This Is What That Great Unicorn of Marketing, the Brand Loyalist, Looks Like

There are a few things in life that marketers truly covet. A free trip to SXSW. An in-office bar. Don Draper’s wardrobe. And, of course, brand loyalists.

But what does one actually look like? According to email marketing company Strongview’s 2014 brand loyalty survey, it has little to do with age or high income. Bucking widespread perception that millennials are far less loyal than other generations, Strongview found that loyalty was essentially even across age brackets. The study also discovered that high-income earners are much less likely to be loyal to a brand.

“Only 5% of consumers with $150k in annual salary were loyal to a brand, compared to 29% of shoppers with an annual salary of $25-50k,” the company wrote, adding that “67% of loyal customers make $75k or less annually.”

So what is the secret to brand loyalty? According to Shawn Meyers, VP of marketing for Strongview, it’s all about contextually relevant content and information.

“These days, customers and brands are engaged in two-way conversations that go far beyond marketers simply pushing out product or service offers,” said Myers. “These dynamic interactions require a greater understanding of a customer’s current context and needs within the engagement lifecycle. Marketers have known for a long time that retaining a loyal customer is much cheaper than capturing a new one, but now we know that keeping them loyal comes down to engaging them with contextually relevant information, which ultimately leads to additional revenue.”

Check out the fascinating infographic below: