Let’s face it: today’s business scenario is quite competitive and any organization which hopes to carve a niche for itself has to do a lot of follow up to maintain its client base and attract new customers. Consumer tastes and preferences are rapidly changing, and organizations which do not adapt to the changing times risk being pushed to oblivion. Nonetheless, something begs the question: why is customer relationship marketing so important? Well, everything has to do with the customer. In every business, the consumer is the key. Therefore, every marketing strategy has to focus on the consumer. Fundamentally, the marketing efforts have to be planned well and directed to the required segments. Moreover, it is important for the marketers to realize that marketing strategies which work well for a particular segment may not work well when used for a different market segment. In the quest to give marketers the elusive competitive edge, one of the things that they cannot avoid is customer relationship marketing.
Customer relationship marketing, in simple terms, refers to marketing processes aimed at maintaining good client relationships, and enhancing customer loyalty in the long run. The main idea is to build brand value within the customers. Although there are several approaches to customer relationship marketing, only three of those strategies are discussed in this essay. The three practices include: emailing a newsletter once in a month to the clients who subscribe, sending online greeting cards to business associates and customers who buy through the web and setting active profiles on the most popular social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Let’s start with emailing newsletters.
In this decade, it seems that some people are writing an obituary for the concept of emailing newsletters. Well, not so fast. Despite the fact that email marketing was one of the earliest strategies of customer relationship marketing, the concept is not worn out yet. A monthly newsletter still remains one of the most effective ways of strengthening customer relationships in the 21st century. Globalization, for instance, makes web-based customer relationship marketing techniques one of the most viable. For example, through a monthly newsletter, an organization like Toyota can reach as many clients as possible, and from all corners of the world. Is there any follow up strategy that beats this? Nevertheless, it is important to understand what information should be contained in the newsletter.
As many organizations may be aware, this is not the era where newsletters would be filled with all sorts of fluff. The contents of the newsletter are as important as the customer. Some of the important things to include in the newsletter include: customer testimonials, brief reports of past and future events, and new offerings. The newsletter can also include information on customer recognition and rewards. The format of the newsletter email could be altered as per the requirements of the marketer. When done in the right manner, the email message has the capacity to make the customers feel and appreciate a personal connection with the marketer and products offered by the organization. However, the author should avoid the use of images as much as possible. Although images make the email interesting, they also increase the load times and this can discourage many of the readers – especially those on low connection.
Another strategy employed by organizations to promote customer relationship marketing is the use of greeting cards. To reach as many clients as possible, the organization can use custom-made online greeting cards. These cards can be sent out to either business associates or to the people who buy the company’s product through the website. When used well, the greeting cards can be effective in building customer relationships and building brand loyalty. Apart from saving costs, the strategy can also be crucial in increasing business from the new customers as well as from the existing customers. Nonetheless, it is essential to determine what to include in the greeting card.
Some of the things to include in the card could be something like how much it meant to serve the clients, or thanking them for referring a friend. The card can also be used to inform the customers of new things in the business like a new product, a new service, expansion plans and the like. If the idea is to purely keep the company’s name on the minds of the customers, then, this is the route to go. The company can also consider sending the card to its customers over major holidays. Anniversaries also form part this package and it could also be useful to send out cards during a birthday. As it is widely believed, people do not forget some subtle gestures such as a birthday card, and this means that a birthday card is one of the cheapest means of maintaining close relationships with customers. Lastly, the use of active profiles on the most popular social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter would enable any company to make real time connections with its customers.
When social networking sites were started, very few people thought they could become as big as they are now. Today, all the critics have been proven wrong, and social networking sites have grown from strength to strength. Businesses have a way of following their customers, and today many companies use social networking sites to gather real-time feedback on their products and services. Apart from giving customers a platform to rate their products and services, organizations are also using social networking sites to build their own brands. The good thing with active profiles is that customers can be informed of valuable information without invading their privacy. All the company needs is followers who voluntarily subscribe to their updates
For instance, a media house CNN can use Facebook or twitter to inform followers of major news and customers can give a feedback on the quality of the story. Through the update, the followers also have a chance to interact with the organization’s staff and other customers as well through a casual discussion. Some organizations have also invested heavily on their web presence, and this helps them to monitor and solve real issues the customers might be experiencing. This new approach arises from the realization that the job of a marketer does not end with a sale, but it could be the beginning of a long, profitable relationship with the client.
In today’s world, there are two types of organizations: organizations which practice customer relationship marketing and those which do not. The future looks bright for organizations which make a follow up on their customers, while the future looks bleak for organizations which think that their relationship with the customer ends after the sale. For the organizations which practice customer relationship marketing, they have to keep in mind that the world is now a global village, and they have to think beyond the borders in whatever they do. With customer relationship marketing, the opportunities are innumerable and it is the only thing which stands in the way of those companies thinking long term.
References
Brink, A., & Berndt, A. (2009). Relationship Marketing and Customer Relationship
Management. Cape Town : Juta and Company Ltd.
Linoff, G. S., & Berry, M. J. (2011). Data Mining Techniques: For Marketing, Sales, and
Customer Relationship Management. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Sanchez, J. G. (2010). Customer Relationship Marketing: Building Customer Relationships for\ Enduring Profits in a Wired Economy. Retrieved May 22, 2013, from
http://www.zunch.com/zunch/files/Zunch_CRM.pdf
