It’s been all over the “blogosphere”. There are numerous articles about the benefits and drawbacks of it. Relationship Marketing is another way to market to your clients besides traditional sales vehicles such as cold calls and sales pitch presentations, but what is Relationship Marketing and why is it such a big deal?
Who is involved with Relationship Marketing?
Your company and your clients.
What is it exactly?
It’s a way of creating a long-term mutually beneficial relationship with your customers.
Also, a method of two way communication with customers, i.e. your customers can give your company reviews, or suggestions, provides customers with the ability to ask questions of the brand.
Allow you to communicate with customers about products services they may like in addition to the ones they already purchase
Lets your company stay in touch with your target market. Tell them what trade-show you’ll be at next, what product you are working on. Industry related things that are exciting–perhaps an article about a new method or tool that will benefit the customer and why you’re excited about it. (For example, I post the Pantone Color of the Year article every January because it affects the themes and trends of designs for the year and that’s the color you’ll see everywhere for 12 long months)
Lets a company seem friendlier and more human. Wish people happy holidays, send thank you cards. Some companies send out birthday and anniversary cards to clients as well. It really depends on what would be appropriate for your industry and the size of your company.
Why should I bother doing this?
Relationship Marketing helps your clients feel more attached to your brand—and more likely to continue buying from it!!
It gives you a way to hear directly from your clients about ways to createimprove products they would actually buy…and then you can go make them and sell them!
Allow you to show your clients what your brand is doing that they may not be aware you are doing; such as giving back to the community, a sneak peak look into your factory, winning an industry award for excellence, etc…
How to get started in Relationship Marketing
Use Social Media Outlets
Create an Online Newsletter
Create and mail out a paper newsletter to customers
Make sure your customers know you have a corporate Email Account that is easy for customers to access and write to you on and encourage them to do so!
Mail out note cards specific to your brand that can be sent out as special occasion cards (such as thank you, birthday or anniversary, etc.)
Well, that’s relationship marketing in an nutshell. I know quite a bit about promotion and this is a great vehicle for it. As a graphic designer, I’ve designed a lot of paper newsletters and custom note cards in my day and that’s why I decided to write on this topic. Obviously, if you need help with your marketing materials, I would love to be a part of the process of getting you noticed and helping your brand gain more customers!