Twilio 2025 Prediction: New Definition Of Customer Loyalty In The Data Era And Hyper-Personalization

JAKARTA - In today's hyper-personalization era, in addition to conventional customer loyalty strategies such as discounts and cashbacks, brands need to ensure data security to build customer confidence and at the same time create a better experience.

The brand's marketing landscape is developing rapidly, driven by technological advances and shifting consumer expectations. At the same time, consumer confidence is starting to erode along with increased risks related to data usage. In 2025, brands will have to adapt in a new era of hyper-personalization while remaining focused on efforts to build trust.

Twilio, an interaction platform with customers that helps companies around the world build direct and personalized relationships with their customers, uncovers several trends that will affect brand experience strategies in Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) in the coming year.

Building a brand and consumer relationship on the 'Trust Ecosystem'

Trust has always been the basis of consumer loyalty or loyalty to a brand, but by 2025, consumer confidence will reach its all-time low. According to the 2024 Twilio Consumer Preferences Report, 56% of consumers in Asia Pacific say they will not buy products from brands they don't trust. With consumers increasingly critical and thorough, brands should show greater respect by placing themselves in customer position.

In this 'Credentary Ecosystem', the data will be the basis, while AI functions as the main driver. Brands will rely more and more on predictive AI in their efforts to avoid just guessing consumer wishes, perfecting recommendations for consumers, and increasing communication which will ultimately strengthen interactions between brands and customers.

"This is the time to return to the basic principles of loyalty, namely keeping promises, following up on every consumer complaint, and providing reliable service at every moment on customer travel. We will see more brands relying on the figure of the Chief Trust Officer to help reform the experience of customers, marketing, and technology strategies to build lasting relationships with customers," explained Robert Woolfrey, Vice President of Twilio Communications for APJ.

To grow this 'Credentary Ecosystem', brands must prioritize customer-centric strategies through the use of AI to improve personalization and reliability. Through a strategy alignment with consumer expectations and by focusing on building sincere relationships, brands can strengthen their position in the market and maintain long-term loyalty.

The future of inclusive verification and authentication

For customers, a good experience begins with brand capabilities to fulfill or even exceed their expectations of security. However, a company cannot simply implement stricter security measures by using a more complex authentication process, as it will slow customers' access to their accounts.

As stated in the State of Customer Engagement Report 2024 report, 40% of brands in Asia Pacific say that one of their focuses this year is to reduce obstacles during the account registration process while maintaining customer data security.

Simplifying the registration and login process as well as switching from password usage to verification system and/or digital authentication can help improve customer security as well as experience. So far, OTP via SMS has become the main method for two-step authentication (2FA) thanks to ease in use and adoption by business. Unfortunately, this method has some limitations, such as the risk of leakage when SIM cards are exchanged and the absence of message encryption features that can cause security concerns.

In 2025, we can expect significant changes in the way brands carry out user authentication, which is driven by the presence of new messaging protocols such as RCS and Silent Network Authentication (SNA). Each has its own advantages, and instead of relying on just one solution for all needs, brands will adapt verification methods to different user scenarios and needs, with the ultimate goal of creating a fun and secure user experience.

For example, RCS allows secure, end-to-end encrypted, message delivery without the need for a user code to be enough to click to verify their identity. Meanwhile, SNA offers an unconstrained authentication mechanism by checking whether the user's device is known and connected to the right network in the right place, but many developers have not fully adopted this method. In this case, OTP via SMS will remain an important backup option, especially when the user changes the device or experiences compatibility problems, "explained Chris Connolly, Solutions Engineering Lead for Communications for APJ in Twilio.

Reaffirming customer loyalty with data-supported personalization

A few years ago, discounts and cashbacks were one of the most effective ways to keep customers loyal, but in 2025 this didn't apply. Brands will turn to efforts to create a pleasant full experience for customers, making them feel valued as brands pay attention and take into account their individual preferences and behavior.

For example, instead of offering financial incentives, brands can surprise loyal customers in the form of special access to new products, or exclusive invitations for previews. This approach does not require much cost, but provides real value for loyal customers. This shift is also seen in the results of a survey conducted by Twilio in 2024 Retail's Big Show Asia Pacific, with 36% of retailers in Indonesia stating that they choose to use customer data to personalize interactions and reach customers strategically through the most preferred channels or most frequently used customers, compared to 27% of retailers providing incentives such as discount codes and limited offers as customer retention strategies.

The main priority is to strengthen the 'physical' loyalty program, which combines activation in stores with special offerings for loyal customers. Brands will use data not only to create meaningful moments for customers but also to remove barriers on consumer travel, including to simplify the payment and reward exchange processes," said Ben Chamlet, Senior Director of Solutions Engineering for APJ in Twilio.

In an era of digital transformation where consumer expectations are getting higher, data-based personalization is accompanied by efforts to build absolute trust is needed if brands want to foster lasting customer loyalty. By leveraging advanced technologies such as AI and enhanced messaging protocols such as RCS and SNA, businesses can improve customer experience, simplify the authentication process, and at the same time provide interactions with a very personal touch for customers. Entering 2025, brands that successfully navigate this growing trend will not only survive, but also appear as at the forefront of the competition landscape.