Never forget – Show your appreciation
No matter the quality of marketing material you can create, it’s what the people who already have a relationship with your business say that matters.
You should be aiming to create brand ambassadors from your various stakeholder groups, who are eager to sing your praises. Consider this as a win-win situation, where you delight them, so they interact with your company more often, whilst simultaneously they are recommending you to others. Sounds good, doesn’t it?
A limiting mindset – Transactional relationships
To ensure you inspire loyalty to your brand there are two ingredients that must be present:
1. Connection – What makes them choose you?
2. Significance – Can they identify their part in your business?
To achieve the first effect, your offering, job or partnership must have benefits and features that are specifically appealing to your market niche or potential employees/partners. Hopefully, your organisation should already be clear on what these are, so you know explicitly why they should choose you.
Making them feel significant is a little more complex; it’s all about demonstrating the vital part they play in what you do. For customers this might be asking for their opinion by testing your products, or suggesting ways your services could be improved. Even more importantly for employees and partners, you should be reminding them of why they’re so valuable, by organising appropriate rewards and celebrating milestones.
A missing element – Retention focus
It stands to reason that the relationships that are most loyal are the longest lasting. Therefore, prioritise retaining your most valuable stakeholders, so that you’re both getting the best from each other. For each of your key groups, you might choose to implement the following actions:
Clients/customers: Map out customer journeys with clearly defined touchpoints, so you are keeping in regular contact with them. This structured approach will ensure you are maintaining the relationship and offering them perks that will give them no reason to look elsewhere.
Employees: Similarly to your customers, decide on career paths and show your employees where they could go. If they have the potential for promotion, or to take on further responsibilities, then your staff are more likely to be dedicated and enthusiastic about what they do.
Partners: Set pre-agreed targets, so both parties are clear on what they want to achieve. Beyond this, demonstrate your appreciation when these goals are met and be understanding when complications arise. If they feel like you’ve got their back, the service they provide will probably be of a higher standard.
A different perspective – Amplify feedback
To create an outsourced marketing department of raving fans, you must first identify the stakeholders who are most frequently interact with your business in a meaningful way. If they’re a repeat customer, then the chances are they are satisfied (if not delighted) by what your offer.
Next, to make certain you know who your most ardent admirers are, gather testimonials or setting up a feedback system, so they can review your company performance. Identify the people who give the most the most glowing responses. Segmenting in this way will mean you can channel your resources more effectively, essentially giving your fans a megaphone (in terms of content and material) to promote your brand.
The easiest stakeholders to onboard are those that come from referral, because they already have an expectation of what your business is like and what it offers. For clients this will mean higher profitability and less marketing spend to generate a purchase and for employees they will understand your company values better. In addition, potential partners will already have a higher opinion of your operations and consequently match your standards.
It can always be tempting to chase new business, but don’t forget what you already have.