Almost six out of ten consumers (59 per cent) have stopped engaging with four or more brands as a result of poorly targeted communications, according to Experian.
The report, The future of multichannel marketing: marketer and consumer perspectives, highlights that there is a major disconnect between marketers and consumers.
The Experian figures show that, as a result of poorly-targeted communications, 8 per cent of consumers have stopped engaging with 20 or more brands. A further 27 per cent of Australians have gone as far as creating a separate email address to receive this information to avoid other email accounts from being inundated.
The study showed that the top three ways of brand engagement was giveaways or incentives (70 per cent), direct mail (60 per cent) and email (46 per cent)
The findings also show consumers are least trusting of newer marketing channels such as social media, SMS and LinkedIn for direct communication with brands. Almost three in 10 (29 per cent) consumers ranked social media as among the three marketing channels they trusted least when receiving information about a brand. While only 4 per cent said it was the channel they trusted most.
“The lack of trust we are seeing at this stage in the social media evolution is a natural part of the process for new forms of communication,” Matt Glasner, general anager, Experian marketing services, said.
“Social media is a new and immature market within Australia and there is much that all organisations are still learning about the effective use of this channel and how to deliver value both to customers and the brand.
“The challenges uncovered by the research are similar to the barriers we saw five or so years ago when customers lacked trust in emails and E-DMs. Yet, for many brands, these are now common place communication channels which are highly valued by customers.”
Experian also found that over the next 12 months, marketers plan to increase their investment into marketing. Despite the increased focus on digital, 36 per cent of marketers still plan to spend it on print ads but a majority are looking at email marketing, online advertising, apps and events.
“Marketers are working hard to ensure their messages are heard. However, our research highlights that there is still a huge opportunity for marketers to further understand how and when consumers want to engage across all channels, including social media,” Glasner said.
“Information overload is a challenge for the industry. As we move deeper into an era of multichannel marketing, marketers need to be more selective in their communications and deliver them in a way that is personally relevant to the audiences they are targeting.
“The big opportunity over the coming year is to apply the clever consumer segmentation that is already being used, to create tailored social media campaigns which talk to the needs of their customers. This is an important conversation for marketers to get right over the next 12 months which, in turn, will generate greater cut through and start to establish the channel as a truly valued and trusted information source.”