Relation Marketing: How can Business Relationships be the Focus of Attention?

You can communicate with everyone on the planet through the internet. An old Facebook mate, an Instagram celebrity, or a LinkedIn former colleague. A link, however, is not the same as a relationship. They are not the same thing. Although making a connection is as simple as clicking a button, building a relationship takes time and effort. Although having the opportunity to communicate with everyone has its advantages, it has also created a culture of impatience (i.e. instant gratification). When we link, we expect immediate results rather than allowing a relationship to develop. It is because of this society that we have forgotten that people are behind these digital profiles. If you work in e-commerce, SaaS, B2B sales, or Direct-to-Consumer products, these people have thoughts, emotions, issues, and motives. Relationships are formed with individuals, not companies. People are the ones that respond to your ads.

Let's talk about relationship marketing for a moment.

What is the concept of relationship marketing?

Relationship marketing is a long-term approach that focuses on establishing deep ties with consumers. Not only is marketing to loyal customers more cost-effective (up to 6-7 times cheaper! ), but long-term customers are often less likely to churn, and the longer you have a relationship with a client, the more profitable they become. Despite this, most companies prefer to rely on transactional marketing, which focuses on increasing individual sales rather than establishing long-term relationships. Since transactional marketing prioritizes the sale over the customer relationship, it often results in a bad customer experience as businesses move on to the next customer instead of putting more time into a customer's success.

Simply put, transactional marketing is based on the short term, while relationship marketing is focused on the long term. Despite the fact that relationship marketing seems to be an obvious tactic, our research showed that very few companies invest in their customer relationships.

Is there an untapped potential for growth?

To your company, how important are long-term customer relationships?

Isn't it critical...?

That's what our own research showed, with 85 percent of businesses agreeing that long-term consumer relationships are critical to their success.

So, how many businesses are investing in these connections?

Just 30% of companies are completely committed to relationship marketing, according to the most recent significant study on the subject, which was published in 2013.

Is there anything that has changed since then? We needed to know, so we conducted our own study with 2,059 B2B marketers to find out. What was the reaction? Today, fewer businesses are committed to it, with just 24% including it in their current marketing plan and 19% saying it will be part of their strategy in 2021.

When opposed to transactional marketing, companies that invest in relationship marketing have a significantly higher return on investment.

So, what's keeping businesses from putting money into partnership marketing?

The explanation is straightforward: a lack of strategy!

What is the best way to develop a partnership marketing strategy?

You might claim that you're already engaged in relationship marketing in your business, with discounts, loyalty programs, personalized services, and upselling.

But these are just strategies, and tactics come in all shapes and sizes.

Let's take a step back for a moment.

To truly build a relationship with your customers, you must form bonds with them, form friendships, and establish feelings that no price change, marketing campaign, or discount can match.

Via three methods: an emotional connection, a purpose-driven connection, and leveraging the brand community, relationship marketing helps you to get into the mind (and heart) of your customers.

Let's take a closer look at each of these points.

1. Create an emotional bond with your customers.

When you think about customer loyalty and evangelism, the first brands that come to mind are generally consumer-facing companies like Apple, Tesla, and Nike.

These businesses have formed such a strong bond with their consumers that even though you criticize or speak negatively about them, their customers will gladly defend them.

“But this kind of relationship doesn't exist in B2B!” you may object.

That's incorrect. Obviously, it does!

Yeah, the “B2B” in B2B sales stands for business-to-business, but a person (not a company) visits your website, downloads a white paper, and orders a demo is still a person (not a company).

These people, too, have emotions. And it's these emotions that you'll need to tap into in order to form an emotional bond. What is the explanation for this?

And the more emotionally attached a customer is to your brand, the more money they can spend.

So, how do you make your marketing campaigns more emotionally engaging?

You must establish faith, demonstrate personality, instill confidence, and have an excellent customer experience.

Establish a sense of confidence. Every partnership relies on trust, so make sure you keep your promises at every point of the customer journey. Have you received any recognition for your product? Is your product getting 5-star ratings from your customers? If that's the case, put them on your website. Show your customers that you are trustworthy, not just tell them.

Show off your personality. It's time to break down the barriers that divide you and your customers, allowing them to see who you, the people behind your company, are. You can do this by sharing pictures of your workers on social media or by including stories in your email ads about how you're helping the local community. Invite your audience to join you and share their stories or pictures. Including them in the discussion is an excellent way to strengthen your bond.

Encourage self-assurance. Are two people having the same brand experience if they sign up for your free trial offer? They have to. Is there a difference in contact strategy depending on where a customer is located? That shouldn't be the case. Maintaining a consistent identity in your business encourages trust in consumers, whether it's in your promotional campaigns, sales presentations, or on your website.

Ensure that the customers have a positive experience. A positive customer experience is no longer sufficient. You must now have a fantastic, memorable, and emotional customer experience. But how can marketing help customers have a better experience?

Here are some quick marketing suggestions:

Using a CRM to stop “one-size-fits-all” marketing strategies by just sending appropriate content to your audience.

When consumers reach a new milestone – a product launch date, a one-year anniversary, etc. – create customized videos for them.

Consult with your clients. Request input and suggestions from them, and inform them when you use their ideas in your marketing materials. Enable them to participate as "co-creators" of your messaging.

2. Create a compelling argument for the organization to exist.

Providing value to your customers, whether in the form of content, technological functionality, or customer support, will only help to improve your partnership.

However, there is a new way to connect with your customers' minds, and that is to have a reason. A aim that goes beyond sales, benefit, and dividend distribution.

Consumers today tend to do business with businesses who support causes they care about, whether it's volunteering, promoting equity and battling inequality, or addressing environmental concerns.

This is also supported by research.

Customers are more likely to part with their money when businesses have a goal in mind, such as:

Customers purchase from companies that support a good cause on a monthly basis in 47 percent of cases, 53 percent of customers would not invest in a business that does not actively support a good cause in 53 percent of cases, and 91 percent of customers would switch brands if a different brand of equal price and quality supported a good cause in 91 percent of cases.

To put it another way, being purpose-driven is a business growth engine.

What exactly is your goal?

I won't be able to assist you in choosing a goal, but I hope I can assist you in beginning to consider it. Here are three things to think about:

Are you prepared to make a financial commitment? Being purpose-driven necessitates a financial contribution. You'll need to set aside money for your goal. The greater the target, the larger the budget.

How do you enlist the help of your whole organization? It is not solely the CEO's or management board's duty to be purpose-driven. It's a company-wide effort.

Is the goal in line with your brand? What is your current consumer perception of you? What do you want people to think about your company in the future? Being purpose-driven has a big effect on how people perceive your brand.

3. Make use of your network

Communities can naturally form when you have strong relationships with your consumers and your brand is purpose-driven. At its heart, a brand community is a critical group of consumers who endorse and promote your brand whenever they have the opportunity.

However, these ties must be nurtured as well.

Here's how to do it:

Get your neighborhood together. Your group can exist on a variety of sites, including your website, forums, and social media. Consider getting them together to communicate, share, and explore new marketing ideas, whether in person at an event or online.

Pay attention to what your neighbors have to say. Customers are more likely to read your material, use your product, and interact with your social media accounts than prospects. You must act on their input on campaigns and marketing materials and remember your customers as you do so.

Enable your community to spread the word about you. Your community is enthusiastic about your product and wants to tell their friends, family, and coworkers about it. Develop marketing messages and stories that cater to their souls, not just their brains, to help them spread the word.

Make it about them in the neighborhood. It's not all about you all of the time. Bring attention to their efforts and share the names of your most ardent supporters with the rest of the world. You may invite them to talk at an event, write about them on your blog, or make a video series about their work and accomplishments.

Final thoughts

Long-term customers are the secret to long-term growth for successful businesses. Technology has changed the way we do business, but it is still up to us to nurture, develop, and sustain customer relationships over time. To accomplish this, we must begin to consider how you make your customers feel. And it is their emotions that form a close bond with you. You will appeal to their feelings, you will stand for a good cause (rather than just profit), and you will harness the power of community to build an army of loyal supporters if you use the relationship marketing tactics described above. It's more important than ever to concentrate on the R in CRM – Relationship. Relationships are significant.