There’s a lot of talk of the “digital revolution” and marketing is no exception. But however technologically advanced your strategy, it will fall flat without keeping one guiding thought in mind. Practicing customer-centric marketing will keep you on your toes, for the sack of your users.
Customer-Centric Marketing
Whatever else we do with our digital marketing and online branding, we must maintain, engage, and encourage the human element. All the sophistication in the world won’t help us if we forget to relate to our customers and followers.
Considering devices are the cornerstone of both modern communication and commerce, staying human is a critical concern. That personal connection between yourself and your customers should be a core concern of all our marketing efforts.
Our efforts should be guided by important questions like:
- Can we personalize this campaign/content/social media message to the greatest number of people?
- How much of our advertising is driven by the benefit and enrichment of the consumer (rather than the bells and whistles of the product)?
- How can we make this content more meaningful to someone’s personal experience?
- Are we creating content that is purely valuable to our followers, without an ulterior motive?
It’s important to note that these type of changes are not merely departmental: they are organizational, and must further permeate your culture and work over time. When brainstorming or implementing new strategies, it’s important at least one person from every team has a seat at the table.
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to personalization of your digital marketing. But there are a few tactics with which we’ve noticed significant success across the board.
Email Segmenting
Dividing your email list according to customer preferences and behavior keeps you from alienating people with irrelevant or excessive content.
Print Marketing
While you’ll be digital most of the time, imagine how delighted your loyal customers and followers would be to receive a printed letter of thanks or even a handwritten note.
Frequent, Diverse Content
The greater variety of content you produce, the greater variety of customers you will attract.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
CRM platforms are a great investment. They allow for a great degree of personalization, without having to exhaust yourself day after day maintaining and updating it. Everyone on your team can access it to learn the latest insights about everyone interacting with your brand.
Multilingual Content
We live in a global world, and you don’t want customers who may be devoted to your brand to be kept with that by a language barrier, if at all possible.
Content Freebies
Downloadable PDF worksheets, Ebooks, webinars and so on are a great way to build trust, loyalty, and engagement with your customers. And because of they opt-in to receiving it or choose to download it, those followers are taking part in the personalization process themselves.
Hopefully, this list will get you thinking about customer-centered efforts you can implement soon. One thing we know for sure, you don’t have to be a million-dollar business to make a great impression—and a genuine connection–with customers who care about your brand, and what you have to offer.
If you’re a small organization with few or no dedicated marketing professionals, some of the planning and execution of balanced, personalized campaigns can be entrusted to a trusted digital marketing agency. Let us know how your customer-centric marketing strategies are going!
