Are you in a relationship without knowing it?
How brands who do Relationship Marketing right influence our lives without us realizing it. And how that sets them up for long term success.
THIS COMPREHENSIVE 101 ON RELATIONSHIP MARKETING COVERS:
- What is relationship marketing.
- Why is relationship marketing important.
- The different kinds of relationship marketing.
- How to adopt relationship marketing for your business.
- Relationship marketing examples.
So Megan visited a neighborhood mall and accidentally walked into a Starbucks joint. Guess what’s wrong with this sentence? The word ‘accidental’. Because it probably wasn’t accidental at all.
Did you know that 71% of Starbucks app users visited a Starbucks store at least once during the week, and that members of the company’s loyalty program (Starbucks Rewards) are 5.6 times more likely to visit a store every day?
Without her realizing it, Megan was psychologically ambushed – lured as much by the unmistakable aroma of coffee beans as by sheer force of habit: Carefully nurtured by an addictive, points based loyalty program that is now a case study on how to build ‘sticky brand memories’. A brilliant example of relationship marketing at work.
What is relationship marketing?
When AirBnB says ‘Belong Anywhere’, creates a community where guests and hosts can share their stories, and recognizes successful ‘superhosts’ – it bucks the trend of traditional hospitality that focuses primarily on transactions - and strengthens its bond with fans who are looking for unique and authentic travel experiences. Not surprisingly, the brand enjoys a robust first-year retention rate of 40%.
Every time Ikea involves customers into assembling their own furniture, it triggers a sense of achievement and self-esteem, and activates the cognitive bias that causes humans to inflate the value of self-made creations. Famously called the Ikea Effect, this lets the brand play a greater role in the life of users (than just a furniture supplier), creating a deep connection.
Amazon’s approach to relationships may not be as ‘sensational’ as the examples above, but it’s every bit as real. After all, it is based on authentic user behavior data and runs on advanced predictive analytics. Every uncanny recommendation that seems ‘just right’, every thoughtful ‘Buyer Also Bought These’ insight, every unflattering review that isn’t removed from the website, every generous Prime membership benefit, everyone seamless omnichannel delivery, every gesture to secure customer privacy – quietly adds to the brand’s trust bank. Without realizing it, you are addicted to the experience.
Instances of relationship marketing are all around us. Sometimes, we are too deep inside one ourselves to notice. Why exactly does the term Relationship Marketing mean, though?
Relationship marketing, or customer relationship marketing, is a genre of marketing that falls under the broad umbrella of customer relationship management. It leverages a mix of offline and online tactics to establish deep, long term connections with customers through strong, meaningful and enduring relationships.
Strategies in relationship marketing – sometimes also referred to as Business Relationship Management - are designed to ensure ongoing engagement and repeat business from the same customer; engaged customers, after all, deliver 51% higher revenue and sales.
The big goals of relationship marketing are customer engagement, satisfaction, retention, loyalty and lifetime value. This is in stark contrast to traditional marketing or customer acquisition, where the stress is more on short term targets like one-off transactions and increasing sales volumes.
At its heart, customer relationship management is about nurturing value, trust and partnerships with customers and key stakeholders.
RELATIONSHIP MARKETING HELPS
- Understand customers deeper to serve them better
- Improve customer conversion and retention
- Discover new growth opportunities
- Create lifelong advocates
- Build brand awareness
- Lift marketing ROI
Difference between traditional marketing and relationship marketing
When it comes to selling and growth, companies have two routes to choose from. The classic traditional marketing model, or the relationship marketing model. Here’s the difference between the two.
Traditional marketing | Relationship marketing |
Acquiring new customers. | Nurturing existing customers. |
Short term sales and quick revenue generation. | Long term loyalty and steady revenue growth. |
Broad audience. | One-on-one connections. |
One way, brand to customer: Stress on advertising, public relations and mass promotions. | Two way: Stress on conversations, feedback and personalized communication. |
Ongoing connection and commitment is low. | Ongoing connection and commitment is high. |
Builds linear profits. | Builds multi-layered, networked assets like community goodwill, referral networks and ROI. |
Is emotional marketing and relationship marketing the same?
You may have come across both the terms and found them confusingly similar, so a little clarification is in order. Emotional marketing represents the larger set, and relationship marketing is a subset within it. All relationship marketing is emotional marketing, but the reverse is not true. To convert an emotionship into a relationship, you have to put in the hard work.
Apple’s customers have an emotional attachment with sleek design, seamless technology and exclusivity, but not necessarily mobile phones. However, the company has done an exceptional job of converting the first-level emotion into an enriching and ongoing relationship that revolves around the iconic handset. They have done it through intentful customer support, community building, distinctive in-store experiences, prioritizing features that matter to fans like security, and driving device adoption through ecosystem lock-in.
Understanding key concepts in relationship marketing:
Relationships, loyalty, purpose – interchangeable synonyms, or vastly distinct concepts?
Let’s find out.
Relationships:
Marketing’s great value unlock.
Shopping today is much more than ticking off another item on the list. For a growing number of customers, it is their autograph. A symbol of who they are. A statement of beliefs that define them. And a vote for the values they stand for. Companies that successfully identify these emotions and consistently design relationships around them make buyers feel understood, connected and valued. These are also brands that broaden the narrative, powerfully differentiate themselves in a noisy, me-too market, and create enduring value for stakeholders.
Loyalty:
Relationship marketing goes sticky.
At higher levels of resonance, many relationships yield to loyalty. Loyalty in a business context is a commitment to repeatedly engage and purchase from a specific brand or company, even if other options are available. Loyalty begets more than just buyers: It is an emotion that unlocks tribes of fierce well-wishers who truly care, experience a sense of belonging, and are genuinely invested in the success of the business.
Purpose:
The holy grail of relationship marketing.
8 out of 10 Americans feel a deep personal connection with companies with whom they share values, and who display commitment to something they find personally meaningful. In psychology lingo, these folks see their own identity being reflected in these brands. When the brand supports a cause, they feel their own ideals being validated and celebrated.
These shared spaces in the mind offer fertile soil for brands to build collaborative marketing superstructures – or emotional partnerships - between them and their audiences. A germ of an idea, a whiff of a quest, a hint of a purpose – smartly planted on the common ground - can potentially unite the individual and the brand for life. Two journeys surgically joined at the hip with a common vision and zeal. Which is what the premise of purpose led marketing is all about.
SIMON’S WHY:
Locating the core of purpose.
Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle theory shows how companies with a clear understanding of WHY they do what they do – and are excited about it – become domain leaders and make powerful contributions to society. That WHY can be anything - from reversing climate change to fair labor practices to better mental health. This shatters the perception that commerce must be either 'for good' or 'for profit'. Purpose driven marketing - a subset of relationship marketing – proves it can be both. And opens new horizons for businesses who think long term.
In a recent IBM study, purpose driven consumers came through as the largest segment. Of them, 45% said they choose products based on how the latter resonates with their values. And 73% would happily pay more for those products, because they mattered to them.
THE ROI OF PURPOSE.
- 86% of US consumers are more likely to trust in brands that lead with purpose.
- Brands with a purpose to improve the quality of life outperform the stock market by 120%.
- Purpose led brands saw their valuation surge by 175% over the past 12 years.
Summarizing the 3 tentpoles of relationship marketing.
1. Trust
As the foundation of any relationship, trust is a basic pre-condition for a long term association between a brand and its consumers. A Microsoft research reveals 85% of people will only buy from a brand they trust. Trust is influenced by authenticity (genuine-ness of intent) and accountability (responsibility for results).
2. Loyalty
Loyalty goes beyond trust, manifesting itself as a strong feeling of allegiance or support to someone or something. Only some, not all, trust based associations develop into loyal relationships.
3. Purpose
Purpose is the strongest trigger of the three, and maps to the peak of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. As a driving goal or all-consuming intention, purpose is the very reason a person exists – the raison d’etre. Only some, not all, loyal associations move to the purpose stage of a relationship.
Relationship marketing and the 3% rule
Did you know that, at any given moment in time, only about 3% of your prospects are actually ready to buy? The others are at various stages of readiness and non-readiness. Relationship marketing helps businesses target the mammoth iceberg mass hidden under the water by progressively making them aware, curious, interested, addicted and integrated with the brand.
Why is relationship marketing important?
Goals and benefits of customer relationship marketing for businesses and brands.
Source: Marketo
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Modern customers are digitally empowered, finicky and have high levels of expectations from the brands they patronize. Relationship marketing allows businesses to meet those lofty benchmarks (it’s a worthy quest - customers are likely to spend 140% more when expectations are met) with one-on-one moments that are credible, individualized and high on value. By prioritizing authentic relationships, companies cut through digital fatigue to make a genuine connect with their customers. Strategically nurtured over time, this positions the brand high in the consideration set of buyers during the moment of purchase, effectively competition proofing the business.
While all this may sound like hard work - and often is - it’s worth it. Relationship marketing lands powerful benefits for brands other marketing strategies cannot - be it recurring business, reputation enhancement or cost optimization.
Here are some of the standout advantages of customer relationship marketing:
Better engagement.
Relationship marketing forces companies to prioritize customer experience (CX) - the sum of a customer’s emotional engagements across the entire conversion funnel spanning all brand touchpoints. Data shows 74% of consumers can choose a brand based on CX alone, while 16% will even pay a premium for a great experience. According to Qualtrics, a 5 star consumer experience can lead to a 2.9X increase in trust, with customers 3X more likely to recommend it and 2.2X more likely to follow up with a repeat purchase. 84% of businesses investing in customer experience have enjoyed better profits and revenue.
Greater stickiness.
Stickiness drives key KPI’s of for marketing departments like churn rate, referrals and customer lifetime value, but what exactly does the term ‘stickiness’ mean? The concept of stickiness is similar to loyalty, but the two are not the same. If loyalty is the result, stickiness is the cause. While loyalty tells you that customers are vociferously rooting for you, stickiness shows you why. At its core, stickiness is a ‘signature combination’ of the unique values, attitude and processes of the brand that customers find attractive, and may not find anywhere else.
Novelty – when persistently exercised as a brand trait – is a key stickiness attribute. Domino’s famously advertised the negative reviews they received from customers, displaying its commitment to taking feedback seriously and changing for the better. Zappos sent vegan patron Tabathia over the moon when she discovered that the brand also offers a category for vegan shoes and products.
When you consistently surprise and amaze users with happy discoveries, you take a giant step towards building a sticky brand. In a Gartner study, customers confided they would be 1.73 times more likely to buy more if they ‘realized something new about their needs or their own goals’.
Deeper loyalty.
Businesses spend considerable time and resources to acquire customers. Relationship marketing maximizes returns from that investment by building meaningful emotional bonds that impel customers to come back for a second and a third helping, turning them into recurring sources of revenue.
Letting loyalty do the heavy lifting for marketing makes solid business sense. After all, research suggests that increasing customer retention by just 5% can lift profits by upto a whopping 95%, and that chances of sale from a current customer is 60-70% higher than from new ones. In fact, 80% of U.S. consumers displayed greater purchasing frequency after enrolling into brand loyalty programs. Loyalty also brings down customer acquisition costs (CAC): Acquiring a new customer can be 5 to 6 times more cost intensive when compared to re-activating an existing patron. Finally, by influencing and incentivizing repeat business, loyalty squeezes more moolah out of the customers – measurably enhancing CLV (customer lifetime value).
Finer data.
Superior experiences are extremely valuable to contemporary buyers who are increasingly short on time and patience, and high on options and alternatives. A sizable 50% of consumers globally are ok with sharing their personal data if that can ensure a better experience, according to a survey of 5,000 global consumers. Relationship marketing is designed to do precisely that: Collect data with tactful outreach across customer touchpoints such as social media posts, landing page, ads, demo and live chat and others. Relationship marketing also mines customer insight through direct conversations, user feedback, surveys and polls. This helps businesses monitor customer behavior and sentiment, lift understanding of customer profile and intent, refine product experience and value, and iteratively refine and deploy acutely personalized marketing campaigns.
Stronger community.
The far reaching benefits of relationship marketing extends to community building as well – one of the hardest boxes to tick in marketing. Loyal customers are highly likely to function as brand advocates, spreading the word in relevant circles. This ‘free promotion’ is highly effective; studies show 4 in 5 consumers discover brands during conversations. This is also the essence of buzz marketing, a viral marketing technique that generates profitable referrals through Word-of-Mouth (nearly 7 in 10 consumers trust recommendations from their own networks) and attracts more loyal customers via positive reviews - setting into motion a self-sustaining flywheel that keeps compounding marketing outcomes. With Word-of-Mouth capable of generating an incredible 500% more sales than paid ads, customer acquisition spends come down further.
What are the different kinds of relationship marketing?
Customer relationship marketing is a sophisticated and graded marketing maneuver, rising through multiple levels that progressively crank up commitment.
Relationship Marketing Level 1
BASIC MARKETING, where the goal is to make a sale and hopefully, a positive first impression, but not much beyond.
Example:
Walmart’s low price strategy is aimed at luring budget conscious daily walk-ins and general customers, and to simplify the shopping experience.
Relationship Marketing Level 2
REACTIVE MARKETING, where brands try to actively engage with customers, encouraging feedback and a basic level relationship.
Example:
Starbucks delights fans by sending them thoughtful emails loaded with information about new offers, re-sharing fan posts on instagram, and sending order-ahead and pick-up push reminders when they are in the vicinity.
Relationship Marketing Level 3
ACCOUNTABLE MARKETING, where companies seek to live up to perceptions and trigger shoots of trust.
Example:
Panera Bread Co not only pledged to remove artificial ingredients from their recipe after hearing customers complain about them, but duly followed up on the promise.
Zappos lived up to its image of a ‘customer happiness brand’ when an executive converted a regular support call into a 10 hour therapy-flavored conversation about the joys and challenges of living in the city.
Relationship Marketing Level 4
PROACTIVE MARKETING, where the focus shifts squarely to building and sustaining a relationship. Buzzwords here are engagement, delight, advocacy, loyalty and long term value.
Example:
Tyson Foods not only committed to help end hunger with a $2.5 million donation. They also linked the act of philanthropy to comments received on their blog page, making the public feel part of the change.
Relationship Marketing Level 5
PARTNERSHIP MARKETING, where the company and its loyal consumers tap into each other's synergies to create mutually beneficial experiences, like commissions-based referral programs and affiliate programs.
Example:
GE partners with customers to convert their stories into case studies. GE Appliances co-creates educational content with manufacturers and students for knowledge sharing and capacity building.
Relationship marketing examples
Nike’s by-now-iconic campaigns and inspirational messaging isn’t just meant to drive shoe sales. The underlying idea is to become a universally recognizable symbol that cheers potential, believes in inclusivity and champions the underdog. The company extends the philosophy seamlessly into its product line and activities – designing shoes for disability, sponsoring sports camps and publicly celebrating folks who battle challenges everyday.
Delta Airlines ensures frequent fliers are showered with points every time they hop aboard, which can be redeemed for free tickets. The airlines’ SkyMiles loyalty program also offers benefits like first class upgrades and waived airport fees.
General Electric builds relationships with its customers through GE Reports - one of the most successful examples of content marketing featuring an engrossing repository of videos, articles, podcasts, infographics and other content formats.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) embodies a human first approach with cloud computing solutions that consider social and environmental impact - striking a chord with climate conscious citizens.
Zappos has a policy of going above and beyond to generate iconic moments of connection with customers. When a customer was grieving the death of her mother, the company took care of the shipping and had the courier pick up the shoes for her at no extra cost.
Marriott crunches guest activities and preferences for signals, and leverages predictive analytics and real time data utilization, to provide loyal members with on time and on point information about places to visit and things to do - elevating their visit to a truly memorable experience.
KFC knows customers love gamification, a tactic that can boost engagement levels by upto 48%. The brand democratizes the adrenalin rush with its Rewards Arcade program that offers all customers – not just super users - a better opportunity to earn rewards.
Adidas has a compelling loyalty program (84% of customers are more likely to stick with a brand that offers one) that allows fans to earn points not just by buying but also by interacting on the company app.
Starbucks made fans feel like they are shaping the future for the company by inviting them to submit ideas for new products (and revamp existing products) with the groundbreaking ‘My Starbucks Idea’ program – adding a spoonful of purpose to the daily cuppa.
Patagonia believes business should originate from a place of purpose and inspiration. The brand has cultivated a deeply loyal following by leading with an environment first approach – endorsing the stance openly and integrating the philosophy into their product and marketing. The company’s call to stop buying new clothes and repair old Patagonia products instead – hinting at the effect of consumerism on the environment – continues to reverberate strongly with a sustainability conscious generation.
T-Mobile’s wildly successful gambit – offer mobile services without contracts - to build resonance with an elusive millennial market hit the jackpot, as the brand went from Number Four to Number One in customer service satisfaction (as per Nielsen). The sticky vibe extends all the way to the company’s app, where fans get ample opportunities to redeem rewards.
Amazon is packing its voice assistant Alexa with more and more AI innovations to help people live productive, fulfilled and inspired lives: From conversations with legendary characters from history to generating lyrics for songs to bringing favourite family games like ‘Twenty Questions’ to animated life.
Chipotle’s rewards program builds a warm relationship with loyal foodies. It is driven by the brand’s purpose of serving fresh food with natural ingredients by keeping sustainability front and centre, practising charity with farming partners and giving away discounts.
How to implement relationship marketing in your business.
QUICK TIP BEFORE WE BEGIN: If your organization already has a customer loyalty program, you can adapt and modify it to create a relationship marketing program. |
Great relationships are complex exercises requiring a lot of moving parts to come together and create a chain of memorable moments: Strategy, product, execution, marketing, service and organizationwide commitment. Let’s go through some tested approaches and thumb rules that can lift the impact of your relationship management program.
Set the goals
While the overarching goal of relationship marketing is to build a mutually rewarding long term association, there must be micro and macro goals to evaluate progress and nudge improvement across functions like customer service, marketing and sales. The big KPI’s for a relationship marketing strategy are lead-to-conversion ratio, sales cycle length, CAC (customer acquisition cost), average deal size, customer satisfaction score (CSAT, NPS), referral rate, churn rate, renewal rate, retention rate, opportunity cost and CLV (customer lifetime value).
Co-Founder, XOXODAY.
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Data comes first
You can’t build meaningful relationships with complete strangers, so make sure you gather as much information about your customers as you can. 65% of B2B sales organizations plan to transition from intuition driven to data based decision making by 2026, as per Gartner. Understanding key motivational drivers of consumers - across the intrinsic and extrinsic spectrum – is key to success in relationship marketing. Some channels and techniques to gather information about your most valuable patrons are:
- Direct calls, texts and emails
- Conversations on social media
- Online reviews
- Communities and forums
- Satisfaction surveys and polls
- Market research tactics like interviews and focus groups
- In-app messages
- DMs and Messenger Chats
- Feedback widgets and forms
- Checkout conversations
- Chatbots
- Follow ups
There are several tools, software and platforms out there for digital listening, monitoring and analyzing the pulse of customers online. Make sure you ask the right questions, keep outreach frequency reasonable (too many mails or DM’s is creepy and irritating) and ensure legal compliance.
Target it right
Customer interactions are pivotal in a relationship marketing strategy, but how do you engage audiences if you don’t know where they are? Social listening and attribution tools not only capture data, but also indicate where customers are holding conversations and engaging. This is vital, since it lets the brand skip the spray-and-pray game and target their outreach communication and promo campaigns precisely to those platforms, groups and forums – vastly optimizing marketing outcomes.
Configure the settings of your listening and attribution software to define and customize the program scope, industry, target audience, relevant keywords, notification alerts and reports, aligning them to larger goals and KPI’s.
Personalize every touchpoint
Per a McKinsey finding, 71% of consumers expect personalized interactions from companies, and 76% feel let down when that doesn’t happen. Their findings show fast growing organizations gain 40% more revenue from hyper personalization relative to slower growing rivals. An Epsilon study adds that 80% of customers are more prone to buy as an upshot of personalized experiences.
When it comes to customer experience, the littlest of detail can be make-or-break. Be it the creative on your website, the timing of your email, the responsiveness of your customer support team, the relevance of your messaging, the frequency of your paid ads, the choice of your media, the tone of your chatbot, the ethical considerations of your privacy policy, or the nature of rewards and incentives, make sure you are tailoring every little and big moment to connect with customers at a personal level. This begins with recognizing their unique persona and context, and responding with meaningful gestures that actually resonate.
Use advanced analytical frameworks like predictive analysis, hub type instruments like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools and emerging tech like AI and Machine Learning to step beyond mere segmentation, and hyperpersonalize your marketing at scale and speed.
Amazon’s ‘Customers Who Bought This Also Bought’ feature is a great example of hyperpersonalized product recommendation. The e-commerce pioneer uses data driven insights on cart habits, seasonal shopping, price sensitivity, under-utilization of benefits, subscription fatigue, competitive alternatives, and service dis/satisfaction to create advanced, ethical and real time hyper-personalization, keeping their Prime service subscribers engaged round the year.
Build a customer centric culture
“You get the culture you design or the one you allow.” Author - Built to Win: Designing a Customer-Centric Culture that Drives Value for Your Business. |
The best way to build memorable relationships with customers is to make the latter the cornerstone of your culture. Here are some steps that can take you there.
- Start by positioning customer centricity as a core business ethos and purpose.
- Drive it top-down with commitment and involvement from the leadership.
- Build the structures, systems and processes.
- Turn the customer into the hero behind every decision.
- Underline customer centricity at hiring interviews.
- Encourage customer related conversations on internal channels like slack.
- Train teams on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools and customer psychology hacks.
- Ask teams to come up with innovative ideas and strategies.
- Democratize access to customer learnings by un-siloing information like Adobe Systems did,
- Build channels for employees to directly interact with customers.
- Tie compensation strategically with customer satisfaction to ensure workers have skin in the game.
‘Be customer obsessed’ isn’t just the guiding light at Proof – it also doubles up as a validity test for nearly all decisions taken in the organization. Be it product features or brand partnerships, if it doesn’t check out with the spirit and intent of the motto, it is rejected.
Leverage tech platforms and relationship marketing software
Relationship marketing software comprises tools like CRM and ERP systems that organize customer interactions, integrate scattered insights and unite disparate functions and departments on the same page. These platforms enable informed decisions via data integration and 360 degree clarity, save time by automating everyday activities and operations, and can drive upto 47% enhancement in customer satisfaction and retention.
Embrace new trends
Stay open to emerging developments like AI powered virtual assistants, generative bots, interactive voice response systems (IVR), speech analytics, multi-lingual support, immersive interactions like virtual reality (VR) and augment reality (AR), Apple Vision like spatial experiences and so on. While not every shiny new gadget will make sense to your specific relationship marketing strategy, it’s important to keep the radar on.
Double down on customer service
Good old customer service is still a great way to enter a customer’s heart (and stay there). 96% of consumers say great service is crucial for their loyalty to a brand. Be it sensitive handling of emails, proactive engagement on social media or an empathetic attitude on calls, find opportunities to surpass expectations with genuine involvement that goes beyond the playbook. Traits to mould your customer service framework around are effective and clear communication, proactivity, responsiveness, multi-channel support, self-service options and a personalized approach.
The Ritz-Carlton seems to have mastered this art through its Mystique database that personalizes every gesture and interaction, right down to the type of pillow.
Build a loyalty program
A loyalty program that aligns with both brand and fan values is a proven way to cement a mutually rewarding relationship. 56% of consumers admit they would be more inclined to buy from a brand that has a loyalty program. Make sure it is simple to understand, easy to join, fun to participate, and includes a balanced mix of both tangible (cash, discounts) and intangible (status, belonging, pride) rewards.
Incentivize, amplify and fulfil relationships with rewards
Rewards act as the connecting tissue in relationship marketing, filling the voids and reinforcing the gaps with happy juice. They remind customers about what the brand stands for, keeps communication channels greased, nurtures positive feelings like appreciation and gratitude, and subconsciously tilts the balance in favor of the brand when it is time to make a purchase.
UNLOCK THE POWER OF RELATIONSHIPS WITH XOXODAY.
Whether it is incentivizing prospects to participate in a feedback survey, rewarding loyal members for the right behaviors or surprising folks with a personalized gesture when they expect it least, Xoxoday’s comprehensive and thoughtfully curated incentive and rewards solutions is reimagining the relationship game for global leaders like Pepsi, VISA, Shell, HP and Siemens.
Relationships come in different flavors, and with over 10 million options across 1M+ merchants, xoxoday lets you celebrate each one of them. To explore xoxoday’s secure, scalable and enterprise grade incentive and rewards solutions, book a demo at LINK or simply write in at EMAIL.
Relationship marketing, the essential checklist:
- Customer first approach
- Authenticity and spontaneity
- Generosity: Giving without expectation
- Convenience
- Simplicity
- Speed
- Agility and responsiveness
- Conversations and feedback
- Interactions and engagement
- Content
- Omni Channel, always on experiences
- Personalization
- Consistency
- Community
- Advocacy and Loyalty
- Collaboration and partnership
- Delight and aww
- Incentives and rewards
Challenges and pitfalls in relationship marketing
- Alignment with larger business goals
- Data collection, analysis, management, updating and privacy
- Inadequacy in decoding customer sentiment
- Allocation of time and resources
- Infrastructure, tech and tool requirements
- Overlooking or neglecting feedback
- Crafting the right messaging
- Generating the right vibes
- Over personalization
- Ignoring customer privacy
- Inconsistency across touchpoints
- Spontaneous participation of team members
- Monitoring and measurement of KPI’s
- Calculation of ROI
Time to bridge the relationship gap
Given its enormous power to generate new value for businesses, companies should explore relationships more seriously. At a time when customers are looking for respect, meaning and attention more than ever before, relationship marketing presents itself as an obvious choice. Xoxoday converts what can be a complex web of guesswork into a structured and strategic science with the magic of timely, adequate and individualized rewards. To get the wheels rolling, book a demo with our experts!