In a world where we are ‘marketed’ to nearly every minute of every day, what makes one brand, company or product stand out above its competition? Think about your recent purchases. Where did you research? Who did you talk to? We live in a global environment that is constantly on, rarely far away from a mobile or internet device.
Try adding a social media “Add This” button on a website and you are immediately given a choice of over one hundred different platforms you can share your content on. You and your customers are talking and sharing information now more than ever, in many more different platforms than before. “A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is … it is what consumers tell each other it is”. (Intuit Founder Scott Cook)
Your customers are increasingly making purchasing decisions based on their relationships with friends, family members and companies they trust rather than what they are being sold. Today’s consumers don’t have time for intrusive advertising or blatant sales promotional messages. Give them information they can use, fill a need or fix a problem and then you have their attention. You want customer or brand loyalty? Today more than ever your customers want a relationship.
Relationship marketing differs from other forms of marketing in that it recognises the long term value of the customer relationship. It extends your company or brand communication beyond intrusive advertising and sales promotional messages. The focus is working hand-in-hand with your prospects and customers to co-create a more meaningful, personalised, and lasting experience.
Relationship Marketing is targeted at building stronger and long lasting relationships with customers. Business communication has a strategic orientation, and caters to the needs of individual customers. Its major part involves studying the need of the customer and how it changes in different circumstances.
The relationship is not only enhanced but its life period is increased as the customer realizes the value of the relationship and they are drawn closer. Relationship marketing not only focuses on building relationship and attracting customers but also retaining and engaging with them. Your customers and prospects want to know that you’re listening, that they are important to you, and that you are striving to improve your brand, products or services as a result of their feedback. Relationship marketing embraces the conversation and, engages them in that conversation.
The benefit for you and your brand is an extended customer lifetime value. Your customers become brand advocates and ambassadors actively promoting your business or brand. These customers then start to influence the purchasing decisions of their friends and family members as they trust you. They become the advocate that passes on the information their circles of influence can use, fill a need or fix a problem. So, forget the intrusive advertising and blatant sales promotional messages catch your customer’s attention and build a relationship.
It is those companies who listen, engage and market long term with their customers through relationship marketing that will thrive in the long run. They are the businesses that build customer and brand loyalty. They are the businesses that have a relationship with your target customers.
How well do you fare with building your client relationships? If you aren’t sure let’s do a Marketing Audit, to discover where the gaps are in your marketing. Get crystal clear on your message and your DIGITAL & ONLINE space and don’t waste the most precious commodity you have … your time.
