3 Essential Elements in Relationship Marketing

Relationship marketing is a key to success for every type of business and marketing endeavor. To succeed you must make meaningful connections with your target audience – you must create, build, and deepen relationships.

Relationship marketing is about winning the confidence of your clients. You have to know how to talk to them and give them a positive impression that makes them feel more connected to you than the competition.

There are three important components to relationship marketing.

Focus Beyond One Sale

Relationship marketing looks beyond one-and-done sales. The goal is to create a connection that leads to ongoing give and take with customers. “Customer value” is defined in a way that is more faceted than sales volume. Focus is placed on the long-term relationship with each client.

Responsiveness

Relationship marketing is responsive. Questions are invited and are answered. Person-to-person connections are made as brand representatives both reach out and respond to customers. Calls are answered, emails get a personal response, comments are acknowledged.

People choose to do business with people, not companies. So, building rapport with them is essential for creating long-term business relationships and better brand trust.

Honest, Plain Language

Relationship marketing does not involve coming up with dense language that tricks people into doing what you want. It is about straightforward, authentic messaging. Be honest with your customers and tell them like it is. As in our personal relationships, people connect when they feel that they are being treated with integrity.

In order to build loyal customers, you must establish relationships based on trust and confidence. This takes intentional effort. Make the investment and reap benefits far beyond a one-time sale.

Assess Your Approach

Does your marketing approach include these three components – focus on long-term connection, responsiveness and honesty? Now is a great time to reset your marketing approach to capitalize on the benefits of relationship marketing.

If you need help assessing your efforts and developing the right strategic marketing plan, contact me today!