Many businesses simply speak at or to their customers when they should be speaking with them. Traditional marketing was generally just this – a message presented to the clients or customers without a clear means of response expected nor allowed from the customer. A modern online presence can also be quite cold and impersonal unless it provides for return communication and contact. This article describes why the process of marketing of any form needs to be a two-way conversation.
Why
You Need to Hear From Your Customers
If there is one thing that has to be accepted in the modern age of business, it is that every business benefits from hearing what their customers think about them and their products. The simple maxim of, ‘if you don’t know, you don’t know’ rings true for many a business and truer for those who are no longer in business, because they didn’t listen to or couldn’t hear their customers.
You are in business to give the customer what they need and want, or what you can convince them that they need and want. Either way, it is all about them. Only genuine customer communication can ensure that this happens. Lastly, the only way that your customers will ever get insight into the personality of the business is through communication with them.
How
Use of 24/7/365 Chat Bots
Like a good friend, you need to be available whenever the customer needs to talk. Automating the customer feedback and questioning process is now simple and easy to do and, although most customers may still prefer a more personal interaction, the use of chatbots and readily available FAQ pages allow for this constant availability and is much appreciated by many customers and shoppers.
Loyalty Programs
The use of freebies and incentives for customers that have shown loyalty to the brand and are frequent purchases is becoming a common and popular trend. Businesses now look to give those that spend a certain amount of both time or money with them a reward in return. This could be anything from some free advice, great specific content, a voucher, or loyalty points to be used or further purchases. You can click here to learn more about such systems of reward for customers.
Social Media
The use of social media platforms or company/product-specific social chat groups is the surest way to get honest and immediate feedback from the customers you have. There is some inherent risk in this, as you may also get bad feedback or criticism. The secret is to have the right social media presence on the right platforms that are used by your target audience, and then also have sufficient monitoring and controls of the process.
The marketing process has developed over time and, as our world becomes more interactive over the online space, so too do our businesses and how they can market themselves and their products. This article highlighted why marketing, no matter how modern or traditional, must be a two-way communication process.