What Needs To Be Done In Connecting With Customers In Marketing Your Business Online
Marketing is a two-way conversation, but it relies on connecting with customers in marketing your business and the products you offer.
I have focused heavily up to now on the importance of establishing your authenticity and your authority. These are the first two pillars of your business that must be in place to enable you to create your audience. Moving forward I feel the need to focus on how you can create a loyal tribe of followers which will ultimately form the lifeblood of your business.
As I have mentioned marketing is a conversation between a product vendor and the consumer. It depends on how the conversation evolves as to whether the outcome of a transaction occurs. There are many moving parts to that process which can break down at any time and cause the chain to break.
Many business owners are focused on the end game so to speak of creating that transaction. The focus for them is money being deposited into their bank accounts and then looking for the next transaction. What they fail to recognise Is that behind that credit card swipe or online input is a real person.
The human being a complex but natural creation and their brains are the most advanced computers in existence. The difference between the brain and the most advanced technological computers is the human element. I realise that artificial intelligence is advancing and in time computers and robots will act more like people. However, will they ever act on emotion?
Emotions are a huge part of the buying cycle of a consumer. For business owners connecting with customers in marketing products and services is the trigger for those emotions.
Act Like A Human When Connecting With Customers In Marketing Your Business
Connecting with your customers relies heavily on your communications skills both virtually and physically. How many times have you been cold called by some telesales person, or robot in disguise? They have a script that is engrained into their psyche which they regurgitate all day with no emotion.
The same can be said if you try and call customers services. You go through a sequence of “press this number”, then “press this number” before you speak to a person, if you are lucky! Generally, then the experience is not a pleasant one because to them it is just a job, a means to an end. On many occasions you still have questions that need to be addressed and you are no further to a solution.
If you read the content on many websites it can come across as very sterile and lack empathy. If someone has taken the time to read content on a website, then it must talk to them.
Conversational tone in my opinion is very important because it means the website owner acknowledges that a real person is reading. Even when technical advice is being given it doesn’t have to be delivered like a textbook. When you are creating content, you must create it in a way that you are speaking to a person. Imagine you are speaking to a friend of yours and adopt that tone into any form of content you create.
It is easier if you are creating a video because you can express yourself much more through facial and hand expressions. Tone of voice can easily be interpreted along with making eye contact. The camera is your audience so talk to that as it is a person and your message will transpire through.
Let Them Know You Have Their Back
The process I have been taking you through has revolved around building an authority business model. A model that is based upon your experiences, talents and gifts. Your ideal customer is someone who will be very like you so you must put yourself in their shoes.
They must have the feeling that you get where they are coming from. A position that you once were in and that you understand exactly what they are feeling. Address the pain points you know they are experiencing through the content you create. This will trigger the emotion that you are looking for as you will hit a nerve.
Then take them on a journey. One that you have travelled on and show them that there Is light at the end of a dark tunnel. They are looking for comfort and reassurance but also, they are looking for a solution. You are the solution they are looking for and they can see the value that you hold.
So how can you provide value to them? It means standing out from everyone else through providing resources to them through many channels and formats. Give them a place, or places, to feel safe and secure. As an online business owner, you should have an authority website which should feel like the door is always open.
This is your home, but it is an extended home for anyone who wants to enter through the open front door. Blog posts such as the one you are currently reading are powerful resources and a great way to create trust within your audience. This is your platform which you control 100% unlike other platforms which are out of your control.
Leverage Other Channels And Direct Them To Your Home
You should connect with individuals on other mediums such as social media but leverage them. Use them to direct your potential audience back to your central hub because this is where the relationships will be formed.
Social media channels are where everyone hangs out, but they are open forums. Browsers gather on such platforms and most of them will pass by which is nothing to worry about. These aren’t the people you want along with the narrow-minded people you get who hide behind unconstructive comments.
The good news is that a small percentage of the people who find you on these open forums are aligned with your way of thinking. These are the people who connect with you and you only need a small percentage of the general public. That first connection is where you can plant the first seed. Like the analogy, or proverb, “from little acorns do mighty oaks grow”. Meaning small things often come from very small things.
Here we are talking about relationships and how to nurture them. Content you put out on social media is like breaking the ice on a first meeting. It creates interest and therefore individuals want to know more and get to know you. Hopefully from that they begin to like you, and this is where the element of trust is formed.
Trust can only be formed from a safe and secure environment with no hidden agendas. Conversations are formed and then debated, and decisions are then taken from then outcomes of certain conversations.
Trust is the ultimate relationship building tool, but it needs to work on constantly. Never get complacent or take anything for granted and individuals will keep coming back time and time again.
Relationship Marketing Will Put Money In Your Bank
Long gone are the days where all you had to do is put up an advertisement and people would buy. An ad has the purpose of selling a click or getting someone to pick up the phone. What goes on after that is the marketing of your products and services and relationship marketing is one of the most powerful forms.
What I have spoken about today is building that relationship through honesty, integrity and transparency. People buy from people that they connect with so you as a business own must make that connection.
The connection starts from some part of your story that you create content around. That part of your story will strike an emotional chord and it will be delivered within a safe and secure environment.
Individuals will see that you are authentic and not just trying to make a fast buck. You will also have authority so people will trust you to deliver what you say. I speak about this within my Build Your AU mastermind and the use of your three pillars when connecting with customers in marketing your business.
Helping you build your authenticity, authority and audience.
Trish Davies
Build Your AU
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