RIP Customer Loyalty

That almost 90 percent of all customers will shop around is one of the stirring findings in Mark Schaefer’s book, Marketing Rebellion.  His conclusion is reinforced by a recent study by Meaningful Brands that found 77 percent of all brands could disappear tomorrow and no one would care.  The same study found that 90 percent of consumers want brands to deliver content, but 58 percent believe that the content that brands currently deliver is irrelevant. Most consumers are not impressed by the content that brands produce.  

Consumers want brands to provide relevant, personal content and to engage with them meaningfully. It’s the reason why Marcus Sheridan advised DPHA members to answer the questions that consumers ask most often on their web sites.  It’s the reason why DPHA developed smart buying guides for members to use to answer those questions.  It’s the reason why DPHA developed a new series of blogs that members can use as their own to help provide meaningful content that helps your customers make better, more informed and trusted buying decisions.

Here’s an exercise: Go to your web site.  How much of the content is about your showroom and the products that you offer and how much is about what customers can expect if they buy from you or reasons why customers should buy from you.  Honestly put, no one cares about a showroom, how long it has been in business, how many products it features or believe aphorisms such as "we offer the best customer service in the industry."  As Schaefer points out, “Stop selling.  Start helping.” 

Most customers don’t want to have a relationship with a showroom if they are not remodeling their baths or kitchen.  When they decide to improve their home, what content are you providing to make their decisions easier and less stressful?  How are you making designers’ and trade professionals’ lives easier? The content you provide to your customers should be of equal quality to the products you feature in your showroom. The content should elicit a response from your customers to the effect of “thank you for sending this to me. It really made the decision- making process easier.”