In today's world, marketing is all about building relationships.
It's no longer about simply selling a product or service - it's about creating a connection with your audience and establishing a rapport.
People buy from people they know, like, and trust.
If you want to be successful in marketing, you need to focus on building relationships.
Here are a few ways to do that:
1. Get to know your audience.
Take the time to learn about their needs, wants, and desires.
- What are their pain points?
- What are their goals?
- What motivates them?
The better you understand your audience, the better you can connect with them.
2. Be authentic. Be yourself.
People can see through fake, phony, and salesy behavior.
If you're genuine, people will respond to that.
"Authentic marketing is not the art of selling what you make but knowing what to make. It is the art of identifying and understanding customer needs and creating solutions that deliver satisfaction to the customers, profits to the producers and benefits for the stakeholders.” – Philip Kotler
Be helpful. Don't just sell, sell, sell.
Provide value and be of service.
Show your audience that you care about them and their success.
“Good marketing makes the company look smart. Great marketing makes the customer feel smart.” – Joe Chernov
4. Build trust.
This is perhaps the most important aspect of relationship building.
If people don't trust you, they're not going to do business with you.
“Without a doubt, there’s a new endgame in today’s digital economy. Consumers don’t just buy products and services anymore; they buy experiences. This demands a new approach to marketing, sales, and services; one that hinges on winning customer trust.” – Ben Jackson, The Future of Commerce
So, how can you build trust?
- Be honest
- Be transparent
- Keep your promises
- Deliver on your promises.
Building relationships is essential to success in marketing.
By taking the time to get to know your audience and being authentic and helpful, you can establish trust and build lasting relationships.
And those relationships should equate to mutually beneficial business relationships.
“Our job is to connect to people, to interact with them in a way that leaves them better than we found them, more able to get where they’d like to go.” – Seth Godin
SHARE