Authentic Relationship Marketing That Works
June 26th, 2013 by Diane Conklin under Marketing. No Comments.
Marketing is the basis for everything you do in your business.
Everything is marketing.
Not all marketing is created equal. The best marketing builds authentic relationships with your clients and prospects. Many people think of marketing as manipulative or forcing people to do something they don’t want to do, or that’s not in their best interest. That’s not marketing at all.
Marketing is really about building authentic relationships with your clients and prospects, other business associates and colleagues. It’s about building authentic relationships. Imagine building your business on referrals. If you get referrals on a regular basis, you know you’re building your business with authentic relationships. That’s what good marketing is all about.
Whether you’re using image advertising or direct response marketing – which you should be using so you can measure your results and be asking people to take action so you can begin to create this relationship.
Having a free offer on your website is one way to engage with prospects when they come to your site and to allow them to get to know you and your business better.
As small business owners and entrepreneurs, we are the company in all the ways that matter to people. Build relationships with your clients so they feel like they know you. People have to feel like they know you before they can decide whether they like you. They certainly have to like you before they can start to trust you.
What is it that you reach out to your clients with? What kind of stories can you talk about? What’s going on in your life, your animals, your kids, your spouse? Did you just take a trip? Let people into your life. Let people into your business. Be authentic and real with them. Show them who you are and you will start to build authentic, real relationships with your clients that will last for years to come.
The most expensive thing you do in your business is get new clients. The least expensive thing you can do in your business is bring people back that you’re already doing business with and have them buy from you over and over and over again. Client Retention, when you build real, authentic relationships with your clients, when they know you’re someone they can trust, they’ll consider you the only go-to source for your product or service. When you’re known as the only real provider of what you do, then you know you’ve built real, authentic relationships in your business.
