A new US study sheds light on mistargeting and how furious it makes consumers, with 94 per cent deleting emails, unsubscribing and generally taking steps to break off all lines of communication.
Janrain, a major provider of user management solutions for the social web, announced the results of their fourth annual US consumer survey, a Social Login and Personalisation study, that reveals 96% of consumers acknowledge having received mistargeted promotional information.
As a result, 94% break off communication and never visit the website again.
Simultaneously, 88% of consumers have encountered social login – the use of an existing ID from a social network such as Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc. for registration – with more than half (51%) using it to register and login to other sites.
Yet, while the vast majority of online consumers (91%) are satisfied with social login and most report a preference for personalised communication, brands have yet to seize the opportunity to improve online marketing as a result of the data they can collect in the social login process.
The study, conducted by Blue Research – an independent research consultancy, which surveyed a nationally representative sample of nearly 600 social media consumers last October – confirms that marketers are wasting money providing content to consumers – ads, offers, promotions, etc – that have nothing to do with their interests.
People are fed up and taking action.
Paul Abel, managing partner, Blue Research, said: “In the four years that we have conducted this study, what is interesting to note is the evolution of consumers that are now no longer willing to accept mistargeted communications.
“Today, of those who receive mistargeted communications, almost seven out of ten report automatically deleting the email without even looking at them. This should be of interest to marketers determining best practices related to personal customer communications.”
Another key finding is that, among non-users of social login, the number one barrier is lack of trust. Almost half reported that they don’t trust a company to use their information appropriately. Just over a third are concerned the company will post to their social network feeds.
Larry Drebes, CEO, Janrain, said: “This year’s study confirms that it’s paramount for marketers to establish trust and transparency about how personal information will be used.
“The good news is that once trust is no longer an issue, consumers are willing to be identified and recognised as customers across multiple devices to receive personalised content.”
Other key findings:
- 64% of consumers using social login are more likely to return to a website that remembers them without a username and password.
- ·60% find suggested products/promotions based on their social login profile information useful.
- 49% of respondents who use social login would allow mobile phone apps to offer special in-store offers.
- Social login users are 78% more likely versus non-users to download a mobile app from a site that is personalised.
A 60-minute webinar is being given by Paul Abel on Wednesday January 29 at 11am (PDT), 2pm (EST) on Social Login and Personalisation and the above findings. Click here to register.