By John Mitchison, Director of Policy and Compliance, DMA

One of the key challenges brands have faced in the last year is the introduction of the new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). However, according to the Direct Marketing Association’s latest ‘Customer Engagement 2019 – Marketers’ view’ research, the vast majority of marketers believe the new rules have either had a positive (26%) or no impact (67%) on their ability to carry out customer engagement programmes. Moreover, 28% believe the rules have had a positive impact on public trust of brands and marketing, with a third saying this positive effect has been felt in the consumer trust of how brands handle their data. 

The research also looked into consumer loyalty, revealing that loyalty programmes are far from universal, with just half of companies (49%) currently offering schemes. This is surprising as findings also show that majority of the same marketers surveyed (70%) agree that customers enjoy and value the rewards offered in such programmes. In fact, as highlighted by the DMA’s 2018 research with consumers, they found that almost the same proportion of customers (69%) felt the same.

Therefore, marketers must capitalise on this trend and levels of consumer trust and be willing to explore new opportunities to engage customers in ways that can drive loyalty. Creating new programmes and schemes in which to do this that go beyond simply offering ‘freebies’ will be key. Although it is equally important for marketers to not under-estimate the power of deals and offers in breaking brand loyalty. Just 39% of marketers in the industry believe customers are easily persuaded to ‘shop around’ for new brands if offered new deals, but far more (57%) of consumers said they would switch for a good offer. 

Ultimately, great customer engagement should result in loyalty. However, those returning customers want to be rewarded in a variety of ways, but it’s clear from the DMA’s research that a surprising number of brands are ignoring loyalty programmes. Consumers are looking for brands to offer them the right opportunities at the right time, even post-GDPR, and in return brands will build longer-term relationships with those customers. 

John Mitchison will be speaking at ABTA’s upcoming Data Management and Protection seminar in April. He will be sharing the DMA’s research into consumer engagement with brands as well as discussing what’s next for data regulation including the ePrivacy regulation and the impact of Brexit. He will be joined by a range of speakers including ABTA’s Director of Legal Affairs, Simon Bunce, legal firm Travlaw and a range of industry case studies. To find out more and register your place visit abta.com/events.