Many companies find it difficult to relate to their audiences. This is because they use channels that are out of date and artificially prolong the response from the company. Some companies try to solve this by creating “common questions and answers” pages where customers can see some of their questions answered. However, this causes frustration for many consumers, because communicating with the company seems to be impossible. This is exactly what relationship marketing solves.

This technique has been implemented for some time and has shown very good results when it comes to showing closeness to the customer. The idea is to choose better channels for communication, making it more fluid and intuitive. Its success is based on the percentage of customers who say they are satisfied once the conversation with the company is over. Let’s look at why more and more companies are adopting this concept of marketing.

What is relational marketing?

It is a new approach to marketing that focuses on building a brand that builds trust and closeness. This can be achieved in different ways, but generally, brands that believe in this vision do it directly in communication. They choose direct channels to communicate with their actual clients, their potential clients and those stakeholders who come into the company’s orbit.

The idea is to set up a different strategy with each consumer, depending on if they need information, answers about a product they have already purchased or persuasion to make a first purchase. It has been studied that there is a psychological effect related to the channel through which communication takes place. Therefore, users are more inclined to stop and read some information when it is produced in the right context. In the same way, that message would be dropped and categorized as spam if it was received through traditional means.

So it is a way of breaking down consumer’s barriers between what they understand as persuasive and annoying communication and what may be a communication about their own interests. This change is closely related to the use of media that is close to them, such as messages on social networks or texts on messaging services, such as WhatsApp.

Why is it important to create relational marketing strategies?

As we have already mentioned, it is a way of breaking the traditional roles in communication. These used to place the brand as an entity that interfered in users’ lives with promotions that did not interest them. At the same time, users felt that brands were unreachable when they were the ones who had questions or problems with their products.
These bad experiences had affected people and predisposed them to avoid conversations with brands. Relational marketing is important because it breaks down these barriers and patterns. Not only are they doing this using new channels, they are also using a different tone. This way of speaking and expressing is essential as a way of extending the company’s personality, an essential concept in today’s marketing.

Apart from tone, companies try to improve their response rate, especially when it is the consumer who is contacting the company. It has been proved that when the sender is the customer, it is usually because he or she has an urgent question or a problem. In both cases, not only an exact response is required, also an instantaneous one. As we will see later, the use of chatbots has been a huge breakthrough in meeting these objectives.

How to implement it?

The key is to have a partner or collaborator that is an omnichannel communication platform in which all channels are integrated. Is important to make a prior study in which the different conversation situations are analyzed and various client categories are extracted. Then, a reflection exercise should be done to adapt a communication channel to each type of customer. Current trends in chats should be taken into account and corporate communication trends should be incorporated into the tone.

As conversational marketing becomes part of your day-to-day business, it is very important to do periodic reviews. This can be achieved by reviewing successful conversations with consumers and taking surveys. This type of data focuses communication until the relationship between companies and consumers is optimal.

WhatsApp, Instagram Direct or Telegram, different alternatives

Nowadays, it is normal to passively pay attention to some of these chats during the day. This is because we understand that they are simple forms of communication that allow us to respond when we want to. Users understand that these channels are used by people who are close to them, so they will understand in this way the brands that use them. Of course, the services provided must be fast, just like in a conventional conversation on these platforms. There is no doubt that the rhythms are faster than in classic email or form-based communications.

For example, one advantage of using Instagram DM as a customer service channel is that it has huge potential in customer relations and in attracting new leads. You also can’t ignore the use of Facebook Messenger to assist your customers, with 1.3 billion people using the app almost every day. Overall, it is more than probable that most of your customers have at least one of the two apps on their mobile phone.

Advantages of this strategy for businesses

A chatbot is a virtual robot trained to answer questions asked by humans. Its training includes a series of keywords that lead to automated responses. As these chatbots are used, their vocabulary and comprehension skills increase, so they will be able to answer more extensive questions. They can save time and are great for answering generic questions from users.

The chatbot automation opportunity

There are undoubtedly several advantages of relational marketing, especially in today’s context.

If you need to reach your audience effectively, we recommend our services as an omnichannel communication platform to take your relational marketing strategy to the maximum. We integrate to your project, centralizing all your contact channels so your customers are satisfied. You will also be able to make promotional communications to target audiences without them seeing you as an intruder.