4 Ways To Build And Maintain Relationships With Customers

Build and maintain relationships with customers with these 4 simple tips!

Bringing in new customers and keeping hold of existing customers are both integral elements of business growth. But how can you use your online platforms to optimise your efforts?

Business has always been about building authentic relationships with a target audience. And thanks to the evolution of digital technologies, relationships no longer simply need to rely on face-to-face communication. Instead, modern enterprises have an array of different techniques and channels at their disposal to help engage with both new prospects and existing customers.

Developing a clear and effective customer engagement strategy is crucial to making the most of your online efforts and ensuring that you build long-lasting relationships that are meaningful and productive. Here are some of our top tips for improving your customer engagement efforts in the digital space.

Customer retention is one of our 5 techniques to grow your business because when times get tough, it’s the customers who have been with you the longest who will show you the most loyalty.

Create a community

Building groups and communities is a great way to turn one-time customers into repeat customers by making them feel part of something bigger. There are several great ways to build communities online. However, the most popular format is undoubtedly the community solutions offered via social media platforms.

Most of your customers will already have an active presence on social media, so using the likes of Facebook Groups or LinkedIn Groups to create a community is a relatively straightforward step to take. These also allow customers to take the wheel, dropping in queries, setting topics and actively engaging with you and each other.

Host an event

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we all got used to attending events online (Zoom alone generated $2.6 billion revenue in 2020, a 317 per cent increase year-on-year). But just because the country is no longer in the same state of lockdown, it doesn’t mean we have to abandon these technologies altogether. Webinars are a great way to let customers engage with your business and other customers from the comfort of their own homes. Putting a face to a product or service can help nurture those ongoing relationships and strengthen connections with your target audience in a user-friendly and interactive way.

You can even create a live stream alongside your event, through which customers can message their questions and comments. This is a great way to engage in real-time and demonstrate that you are listening to your customers.

Collaborate with your customers

Whether you’re planning to release an e-book, relaunch your website, or create a new product, asking your customers for feedback is an easy way to make them feel valued and more involved in your brand. Our team found this a great way of working when developing our DIY SEO software, giving some of our longest-standing customers input to its tools and feel was a big hit for them and us!

Asking for customer input can help you develop a stronger bond with them, and they’ll start to see your business as something they can’t just abandon if a better deal comes along. You could even reward key contributors with a prize, offers, or just recognition on the final result.

Questions you may wish to ask include: what opening hours they would like from you or how often they want you to contact them via email.

Celebrate milestones

Sports teams are famous for having close relationships with their customers – known more affectionately as fans. A Premier League football club wins as a group and loses as a group, from the employees (players and staff) to the supporters in the stand.

While it’s not always possible to develop that level of loyalty, you should consider how you can create an affinity with those who have invested in your brand. If you’re celebrating 5,000 social media followers; one year of being an active business; or any other milestone that feels significant, then make sure your customers are involved in your celebrations. Let them know that when you win, they win.

You can do this by creating exclusive offers, launching new products, or hosting an event for VIP customers to make them feel extra special.

Mastering the digital channels at your disposal and creating a clear strategy for utilising them in line with your brand values will help you build and maintain relationships with customers regularly and authentically.

As a Newcastle based digital agency, ROAR Digital Marketing specialise in offering transparent marketing services with tangible results. If you are looking to start creating engaging content for your blog or want to utilise a platform like HubSpot to convert leads more effectively, we can help you get real value from your marketing activities.

Get in touch with our team today by calling 0191 259 4737 or by dropping us an email at [email protected].