ChicExecs Co-Founder and Co-President, Kailynn Bowling, shares what relationship marketing can mean for your business on Forbes blog. Here is an excerpt from the piece.
Relationship marketing looks at the long-term, not necessarily what’s happening right now. Since you can’t build close relationships in a day, you have to nurture these leads and earn their trust over time. It might sound like hard work (and it is), but relationship marketing can give your business these five major benefits:
1. Save money.
Have you seen how much paid ads cost these days? Advertising can quickly burn through your budget; plus, customers don’t really like ads. Instead of running tons of ad campaigns, you can invest in relationship marketing to save money.
2. Generate positive reviews.
If you’ve been struggling to source reviews—or you’re trying to overcome a few negative Google reviews—relationship marketing can give you a much-needed boost.
3. Collect valuable customer feedback.
Customers are more likely to share honest, helpful information if they believe in your business. Sometimes it can be hard to accept customer feedback, but constructive criticism will strengthen your business, so it’s smart to welcome customer feedback. Over time, customer feedback can help you better understand shopper needs and design better products—both of which will help you increase sales.
4. Retain loyal customers.
Did you know that increasing customer retention by 5% can increase profits by as much as 95%? There’s nothing wrong with sourcing new customers, but if you want to keep more of those customers around, you need to invest in relationship marketing.
5. Competitor-proof your business.
If you’re locked in a vicious tug-of-war with a competitor, you need every edge you can get. Fortunately, relationship marketing can differentiate your business in a way that your competitor can’t copy.
Read Kailynn’s entire blog here.