The old adage “the customer is always right” exists because even decades ago savvy business leaders understood the value of a good customer relationship. It’s worth holding on to.
Despite the rise in online sales and communication, building customer relationships is as important as ever. Fortunately, that same digital tech means building those relationships is easier than ever.
Used effectively, social media, search engine marketing and other digital tools can spark engagement, build lasting connections and establish customer loyalty. And what does customer loyalty bring? More returning customers, referrals and revenue.
Here are a few tips that each business owners and their advertising teams need to know about building the ideal relationship with consumers.
Create a social media community
Instagram, Facebook and Twitter aren’t just for promotion. They are also a way to connect with your customers.
As a key to any strong relationship, communication is the foundation of a good customer relationship.
Rather than just telling customers about your business, have conversations with them. Share, listen and engage.
Find out what your primary customers needs, any pain points and then show them your solution to their problem. Conversely, celebrate in their successes and champion them.
And don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through. After all, social media, is all about connections. Show off your personal side through friendly banter, staff photos and stories, and topics that are of interest (but may not be directly related) to your customers.
Reward loyal customers
Research shows that a loyal customer base if often just as critical to your companies successes as turning leads and prospects to customers.
Learn who your loyal customers are — be their heroes, and they will champion you.
Reward long-time customers with loyalty discounts or special promotions. Launching a new product? Send them samples, freebies or even branded giveaways.
Big or small, find ways to thank your loyal customers so your company stays on their radar. Who doesn’t love to feel appreciated?
Target key audiences
A one-time huge ad campaign is no longer the only effective marketing strategy that can be used to build a loyal audience. In fact, these campaigns can be great at catching audience attention but as soon as the commercial or ad is no longer seen, all of that attention can easily dissipate as fast as it came.
While this marketing is excellent for the initial brand awareness, this company still benefit from finding a complimentary advertising tool to capture and keep their audiences engaged. Hence, the newer social media network platform is being used for more than friends of the family but for getting close to the consumer with a company connection instead. Social media networks can be used in a variety of different ways and these campaigns can be run at an incredibly lower cost, particularly when it is compared to the cost of commercials and physical billboards all over the country. This is one of the main reasons why many of the large corporations are also using numerous social networks to introduce, promote and then strengthen their company’s brand.
Employ customer retention strategies
If you want your customers to stay loyal to you, you cannot capture their hearts unless you know who they are, what they want and when they want it.
Consumer research, surveys and analytics can help you understand the heartbeat of your ideal customer. Digital tools like CrazyEgg can help you see how visitors use your site or Woopra can help you learn more about those users who visit.
Other apps can track what a customer is buying so that you can provide them with suggestions and recommendations for their next purchases.
Communicate, engage and listen
Good communication is two-way. Hopefully, listening to customers will generate more positive comments than negative ones.
Good or bad, though, their feedback can help improve and steer your marketing efforts.
Keep a close eye (or ear?) to what is said about you, your products, your competitors, in reviews and to your customer service or sales teams.
For example, what issues are they focused on? What do they care about? What do they complain about? How can your company help them, fix concerns with services/products, delight them and exceed their expectations?
Educational material is one way to extend the customer experience. Other options include offering free services, thank you emails or birthday wishes.
For instance, if you are a car dealership, you can provide blog content on how to keep their brand new car looking new. If you are a market you can share quick recipes for familes on the go.
Trust is as hard to gain, and even easier to lose. With the use of these tactics, along with offline connections, you can cultivate better customer relationships that will stay with you for life.
