Take a moment to consider the world of buying and selling. Compare it to how the industry looked just 10 to 15 years prior and you see a vastly different landscape. This is due in large part to the advancement of the internet and the proliferation of information available for consumers. This means today’s consumers are more informed about virtually every subject, product and service than they were even a decade ago. This evolution in consumerism has created the need for a power shift within the consumer-brand relationship, which is what we are looking at today.
More About The Shift in Customer-Brand Relationships
According to John Hall, author of marketing book “Top of Mind,” brands now have to build trust with consumers. This means the focus of their marketing message must evolve from it being all about them, their brand, their service, their product to being about the audience or the consumer. Hall calls it shifting from “me marketing” to “you marketing.”
How You Can Help Consumers is All Important
Today’s customer-brand relationships should be all about how a brand can help a consumer. No longer is a simple message about a product enough to entice today’s educated consumers. They want to know how a brand can improve their lives, make something easier for them or provide a benefit of some sort. Putting this strategy into operation isn’t always as intuitive as one might imagine and does require a well-constructed plan. Read below for three tips on building the type of relationship with consumers that will yield positive results for today’s companies:
Time to Evolve: Rethinking Your Customer Relationship Strategy: Tips For Success
Make Your Post-Sale Experience a Good One
Many companies focus on their sites’ landing pages, get-acquainted specials, and all types of strategies to garner new business or entice new consumers. However, what some companies today aren’t as great at is investing in positive experiences for their current, already committed customers. They are instead obsessed only with bringing in new clients. However, it’s important to remember that your success and growth as a company is about more than simply gaining new customers. You also need to keep the ones you have. In fact, keeping your current clientele happy is not only beneficial for your customers but it’s profitable for you as well. According to McKinsey & Company a High-Tech marketing company, “even small differences in net-revenue churn have very real implications for a company’s top line.” In fact, according to various data, even a small increase in customer retention rates, say of only 5%, can increase your profits anywhere from 25 to 95%.
Opt For Customer Success Over Customer Service
Many companies have a reactive approach to customer service. This is the traditional way. Unfortunately, this reactive or defensive method only lets you know there is an issue once the problem has been revealed through customer complaints. Admittedly, no business is picture-perfect. There will be issues. However, if you spend all your time playing defense, trying to put out fires when they arise, you’ll never get ahead. Instead of focusing on fixing issues as they come up via complaints, why not put more effort into helping your customers achieve success with your brand to begin with? This is a more positive approach, and in the long-run helps build that all-important trust between consumers and your brand.
Utilize The Right Resources and Strategy For Your Company
Although it would be nice, you can’t simply snap your fingers and have a new customer relationship strategy in place. You have to utilize the right tools, such as specific platforms that properly leverage analytics to give you a good picture of your current consumer health. One such tool is Gainsight. You also need to create a new marketing strategy that lines up well with what your customers need to have in order to find success. Remember, it’s not about your brand, it’s about helping your customers succeed through using your brand. Not “me marketing,” it’s “you marketing.” We can help you here at WriterAccess to find the skilled professionals you need to create engaging, educational and helpful content that will bring your refreshed content marketing strategy to life. New content that is designed to communicate your innovative strategy on customer relationships will not only help you entice new customers, but it will help you retain current ones as well.
In conclusion, change can be difficult in life and in your marketing strategy. However, now’s the time to evolve and rethink your current focus on customer relationships and your brand. Put the tips above into use and you are likely to notice an uptick in customer satisfaction ratings, customer retention and hopefully, increased profits. Contact us today at WriterAccess to learn how we can help you build this strategy through the utilization of high-end content among other methods.
Brandie P. has worked with numerous clients to write thought provoking, informative marketing content. Some of these pieces were geared towards small business owners, some were focused on large companies and still others were about marketing strategies in general. In addition to this, Brandie has also worked one-on-one with an architecture office in her area to create content for marketing purposes. Brandie’s experience spans a wide range of businesses and her clients have come from all over the world.
