Everything on Relationship Based Marketing (Examples + Tips)

It’s no secret that customers appreciate it when you take the time to get to know them. After all, people prefer to be treated like a human being rather than just a transaction!

To this end, it is crucial to have a customer-centric strategy. However, how do you value and personalize your customer relationships to create lasting and authentic relationships?

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Relationship based marketing is a great way to achieve this! Relationship marketing creates trust with your target audiences. This strategy of informing your clients rather than selling at any cost is a great asset to creating lasting relationships. What is relationship based marketing in a business? In this article, we talk in-depth about relationship based marketing so that it has no secrets for you! 

What is relationship based marketing?

Definition of relationship based marketing

Relationship based marketing refers to marketing actions aimed at maintaining personalized and continuous customer relationships in order to support customers throughout their purchasing journey. Its secret lies in the personalization and individualization of the experience to show customers that their well-being is your priority. As such, unlike traditional marketing, the relationship marketing strategy takes a longer period of time and is entirely dedicated to building a conversation at the right time.

For example, relationship based marketing doesn’t stop once a shopping journey has been completed. Even if a customer doesn’t buy anything, you can educate them about the services and products offered by your company through automated emails. As their interest increases, you can then refine your recommendations according to their preferences. Finally, throughout the purchase process, you collect customer data to provide a personalized experience. These customer relationships based on authenticity and trust will increase your customer loyalty. Definitely, this is a great strategy to acquire new customers and increase your revenue!

How to build a relationship based marketing strategy?

Building personalized and lasting customer relationships can be complex. To enlighten you, here are our 7 tips to optimize your relationship based marketing strategy!

1. Collect data about your customers

Data collection is a must to customize your marketing strategies. Of course, you need to collect data with the consent of your leads and customers. To collect more data, it is recommended that you create free quality content, accessible in exchange for information. For example, you could create a holiday gift idea guide and make it available in exchange for a short form. 

The key is to collect data that will later be useful in terms of customization. Examples of potential information that can be collected include: 

• First name, last name;
• Email address;
• Residence address;
• Phone number;
• Birthday;
• Purchases previously made;
• Favorite product;
• And more! 

In this regard, a CRM is a tool that will allow you to compile your customer information. This relationship marketing tool will facilitate your customer relationship management. In return, you will be able to customize each interaction to maximize customer engagement and loyalty. 

The more you know your customers, the more you will be able to offer them an experience that will meet their expectations. That’s the secret to successful relationship based marketing! 

2. Customize your marketing initiatives

Once the data is collected, you can now personalize your marketing initiatives. Of course, it wouldn’t be efficient to do manual marketing for each customer. In this sense, marketing automation is your greatest ally! 

Use the different information mentioned in the previous paragraph, such as last name, first name, email and product favorite to make shipments that will look like they have been dialed for each customer. 

Having a CRM with automated marketing features, such as Hubspot’s platform, for example, will be very helpful. 

Moreover, InputKit’s customer experience solution is a platform that offers you several opportunities in terms of customization and automation. Thus, we are in charge of sending satisfaction surveys at the right time, 1 to 2 hours after a purchase or a service received including the right information about your customers. 

Overall, this personalized marketing will project a positive brand image that will strengthen your customers’ loyalty to your business. Keep this in mind when thinking about how to optimize your relationship based marketing in your business!

3. Maximize the email marketing channel

When it comes to relationship based marketing, emails are a must. While some are more reluctant to use this marketing initiative, it is a tactic that will continue to grow in the coming years. According to Oberlo.com, it is estimated that the number of daily shipments will reach 375 billion by 2025. Isn’t that impressive? The real challenge is to distinguish ourselves in this context of hyper-competitiveness between companies. After all, your customers already receive multiple emails every day. To ensure that your emails are read, test the subject lines of your messages (subject line). By performing AB tests, you can evaluate what is most effective. 

In terms of content sent, in order to build lasting relationships, you need to bring value to your customers. Give them access to relevant information, tools related to your services and, quality free content. This will help you build a trusting relationship with your customers!

This strategy requires a lot of planning in terms of creation. Beyond the introduction of a monthly newsletter and ad hoc mailings, sending satisfaction surveys via email can be a considerable asset for your company. This will help you maximize your customer loyalty! If you want to get started, InputKit is definitely the solution for you! 

4. Create a blog to educate and inform your community

Did you know that having a blog on your website is a great tool for your relationship based marketing? Indeed, these articles closely related to your field of expertise will allow you to share information-rich content with your community. This will help you position yourself as an expert in your field and build credibility with your prospects. 

Not sure what blog content to create? Be sure to focus your blog articles on the 3 sentences of Inbound Marketing: awareness, consideration and decision. 

• Awareness: This is the stage at which the individual realizes that he or she is experiencing a problem. He is looking for more information about the cause of his problem, the symptoms that help target his problem. 
• Consideration: At the consideration stage, the individual thinks of different alternatives to solve his problem. At this stage, try to be neutral and present all possible options to address this issue. Of course, it is recommended that you present your proposed product/service as a potentially attractive option. 
• Decision: This is content designed to appeal to your audience. At this point, in your blog posts, you are putting yourself forward without any embarrassment. Don’t hesitate to use customer testimonials to position yourself at this stage. At this stage, in your articles, your prospects should feel that you are THE best solution to solve their problem. 

Through your articles, you will be able to answer questions from your potential customers and show them how relevant your products and services are. This will make them much more likely to do business with your company. This is a great strategy to increase your customer conversion rate!

5. Target your customer satisfaction to maximize the number of ambassadors

In order to maintain quality relationships with your clients, it is crucial that they feel their opinions are heard and considered. What better way to do this than to invite them to leave you a positive review on your online review platforms? Concretely, we first propose to send satisfaction surveys to your customers. Then, if someone has responded positively to that survey, you know it’s an ambassador. Your goal at this time is to spread this positive review through relationship based marketing. With automated marketing, invite your ambassador customer via email to share their positive opinion on online review platforms. 

Emphasize how important their opinion is to the community, as it will allow other potential customers to benefit from an effective product or service. For every online review your customers leave, respond proactively and professionally. This dialogue will show your clients that their well-being is a priority – an essential asset for creating lasting and authentic relationships. Furthermore, by considering their recommendations and proposals, you will be able to customize your customer experience according to their specific expectations. This will help improve your relationship marketing strategy. 

In addition, having many positive online reviews will benefit your reputation and online visibility. Your exchanges will give you credibility, which will put your prospects in confidence. Overall, a positive online reputation will directly impact your acquisition of new customers. 

6. Create a loyalty program

Loyalty programs are a perfect example of relationship based marketing. The idea is to thank your star customers by offering them added value. By offering them access to your loyalty program, they will feel important and privileged. Discount coupons, special promotions, special access, free products and more: there are many ways to reward your best customers. 

According to the study conducted by Finance Online, 64% of customers spend more to get more loyalty points.

According to these statistics, creating a loyalty program is a great way to maximize customer loyalty while generating more revenue. Recognizing the loyalty of your ambassadors is a win-win!

7. Engaging with your customers on online review platforms

Relationship based marketing is all about creating a relationship of trust between your customers and your company. To create a connection, we need to create a climate of dialogue based on authenticity and transparency.

First, monitor your various online review platforms daily to see if any new comments have been posted. If any comments have been left, be sure to respond as soon as possible. By the way, did you know that with InputKit, you can respond to all your online reviews in an optimal and personalized way? Depending on your customers’ level of satisfaction, write your own response templates and then respond with a single click when managing your online reviews. This is an essential tool to save many hours of management!

When your customers are satisfied, thank them for their time and emphasize that their feedback encourages your team to give their best. In the event of customer dissatisfaction, invite the customer to communicate to you privately the reason for their dissatisfaction and try to rectify the situation quickly. 

In any case, thank your customers for sharing their honest opinions. This proactive attitude will give them the feeling that they are being considered and listened to. Remember this valuable advice when thinking about concrete ways to optimize your company’s relationship based marketing!

How can InputKit help you build a relationship based marketing strategy?

Does your business need tools to optimize relationship based marketing? If so, InputKit is the solution for you!

With InputKit, you will be able to send automated and personalized satisfaction surveys to your customers following a completed shopping experience. This survey, sent at the optimal time, 1 to 2 hours after a lived experience, will allow you to gather valuable feedback to improve your services continuously. It’s a great way to customize and optimize your customer experience to meet your customers’ real needs. 

Then, for each completed survey, our solution automatically invites your satisfied customers to leave a positive online review on the platform of your choice. This strategy will allow you to put your potential customers in confidence through an excellent e-reputation. In this sense, you will be able to initiate dialogue with your ambassadors to build an authentic and positive relationship. By the way, InputKit has real-time notifications and a centralized dashboard to help manage your online reputation. This is a significant asset to respond quickly to your feedback and avoid a bad brand image!  

Did you know that relationship based marketing also involves motivated employees at work? With InputKit Employee Experience, regularly interview your teams to optimize their business experience. Work satisfaction, work motivation, relationships with managers, recognition of colleagues, working conditions and more: take advantage of our many models to ensure a quality employee experience. By standing out as an employer, you will maximize the happiness of your teams who, in turn, will give the best of themselves to accomplish the assigned tasks. Happy employees who ensure the well-being of your customers: this is what will positively impact your relationship marketing! 

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An example of effective relationship based marketing: Starbucks!

Since its inception in 1971, Starbucks has offered personalized services to its customers. The brand quickly became one of the most popular cafes around the world. Its customer relationship management is an excellent example to follow for any company looking to build customer loyalty.

As soon as you enter the coffee shop, employees greet you with a smile. You are asked for your order, your syrups options as well as personalized flavors, and your name is written on your cup. When the order is finally ready, we warmly call you by name and wish you a great day.

What about the atmosphere at Starbucks locations? It is a friendly establishment, decorated to the taste of the day, with soft and enveloping music. In addition, the free WIFI is perfect for working while enjoying your coffee. It is an environment to both work and relax, which is a versatility that is rare on the market. 

In fact, Starbucks even offers a points loyalty card offering a free drink after a number of visits. This little attention from the company creates a WOW effect that does not go unnoticed by its customers! Starbucks also offers a free drink on its customers’ birthday. They definitely know how to create a meaningful connection with their customers.

Finally, how can you optimize your relationship based marketing to maintain quality relationships with your customers? Get to know them well, then customize the experience to meet their real-world needs!

First, collect data related to your customers. Then, customize your marketing initiatives as well as your email messages based on the information collected. 

Create a blog to educate your community and target your ambassadors to put their positive opinions forward. Finally, create a loyalty program and interact with users on your online review platforms. 

Finally, do you need a solution to simplify your online reputation management? If so, we invite you to schedule a free demo of InputKit at your convenience. Our customer experience experts will be happy to help you with your relationship marketing initiatives! 

Want to learn more about the importance of relationship marketing? Feel free to listen to the video below to learn more about this topic!