Consumer Connect: Building relationships through strategic marketing

In the digital era, entrepreneurs realise the importance of direct consumer relationships. Therefore, they always seek new ways to stay in touch with consumers. Here, strategic marketing initiatives play a key role in building direct relationships with customers.

However, this is not as easy as it sounds because, in an ultra-competitive market, competitors are also doing the same. Moreover, connected customers can now find out instantly whether the claims being made are true or not. As a result, brands must ensure that any claims they make can stand the test of consumer scrutiny. In the long run, this approach helps in fostering greater trust and long-term loyalty.

Strategic Marketing Dos and Don’ts

Before launching any strategic marketing plans, brands must have a proper understanding of their target audience, including likes, dislikes, habits and preferences. Once the behaviour and preferences of consumers are clear, marketers can connect with potential customers in select ways.

To begin with, personalisation and customisation of products and services are the best means of attracting consumer attention. This is especially important because the one-size-fits-all approach no longer works in a connected world where every customer wishes to stand out amongst the crowd. Herein, personalised products make customers feel special.

To customise offerings, brands can deploy data analytics to decode buyer choices. Brands could then send personalised emails to customers as per their preferences. For instance, if a person buys some soft toy or food for his/her dog, information can be mailed about dog products rather than sending material about other pets.

The second key aspect is engaging customers with relevant content. There are various ways to attract customers with the right content. Brands should produce content that engages customers on diverse channels. Content engagement does not refer merely to positive or negative reviews and reactions. Instead, customers could amplify or simply ignore the content. Every action, reaction or inaction that the brand’s content elicits offers immense insights into the value and quality of its content.

Naturally, the prime purpose of content engagement is to draw positive reactions. Content that strikes the right chord with consumers could lead to faster sales conversions.

One of the best ways to engage with users is by being active on social media platforms since it allows brands unique opportunities to showcase their products in a more personalised manner. However, merely selling products should not be the main motto of one’s social media presence. Rather, brands should use these platforms to craft engrossing narratives that increase interactions with their target audience. Accordingly, rather than trying to sell more products, the posts can nudge customers to engage with the brand through contests and gifts that highlight their expertise by providing valuable educational content.

Why Trust is Critical

This now brings one to a critical consumer connect element – trust. The criticality of trust in strategic marketing initiatives cannot be overstated. Before consumers make any purchase, trust is the basic element that must be established. Building trust can be particularly challenging with first-time users who may not have heard of one’s brand.

So promises made on social media channels or one’s website won’t be taken at face value. In such situations, brands can highlight testimonials from previous customers, which could function as a kind of word-of-mouth marketing, giving new consumers details about the product via other users.

Another method of fostering trust is by using content creators and influencers who could act as brand ambassadors. Although customers realise influencers are paid to publicise the features and benefits of specific products, people are more receptive to the words of another human being rather than those of a brand or its website. In turn, trust generates greater loyalty as consumers are more willing to make repeat purchases from a trusted brand.

Relationship Marketing – Strategic Icing on the Retention Cake

Next, there is relationship marketing. This type of marketing is crucial because consumer retention is more vital than customer acquisition for a company’s overall success. Harvard Business Review (HBR) notes that a bare 5% rise in customer retention rates can inflate profits anywhere between 25% and 95%.[1] Although this represents a wide range, it shows the enormous impact customer retention exerts on profitability.

HBR also reveals that acquiring new customers can be anywhere between five and 25 times extra expensive than retaining existing ones. In other words, it makes more sense to boost retention rates since it increases revenues and comes without the added costs of procuring new customers.

Relationships marketing concerns the strategy of developing more meaningful relationships with users to drive long-term satisfaction backed by higher brand loyalty. Consequently, relationship marketing does not focus on sales transactions or short-term metrics. Instead, it is aimed at delighting customers over the long run. If customers are happy with their brand interactions, they will be more inclined to become repeat customers and return more often to the business.

Indeed, existing users will be 50% more likely to try out new products and spend 31% more than first-time customers.[2] It’s no surprise that relationship marketing is considered essential for enterprises to boost long-term revenue without spending more on marketing campaigns. Companies should also adopt flexible marketing strategies that evolve according to changing customer needs.

Thereafter, one must focus on two-way communication based on encouraging feedback and reviews from customers to improve products and services. Feedback is indispensable in ensuring brands have their ears to the ground and remain in tune with changing customer needs and aspirations. While some degree of consumer feedback can be expected, many customers won’t provide the same unless specifically asked to do so. Companies should, therefore, actively solicit feedback from consumers to improve offerings. This may be done via online surveys, email and other communication modes.

Don’t forget that relationship marketing is most effective as it offers additional value for both buyers and sellers. Rather than a one-off exchange of goods or services, relationship marketing provides long-term engagement between buyers and sellers. That is precisely what successful business operations are all about.