experiences and content that can foster emotional bonds with customers,” said our analyst Sky Canaves in the report.
• Additionally, 41.6% of respondents said messaging that includes transactional incentives—like offering discounts or gamifying the experience—works best to build customer loyalty.

Make support available

After customers have made a purchase, 32.5% of respondents say making support readily available provides the best opportunity to ensure customer retention, per our survey.

• Additionally, free delivery (22.1%), future discounts (17.5%), and free returns (13.0%), were also cited as ways to build loyalty.
• Chances to court loyal customers don't stop at the bottom of the funnel, brands should look at post-purchase opportunities to give consumers the best experience possible.

Treat customers like individuals

Tailoring experiences to consumers' personalized tastes is a valuable way to build loyalty for brands, according to our survey.

• Some 85.7% of respondents consider personalized marketing at least somewhat effective for customer retention.
• And it's a popular option as well. Over three-fourths of marketers (75.3%) use personalized marketing in loyalty programs.

Value matters most

68.8% of respondents think that when customers feel more economically secure, they become more brand loyal, per the EMARKETER and Bloomreach survey.

• While brands can only do so much to affect the broader economic landscape, they can still appeal to customers' loyalty with value-driven messaging and instilling a sense of community.

Download the full report here.

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