Why “Engaging” Customer Relationships are more paying than Short-term “Intrusive” Ones

    Customer Relationship, Marketing, Marketers, ROI, Big Data, Click-through Rates, Branding, Advertising

    Marketers spend big bucks on big data to understand customers’ individual needs. Yet they waste that insight and opportunity to create meaningful one-on-one relationships to deliver excessively intrusive, pervasive, pitches. In short, they treat customers as prospects, seeming to care less about them as people.

    There are ways to fix this predicament, and the best way out is to focus on building stronger and more engaging customer relationships rather than short-term intrusive ones.

    Knowing “the customer” Versus Knowing “about the customer.”

    Today, harnessing Big Data is almost a 116 USD industry. Marketers know what they watch, the tweets they post, and which Facebook groups, friends, or companies they “like.” Companies are investing in data technology and analytics to help customers understand the impact of interactions on people attending their events and programs. Used well with customer value in mind — these tools can build meaningful relationships.

    While macro data feeds marketing-campaign algorithms, the personal one-to-one engagements give marketers the insight and empathy that clicks and likes can’t provide. While it’s easy to conclude that it’s the marketing team’s job to create leads, building meaningful relationships needs to be actually baked at every level of the company. That’s why good marketing means working with every member of the customer-facing team, training them to listen, learn, and engage.

    Marketers need to take digital shortcuts to connect with prospects, but they face epic failure to deliver on the brand promise if they forget how to interact and engage with customers.

    Frequency, Speed, and Per-Click ROI Don’t Build Long-Term Relationships

    Data and social media-driven marketing are excellent at reading a potential customer and responding with appropriate offers and ads three seconds after customers type a search inquiry. But is that what the customers really want? Are they ready and open for such inputs already?

    Stop Shouting and Start Listening

    Big data helps to spot trends, directs marketers to new audiences, and fuels digital tools that allow them to connect quickly, watching over the assigned budget efficiently. The question is, after identifying a prospect, should marketers shout or listen? Whether face-to-face, virtual, or digital, it’s still a person-to-person exchange that makes the difference.

    Although marketers are armed with massive data, algorithm-driven marketing models and real-time, virtual response tools, they shouldn’t miss the opportunity to listen before they bombard the customers with responses and promotions.

    Additionally, marketers should stop measuring ROI by how fast the service members churn through customer calls and, instead, focus on rewarding the folks who spend time listening to the customers. Marketers need to train the sales teams to listen, engage, and then maybe respond days later with meaningful information, offers, and ideas. They need to seek more customer inputs, offer resources and share ideas instead of dishing out thinly disguised sales pitches.

    Engagement-based marketing opens up channels to speak, interact, share information, and ideas to create and build relationships. As an industry, if the brand-marketing is centered on engaging with the customers by listening and providing value — rather than pushing out quick-hit responses measured in click-throughs — the prospects and customers will reward with their trust and loyalty.