As the saying goes, “material things won't make you happy”. Which for some may seem strange, but I think there is some truth to it. A couple of years ago I bought a car that was way to expensive, it was a very nice car but did it really made me happier? I'm not sure.
What really made the car worth the money was, rather than the car itself, the people that the car connected me with, the people that followed me on road trips, family and friends that I visited as a result of driving the car. Those relationships really gave the car its true value.
The last couple of years we as marketers have gained access to a bunch of new technical innovations, channels and tools to use in our daily work. We have social media platforms, mobile, big data and also marketing automation to orchestrate it all. All this new interesting stuff promises to make our work better, more effective and for sure will make our company meet our clients every need.
Well, guess what? Your clients also got a whole new array of tools available to them. With a smartphone in everybody's hands your customers have become much more informed and as a result more powerful.
One way of thinking about these new marketing tools is to imagine them as a very shiny new sports car, they run smooth and can go really fast in a short amount of time. But what happens when the customer is right there next to us in our new symbolic car? They might change the radio station, they might open the window or start eating a snack. Should we get angry at the customer or should we accept their behaviour?
I don't think any of your friends would be happy if you sent them to the back seat of the car just because they changed the radio station. Neither will your customers.
Now, to get the real value out of your brand new marketing automation system you need to start building trust worthy, deep and real relationships with your customers otherwise they'll just switch cars and go with one of your competitors instead.
So how do you do this? Here are some ideas to set you on your way
:
• Start getting to know your customers. Dig deep in available data to get an idea of who your customers are. Get to know their aspirations, motives, needs and dreams. Build as detailed personas as possible from your findings.
• Use these personas to develop multiple hypotheses of what you believe trigger action and emotion among your customers. By testing your hypothesis thoroughly and by using a systematic process when doing so you will soon become more relevant and trustworthy and as a result build a deeper relationship with your customers. Remember that trust plays a huge part in any relationship.
• Accept that it is the customer that decides and controls what is the right time, the right way and right channel. With that in mind and a dedicated approach to making your customers life better you are already ahead with your relationship marketing. Accept that you will never be done - Keep it up!
Stefan Höglund
Marketing Consultant at Recoordinate
If you want to know more about how we at Recoordinate can help you build deep, trust worthy and real relationships with your customers, please visit our website www.recoordinate.com or contact us at info@recoordinate.com