The Future of Marketing is a monthly content series by Amazon Ads exploring martech, shopper insights and consumer trends.

In today’s economic landscape, building and maintaining customer trust is more important than ever. Not only does it help to encourage brand loyalty and repeat business, but it also has an impact on ad performance. In times of economic uncertainty, customer trust is a key component in helping create campaign success.

We’re all operating in a time of global uncertainty, driven by economic shifts, complex supply chain constraints, and the continuing effects of the pandemic. These factors have combined to create an ongoing spike in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).[1]

So, it’s no surprise shopper confidence is a little shaky. According to a poll conducted by market research company, Kantar, late last year, inflation is foremost on the minds of shoppers, with 63% of respondents indicating they’ve noticed price increases on the products they buy – and a whopping 77% feeling confident those inflated prices won’t go back down for at least six months.[2]

Now, more than ever, growing and maintaining customer trust is of the utmost importance. In making purchase decisions, it is not all about cost, as 48% of customers polled in the Kantar study said they would continue buying at an increased price if they felt as a valued customer of the brand.[3] It’s just as much about prioritizing the shopper experience to help customers feel like they still have a meaningful connection to your brand.

A Harvard Business Review article last June noted that 80% of customers need to trust a brand before they would consider making a purchase, and that trust is grown through authentic messaging and relevant engagements.[4] So, connect with customers by telling your brand story. More than half of marketing leaders say they’re feeling pressure from CEOs and CFOs[5] to prove the value of their marketing, which is why marketers are constantly required to think of new, innovative, and most importantly, effective ways to measure the impact of their strategies. The key is staying true to those upper-funnel brand-building solutions despite pressures to cut back.

To underline that point, research recently conducted by Amazon Ads between June 2021 and May 2022 shows that companies that stayed committed to brand-building solutions as part of their overall strategy observed an average 7.3x growth in product awareness and a 9.3x growth in consideration compared to brands that didn’t or those that scaled back during the same time frame.[6]

So, what’s the key to getting out your brand message? In good times or bad, the most successful advertising campaigns connect with customers through multiple channels. Amazon Ads’ research found that brands that used three or more Amazon Ads solutions achieved 1.6x higher repeat customer growth results over the control period than those that only used one or two.[7]

Amazon reaches customers throughout their daily journey. Customers are using Amazon to browse new products. They’re watching movies, TV and sports on Prime Video and Fire TV. They’re listening to tunes and podcasts on Amazon Music. They’re streaming video games on Twitch (which has over 2.5 million people on average tuning in at any given moment[8]). Or they’re reading their favourite book on Kindle.

The multichannel approach is especially effective when streaming TV plays a prominent role in brand-building tactics. Amazon Ads has found that there is a 90% increase in purchases when streaming TV ads are integrated into a media strategy, and that such ads can help engage shoppers and increase repeat purchases by 2.2x.[9]

We’ve been in challenging economic times before, and likely will again. But it’s reassuring to know that customers don’t abandon advertising when faced with economic uncertainty – they just look for brands they can trust. Luckily, there are more tools than ever to help brands deliver relevant, insight-driven creative experiences where their audiences are, and when they are most receptive.

For more information on how Amazon Ads solutions helps with advertising and marketing, visit its website.

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[1] Consumer Price Index, Canada Federal Reserve Economic Data.

[2] Kantar & Amazon Ads: International Economic Study, 2022

[3] Kantar & Amazon Ads: International Economic Study, 2022

[4] Harvard Business Review: 3 Ways Marketers Can Earn — and Keep — Customer Trust

[5] Source: Deloitte, The CMO Survey: Marketers Rise to Meet Challenges, 2021

[6] Amazon Internal Data: Building Customer Trust During Economic Uncertainty

[7] Amazon Internal Data: Building Customer Trust During Economic Uncertainty

[8] Twitch PR approved one-pager

[9] Kantar & Amazon Ads: International Economic Study, 2022