The backbone of business is customer relationships. That's what makes mom and pop shops so well loved -- that connection between business owner and customer. People like to feel appreciated by the businesses with whom they're spending their money, and that sense of connection and appreciation can go out the window for big businesses or online businesses.
Digital Marketing and Connecting with Clients
Although social media and digital marketing present a unique opportunity to have one-on-one conversations with your customer, it's easy to have those meaningful relationships get lost in all of the noise. Let's go back to basics, and talk about what's really important: connections with clients and customers.
Let's take a look at an example experiment.
You have a consumer looking to buy from your business or your competitor. They're doing their product research and haven't made up their mind yet. Your competitor takes the time to speak to your customer about their fears and reservations about spending their money on your product, while your business emails them a quick brochure about your products.
Which company do you think that consumer is going to go with?
Your competitor, obviously. Why? Because they took the time to make a connection with the potential customer. And all your business did was send them a brochure and leave them to their own devices.
Digital marketing can make us seem more distant, even if we're trying to be helpful. So it's important to focus on the ways that your business can strengthen customer relationships while still leveraging the efficiency of digital marketing and digital communication.
Here are a few ways to strengthen your digital connections with clients and customers.
1. Learn as much about your customer as you can.
Not only is this important to help you create more meaningful relationships with your customers online, but it is also essential to help your business pinpoint the perfect digital ad targeting. You need to take the time to learn about your customer, then use this information to mold your buyer persona.
Even if you think you know everything there is to know about your customer, and you've got your buyer persona down to a T, there is always more to learn.
Make sure you're learning more all the time about where your customers are getting their product information, consumer buying habits, and what their pain points are. This can help you to understand your customer better, create content catered specifically to their needs, and be a better resource for information and assistance.
2. Insert personality into your voice.
Have you noticed how some of the most popular brands online have pretty big personalities? Take Wendy's, for example. Their Twitter blew up when people saw how savage their responses to competitors and followers alike were.
DiGiorno Pizza, Old Spice, and Moon Pie are other brands that have a great presence on Twitter. They're humorous and they've got big personalities. You want to keep your online brand voice similar to how you want your business to be perceived, but using humor, personality, and some internet speak can seriously help your chances of connecting with your audience online.
Try using popular slang, memes, pop culture references, and emojis within your online content to resonate with your online audience. You don't have to be targeting Millennials and Gen Z to do this, either. Most online audiences (albeit maybe not Baby Boomers) appreciate some informal conversation with their favorite businesses online. Speak to your audience just like you're speaking to a friend.
3. Be hospitable.
It really isn't that difficult to have a hospitable mentality online. Be helpful, assist your customers, and don't ignore their needs. In fact, go above and beyond to anticipate their needs, and be ready and waiting.
When someone is shopping in a store, there are typically associates around to help them out and offer a personalized shopping experience. If you run an exclusively online eCommerce business, or even if you just have an online shopping facet of your business, it's still possible to personalize experiences.
Send a personalized email upon checkout thanking a customer for their order and letting them know when it will arrive. Look into including a small freebie in their package as a thank you. Or include a thank you note within their order.
Coming up with ways to thank and connect with your customers isn't difficult. It doesn't cost anything to say thank you, and in many ways, it can save your business money in customer retention.
4. Offer customer service through social media.
Many businesses only offer customer support via phone, and some offer it through online chat, but very few offer it through social media. Create a Facebook chatbot to answer FAQs, use a social media monitoring tool to keep an eye out for conversations mentioning your business, and have someone within your business man the Twitter account to answer questions and resolve issues that customers have.
Offering customer service through your social media opens up an entirely new way to connect with your customers, quickly resolve issues, and build social proof. Customers expect a response on social media within an hour, so it's important to keep this in mind and ensure there's nearly always someone available to assist. With smaller businesses, people tend to understand that they'll hear back during business hours, so no stress if you cannot handle 24-hour customer service.
With social media, it's much easier to pull out your smartphone to double check notifications than to check in with a 24-hour call or online chat service, so remember to check in whenever you can.
Building customer relationships is essential to improving customer loyalty and helping clients and customers to choose between your business versus a competitor. Make sure that your business is the one personalizing communication, assisting customers as best you can, and strengthening relationships, and you'll win out over your competition nearly every time. To learn more about how we can help your business with your digital connections, contact us today!
Written By: Doug Milnor
