What Is Relationship Marketing And How You Can Use It To Grow Your Business

What Is Relationship Marketing And How You Can Use It To Grow Your Business

Relationship marketing is a marketing strategy that focuses more on establishing and maintaining long-term relationships with existing company customers rather than finding new customers for the company’s products. This does not mean that new customers have no value to the business. New customers are important to any business, but once they join the business, they need to find a way to retain them, and it’s all about marketing. It strives to turn ordinary customers into loyal brand ambassadors through a series of well-thought-out actions and messages.

Companies that don’t take relationship marketing seriously can lose existing customers due to poor customer service. They will have to win new customers for the business, which is an expensive affair. Studies have shown that the cost of acquiring a new customer is five times the cost of retaining an existing customer. As a result, companies that are not struggling to build relationships with existing customers are suffering substantial losses from new customer acquisition costs, and Accenture pushes that number to about $ 1.6 trillion annually in the United States.

Relationship marketing and its benefits

Here are some of the benefits businesses stand to gain when they build positive relationships with their customers;

1. Customer referrals

In addition to cutting customer acquisition costs, companies can also get referrals when building good relationships with existing customers. Existing customers become brand ambassadors for the business, and they are willing (without payment) to recommend the business to their friends and family. 83% of customers in the United States say they choose a brand because someone they know recommends a brand to them, which highlights the importance of a good relationship between a company and its customers.

2. Less focus on product prices

Another benefit of this marketing strategy is that it will reduce the brand’s customers’ attention to pricing. When customers are convinced of the value they get from a brand, they don’t have to worry about the price charged. As a result, because there are very few markdowns in the final product, companies can get more from their products.

3. Increased customer loyalty

When customers are treated correctly, they are loyal to the brand. Even in the face of multiple choices from other brands and retailers, they will continue to buy from the company. At present, it is difficult for companies to complete their business and increase customer exposure due to technical reasons. Customer loyalty is one of the goals that companies should strive to achieve. Customer loyalty ensures that the brand continues to operate in the competition, which can help them stay profitable for the foreseeable future.

Relationship marketing helps businesses achieve this by guiding them how to best serve consumers of their products and services. It forces companies to listen to their customers and take action. Relationship marketing puts customers at the center of the company’s equation and forces businesses to find ways to satisfy them. The result is increased customer loyalty and increased business transactions from the same customer.

4. Easier cross-selling

If your customers are impressed with one of your products, it’s easy for them to buy other products made by your company. This is because they now know the quality you can offer, which makes it easy for them to try out other products offered by the company.

If you are launching a new product, they may be one of the first to get them, which makes product launch easy and successful. And because of the good relationship between the two of you, they will give you real feedback about the new product, and you will be able to use this information to further improve your product.

Relationship marketing strategies

Here is what companies need to do to create solid relationships with their customers

1. Deliver good content

Brands often use online and offline publications to communicate with their customers, so they need to ensure that the beautiful content they deliver resonates with their customers. To do this, companies need to understand the needs of their customers and ensure that the content delivered meets those needs. If customers want to develop skills in a certain area, make sure your brand content supports them in this area.

The tone of your content should also resonate with your audience. If your client is a company executive, keep a formal and professional tone. This will help you connect with them better for greater business success.

2. Rewards the customers. 

People love rewards, which makes rewards or loyalty programs a great way to build relationships with customers. Rewards give customers a reason to come back and buy your product or service, and without your knowledge, they will be loyal ambassadors for your brand. You can launch a loyalty program where customers earn points that can be redeemed for products in the store. Such a program will keep customers coming to the store and increase your sales.

3. Send them regular updates.

Existing customers want to understand your business. If there are any offers, they want to be the first to receive them, which is why it is important to maintain continuous communication with your customers. In this regard, email communication is ideal. You can use newsletters to notify customers of upcoming promotions or to share important company information, such as price changes.

4. Make follow ups after purchase. 

Selling should not be the ultimate goal of your business. After a customer purchases a product, you need to follow up to see if the customer is satisfied with the item they received. If not, how could you have done better and implemented the changes. This shows that you care about your customers, which makes them feel valuable. For online sales, customers are asked to fill out a form to share their experience. Surveys and product reviews are other ways companies can receive customer feedback.

5. Make your brand human.

Your customers need to feel like they are interacting with others when dealing with your brand. Your interaction shouldn’t be so formal that customers feel like talking to robots when dealing with your brand. Therefore, you should try to humanize your brand and you can achieve it in the following ways:

• Find the tone for your branded content and communications. Depending on the type of customer you are serving, this may be an interesting and laid-back tone, or it may be a funny person. The unique tone of branded content and communication will help you better connect with your users as they will be able to identify your content from a distance.
• Incorporate authorship into your content. When publishing content on its online and offline platforms, brands are advised to include the author’s name in the content. This shows that people create this content, which greatly increases the personal style of the brand. It makes the company humane, which makes it easy for customers to connect with the brand.
• Let your personality shine when talking to customers. Another thing the company can do is add artificial elements to the brand. When communicating with customers on social media platforms, brands are advised to take a casual approach to help them better communicate with customers. Keep calm and don’t be afraid to let your character shine. Use social language and terminology used by your audience to communicate better with your customers.

6. Establish a community.

If your brand has enough followers online and offline, it’s time to create a community and bring it together. Within the community, customers will discuss issues related to your brand and its products. You can organize customer events and get-togethers, let customers interact with brand representatives, and share some of the pressing issues they want brands to solve. These events will help you gather valuable insights to guide your product and service improvement plans.

7. Celebrate your customers

Since your customers are valuable to your business, you need to find a way to appreciate them occasionally. In this regard, Customer Appreciation Day will be a good idea because it will provide you with an opportunity to thank your customers for choosing your business over other businesses that exist in the market. Plus, you can choose to celebrate customers on special occasions, such as their birthdays and special holidays. Send them birthday wishes and holiday wishes in these special situations, which will make your customers feel honored.

You can also give away gifts for certain products in your inventory. This will cause uproar on your brand and help you attract new customers for your products and services.

Conclusion

Relationship marketing helps businesses build positive relationships with their customers. It helps businesses build emotional connections with their customers, which can greatly help them become loyal ambassadors for the brand. Maintaining existing customers is cheaper than acquiring new ones. These are tips on how to use relationship marketing to grow your business. Please feel free to contact us to help you grow your business.