Relationship marketing is a valuable instrument that aims to create closer and more faithful relationships with our customers. This brief definition is just the beginning of what we want to tell you about here, since this type of social marketing is undoubtedly much more complex. If you want to continue knowing in depth what relationship marketing is, you have come to the right place.
The ultimate goal of relationship marketing is to generate healthy and direct links with customers that last over time and that bring benefits to our business. What we want to convey to our customers is loyalty to them based on our values as a company, using different mechanisms to gain trust.
We do not want immediate results but to prolong the connection with them in the long term; This will allow you to strengthen the links between client and business and teach your values as a company. If these ties grow, they will obtain greater profitability.
It is true that customer loyalty is key from the point of view of this strategy. Not only should you get closer to selling and attracting new customers, but it’s even more important to keep those customers coming back.
Objectives of relationship marketing
With the previous traditional approach to marketing, the exclusivity of selling and selling was sought, but there was no thought of creating a relationship beyond the final sale. All this disappears with the application of relational marketing.
The first steps to establish a relationship with the client are not focused on the sale, since it is important to generate interesting content to capture attention and build trust. This ensures that future buyers do not feel pressure to purchase your products immediately and also that they become more receptive to getting to know the company openly, an aspect that promotes methodologies such as inbound marketing.
All this boils down to preparing the client for a possible purchase, but it is important not to become obsessed with the sale. Even if you think that a customer may not want to make the purchase, you must maintain an open relationship with him, explaining everything you think is convenient to make yourself known and answering any doubts and questions he may have. This is the foundation of all social marketing relationships, never rule anyone out. In this sense, reading Jay Baer’s book is highly recommended, a reflection on why being useful is intelligent and generates sales.
Stages of relationship marketing
To create a healthy contact with your clients, you must first know in which phase of the relationship process you are. Knowing the different stages that exist will give you an advantage when it comes to cementing these possible relationships.
On the one hand, it is essential to know how to apply the techniques and actions to get closer to your customers. In the same way, finding out the different profiles of future buyers is a fundamental factor in solidifying any marketing relationship.
First stage
The attraction on the part of the future client is based on a relationship of trust; This is how the first contact with a potential buyer begins. Relationship marketing will help you generate that link using different technological tools, such as the creation of original content through blog articles or ebooks.
The main idea sought in this first phase is to be interesting to others, enhance the company with new and useful information that engages those on the other side of the screen.
Social networks and email marketing also play a fundamental role at this stage. Having more contacts translates into a greater number of potential clients.
Second stage
As we were saying at the beginning, the fact of selling as a final objective is not everything; This is where the loyalty stage comes in. Relationship marketing does not want to win fleeting consumers who buy and never return, what it seeks is to impregnate values and gain trust over time. In this way, customers will feel at home and will return when they need to because a feeling of empathy and comfort with the company has permeated them.
third stage
Once customer loyalty has been achieved, the next step is to further strengthen the relationship. We cannot trust that a certain client will return because we have offered him a good product; we have to maintain the link over time with personalized and deep communication.
To carry out excellent communication and make it part of the marketing strategy, its planning is important. Having courtesy details helps strengthen those social relationships with consumers.
Advantages of relationship marketing
Like any friendship or love relationship, these ties become stronger in the long term, putting effort, trust, patience and a lot of love. We could say that these are the ingredients of a good relationship marketing strategy. And it is that to win not everything goes, a fruitful relationship between seller and buyer needs pampering and a lot of time. Next, we tell you the advantages that this type of relationship has:
Experience
The more the customer is known, the better capabilities the business acquires to empathize with him. If we know what you want, we will be able to promote more accurate actions to offer you services that are more satisfactorily adapted to your needs.
Retention
Together with the experience we will be able to create more lasting and deep bonds with the buyers using the understanding in the consumers. What do we want to do with this? Gain trust and hook them to our brand, which will ensure more frequent purchases while creating a satisfactory feedback loop for both actors.
ID
In this benefit, the brand is especially important. Your brand is who you are and you must identify yourself as such. The concept of branding is also essential to talk about relationship marketing. You want to make yourself known to the world in a concrete way and for this, stimulating potential customers with your brand is a point in your favor, a good example can be found in the North American brand of Beats headphones. If you arouse interest in others, they will want to meet you and talk about you.
On the other hand, if you stay loyal to your customers and your brand, which is why they come, you will ensure that they come back again in the long run.
