The age of making a sale and saying farewell is over for businesses. Today’s empowered consumers want relationships with the brands they’re aligned to, over and above excellent products and services, of course. The most successful relationships, as any psychologist will tell you, involve communication – and not just on someone’s birthday. Brands should befriend customers, and engage in constant two-way communication. Let’s have a look several methods that any business can use to keep in touch with its clients:
Comment
So many people are blogging and posting content on social media nowadays. People want to feel special, and reacting or commenting on what they’re posting will really brighten their day. When it comes to social media, commenting on your followers’ posts turns into a networking opportunity. This is because a follower’s followers will see your comment, and perhaps look into your business.
Get to know
Commenting on your clients’ posts is a great idea, but what you really want to do first is find out who your customers are. This can be achieved by either an online survey (that is not trying to sell the brand), or by actually looking at your clients’ public information on social media. By knowing the client, you can better communicate on their level, which is better than generic PR speak.
Ask for advice
Your clients are people who have bought your products (or used your services), and are either actively supporting you or they might buy from you at some point. Who better to include in your brand decision-making? Use surveys to find out how your clients think you could improve your products, services, or brand elements. Who knows, they might just put you onto something great.
Set up alerts
By using marketing automation programs, brands can load and set their content marketing campaigns to essentially run on their own. Now, what some of these automated communicative platforms can do is track mentions of a person, brand or product across the Internet and social media. This allows brands to keep an eye on what is being said about them online, and they can respond to people instantly – even if they aren’t followers or existing clients.
Do something nice
Finally, think about a few nice things you can do for your clients. Whether it’s a branded USB stick for B2B clients, or an on-site installation giving away free stuff to customers, do something thoughtful without expecting anything in return. This will give the brand representatives a chance to physically meet clients in person, and open up new channels of communication.
Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing
Forge a career path to be proud of, and become a digital people’s person, with a Digital Public Relations course from DSM! If you’re looking for something different, find more certified accreditation on our marketing and advertising qualifications page.
