Customer communication preferences vary widely in today‘s digital landscape. Some may want to go to a company’s landing page, initiate a conversation with a chatbot, or even pick up the phone to learn more about a service or product.
In my experience leading marketing teams, understanding how your customers prefer to interact with your brand is essential for creating exceptional customer experiences that drive loyalty and retention.
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Read on to discover HubSpot Blog insights and research about customer communication preferences with their favorite businesses.
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Customer Communication Preference Statistics
To begin, I recognize it’s a marketer’s tendency to focus on campaigns and metrics. However, some of the most valuable intelligence for your marketing strategy comes directly from your customer service teams. So let’s begin with some insights from our State of Customer Service report.
According to our research, consumers are more demanding than ever when it comes to customer experience. Leaders report that the number of tickets their company receives is higher than ever before (75%), and customers expect issues to be resolved immediately (82%).
Additionally, customers expect a higher level of personalization than ever before (78%). So we ran a HubSpot blog survey asking respondents how they prefer to interact with companies when looking for information about a product or service. Let’s dive into it.
How Customers Prefer to Learn About Products
According to customer responses, 46% said they prefer to review its content (videos, commercials, blog posts, images, etc.), 15% follow or visit its social media accounts, and 9% go to the company’s physical store and read reviews on review sites or social media pages.
1. Reviewing Content
When customers want to learn more about a product, they overwhelmingly turn directly to your content. Research consistently shows that potential buyers actively seek out videos, blog posts, social media content, and other materials published by companies before making purchase decisions. This natural customer behavior should be the cornerstone of your marketing strategy.
To maximize this opportunity, create content that meets your audience where they already spend their time. For example, Gen Z spends most of their time on YouTube, followed by Instagram, Snapchat, and then TikTok. By understanding these platform preferences, you can ensure your content reaches potential customers on their terms.
Your content must also align with customer search intent. The AI Insights for Marketers report reveals that 55% of marketers now use AI for text-based content creation (blogs, ebooks, marketing emails, press releases, product descriptions, and social posts) — a direct response to the growing customer demand for informative, helpful content.
This strategic focus on AI-enhanced content creation delivers dual benefits: marketers can spend more time on creative work (66% agree) while reducing time spent on repetitive tasks (78%). The result? Businesses can consistently produce the high-quality, personalized content that today’s research-oriented customers actively seek out.
Pro tip: HubSpot’s Email Marketing tools help you leverage AI-assisted content creation while maintaining the authentic personal touch that customers expect during their research process.
2. Social Media
When it comes to social media, 56% of consumers are influenced by posts shared by friends and family for sourcing ideas. In addition, 54% of Gen Z shoppers and 58% of millennials agree that social platforms are better than online searches for finding new products.
In addition to this survey data, the 2025 Social Media Trends report also indicates that social media continues to be a crucial channel for customer communication. 69% of marketers agree that more shopping will happen on social media than on brand websites or third-party marketplaces this year. This signals a significant shift in consumer behavior that businesses need to prepare for, and social media management is getting more important to reach customers.
Pro tip: Leverage HubSpot’s SMS Marketing tools to complement your social media strategy with direct, personalized messaging that meets customers on their preferred channels.
3. Reading Reviews
When it comes to reading reviews, National Leave a Review Day data shows that 54% of consumers are putting their trust in online reviews first, outweighing the opinions of friends and family (24%), company claims (18%), social media influencers (2%), and media reviews (2%).
Review management isn’t just a reputational concern but a necessary business function that directly impacts your bottom line. I believe forward-thinking companies integrate review generation into their core customer experience strategy rather than treating it as an afterthought.
How Customers Prefer to Communicate with a Company
When reaching out to a company online, survey respondents preferred to message a human representative from your business (45%).
This is a crucial statistic to be aware of considering the rise of chatbots. While the AI-powered tool is undoubtedly helpful, customers are letting us know that they don’t want you to shift your entire messaging strategy to revolve around an automated tool.
However, the second-highest preference is for a mix of chatbots and human representatives. So, even though customers want to talk to a person, you can combine both tools in your strategy. When you leverage a mix of the two, aim to have bots complement the human experience. For example, a bot can initiate a conversation and collect information to transfer the customer to an agent most equipped to provide a solution.
Customers are also okay with simply using chatbots for routine and simple tasks, like order tracking, checking status or balance, or changing an order.
How I Think Companies Can Better Meet Customer Expectations This Year
As we move through the year, the businesses that thrive will align their communication strategies with evolving customer preferences. The data is clear: customers expect immediate, personalized service across all channels, with both self-service options and human support available when needed.
I think we‘re at an inflection point in customer communications. Throughout my marketing career, I’ve observed many technological shifts, but few as transformative as what we’re experiencing now with AI-enhanced communications. Companies that resist this evolution risk being left behind, while those who thoughtfully embrace it will forge deeper connections with their customers.
By leveraging the insights from HubSpot’s research and implementing the right tools, you can create a customer communication strategy that not only meets these expectations but exceeds them, driving loyalty and growth in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in July 2017 and has since been updated for comprehensiveness.