Why You Need Relationship Marketing in Your Marketing Plan

Business owners everywhere incorporate marketing tactics every week and every month to tell the world about their mission and their products or services. Without marketing, not a single soul would know you have a business, never mind working with you or making a purchase from you.

Why? Because people work with and purchase from those they know, like, and trust. They want to know that you’re a real person with real feelings instead of someone who only cares about the almighty dollar. They want to know you’re not a scam artist who will steal their last dollar without providing a product. They want to hear recommendations from others who have purchased before them to be sure your product delivered what it promised. People with purchase power want a relationship with you before they buy.

Relationship-based marketing gives you:

1. Visibility

In order to have a relationship with a single person or large audience, you need to interact with them. Get to know THEIR likes and dislikes, know what problems they are experiencing, and think about how you can help them solve their problem. In order to learn this information, you’ll be forced to be consistent with your interaction, whether on social media or in real life, naturally giving you more visibility.

2. Authority

Do you share your knowledge with your audience, or do you save that only for paying customers? Sharing your knowledge, practical experience, and even case studies for free will position you as a knowledgeable authority figure and an expert in their field who cares about helping others. Platforms such as social media, podcasts, YouTube videos, or writing an ebook or short reports are all ways to both increase your authority rank and your visibility.

3. A Stellar Reputation

Can you see how visibility and authority build on each other and lead to a stellar reputation? As you interact with people and become an authority figure, your audience will naturally form an opinion about you. If you over-deliver with your products or your signature programs, your reputation will continue to shine. Overall, a stellar reputation will shorten the length of time it takes you to earn the trust of your audience or new followers.

4. Happy and Enthusiastic Fans

You’ll know you’ve made it when fans are clamoring for your latest product and tell all their friends how wonderful you are! This is the ultimate result of relationship marketing and worth all the time and effort it takes to reach this destination.
One key to remember is to never stop the process of building relationships. Like gears in a clock, you must find a way to consistently interact, show your authority, improve your reputation and take care of your happy fans. Keep these gears working to consistently grow your business for years to come.

Confused About How to Start Building Relationships?

Relationship marketing should be a win-win situation for both parties involved. You should gain visibility, authority, and happy fans, and your audience should be thrilled with the value that you deliver to them.

The key is to get started!

You can start by publishing everyday. Whether that is a podcast, blog, email, or video. I find when my clients pick one of those platforms they are more likely to stick with it. If you like to write then blog. For someone that speaking comes naturally then podcast. People who like to be in front of the camera should do video.

Publishing everyday will help you to stay top of mind, build rapport and nurture your relationship with your audience. And yes! Everyday will help you to create the consistency you need to establish a habit. Eventually you will begin to find your voice and position yourself as the expert. Now, your target audience will begin to find you!

You will notice you are getting more engagement from your audience. And your business is growing with new email subscribers. Then, all you have to do is convert them to clients! Woohoo!

In addition, plan to attend a couple networking events every month to get out of your comfort zone. You will meet new people and build your list locally. Start building those relationships and have fun while you do it!

I’d love to hear how you are going to start publishing everyday. Did you choose a blog, podcast or video as your publishing source?