Media & Entertainment: The State of Customer Engagement

For media and entertainment brands, 2020 was the year of streaming. Now on the heels of last year's blockbuster growth and engagement comes the real test. Yes, that's right, 2021 is all about customer retention. Fortunately for marketing and customer engagement teams facing mounting competition, Braze has created a new resource, the Global Customer Engagement Review. This report is packed with valuable insights about how marketers are allocating their budgets, what top executives say their top priorities are for the year ahead, and how to take advantage of the biggest opportunities to drive customer engagement.

Let’s explore some of the most important highlights about the state of customer engagement, specifically when it comes to the media and entertainment industry.

Top Customer Engagement Priorities for Media & Entertainment Brands in 2021

In 2021, media and entertainment brands plan to invest heavily in both acquisition and retention—and 40% cite keeping ahead of the competition as their top challenge for the year. That’s according to a 2020 survey of 1,300 VP+ marketing executives conducted by Wakefield Research on behalf of Braze as part of the 2021 Global Customer Engagement Review.

According to our Global Customer Engagement Review analysis, when media and entertainment brands optimize customer engagement using cross-channel messaging, they see gains across sessions, LTV, and retention.

Top Customer Engagement Opportunities for Media & Entertainment Brands

#1: Increase app conversions

Across all industries, media and entertainment mobile app users are some of the most engaged, with a 38.51% "used app" conversion rate. That’s compared to the overall 26.29% average across industries, which speaks the strength of this vertical when it comes to capturing user attention.

Still, the industry's purchase conversion rate shows the real opportunity for growth. Across all sectors, the benchmark is 5.72%; however, entertainment and TV, video, and streaming brands come in at among the lowest, with purchase conversion rates at .52% and .17%, respectively.

Some of that difference may be influenced by the popularity of subscription-based services for music and video streaming that don’t offer many (or any) in-app purchase options for users. However, for brands in the space that are looking to improve in-app conversions and in-app purchases, some powerful tools to start with include investing in in-app messages, deep linking, and personalization.

#2: Go beyond a single-channel approach

While many companies prioritize connecting with customers via email or mobile push notifications, evolving beyond single-channel engagement can do a lot to drive stronger business results. By adopting cross-channel engagement, media and entertainment brands can positively impact customer lifetime, number of purchases (per user and per buyer), session activity, buyer rate, and repeat buyers, among other metrics.

While using either in-product messages (like in-app messaging, in-browser messaging, and Content Cards) or out-of-product messages (email, push, and SMS) are both more effective than sending no customer outreach at all, the most effective approach is a hybrid strategy—using pull messaging to keep individuals engaged in the moment and push messaging to keep them coming back, time and again. By using these two types of channels in concert, you can more easily create a cohesive, start-to-finish customer journey that resonates with your users and can support stronger outcomes and stronger relationships.

How Braze Helps Media & Entertainment Brands Achieve Best-in-Class Customer Engagement

As a partner to top media and entertainment brands, Braze enables companies to launch sophisticated cross-channel messaging, optimize their customer engagement strategies, achieve 1:1 personalization, and more to deliver key customer engagement KPIs.

In 2020, the NBA turned to Braze to help drive growth of its live game subscription service amidst the pandemic. To do so the company rolled out in-app messages paired with rich push notifications personalized with each fan's favorite teams with calendar synching capabilities. This one-two punch of pull and push messaging paid off: The sports media giant saw a 9.5X increase in daily active users, a 25X lift in sessions, and a 17X lift in new users.

Check out the full 2021 Global Customer Engagement Review to learn more about the tactics other leading brands are using to drive LTV, retention, and revenue.