Articles18 May 2018
How to build customer relationships through social media, email marketing and useful, high-quality content.
We built one edition of our Digitale conference around the idea of love. There was a reason: choosing a company or product can be a little like choosing a partner.
We applied that idea to content marketing and explored how social media, email marketing and useful content can help a brand win customers over.
A relationship between a business and a customer takes time to develop. In content marketing, we call the journey from first discovery to purchase the engagement funnel. It starts with the first interaction and deepens at each stage:
Relationships. Imagine two women chatting at the next table in a café. One catches your eye. How could you get her attention and start a conversation?
Content marketing. Content marketing starts with the same challenge. A potential customer may not know your brand, while competitors and online media are already vying for their attention. Start by introducing yourself, showing how you can help and giving them a reason to engage. At this stage, useful content should work like a good opening line: brief, accessible and interesting.
To find content that will catch potential customers’ attention, learn what matters to them. Identify their challenges and consider how different types of content could help.
Research your audience. Talk to current customers, explore relevant forums and social media discussions, and speak with experts in your field. This research can reveal your audience’s interests and the challenges they face.
Analyse what you learn. This helps you understand what your audience cares about and what to cover in early interactions. The internet is crowded with information, so your content needs to offer real value to stand out.
At the first touchpoint, use clear, concise language. People read what interests them from sources they trust. Build trust by drawing on expert insight and illustrating your points. Keep people interested by addressing topics that matter to your audience.
For a children's holiday camp, we created short articles that caught parents’ attention by addressing topics they cared about.
Relationships. Suppose you have already caught her attention and invited her on a first date. How do you build her interest over time?
Content marketing. The same challenge applies when communicating with potential customers: you need to build interest. Content should address their challenges, but it should also connect those challenges with your brand and product. People pay more attention to what affects them directly, so show how you can help.
Show how your product solves a problem, or explain how your company approaches the challenges your audience faces.
Present your product in terms of the value it provides. Shift the focus from promotion to the problems it solves: publish reviews, address common misconceptions and explain how it works.
For a plastic surgery clinic, we create content about procedures and focus on the aspects patients want to understand:
Relationships. You have built interest, but interest can fade. Keep the relationship moving forward by giving people reasons to trust you.
Content marketing. This is a pivotal stage in the customer relationship. A prospect is interested, but needs to understand why your business is the right choice. If competitors focus on price, show the value of quality. Share useful details they may leave out. This helps customers make an informed decision and builds trust.
People begin to trust a business when they can see who is behind it. Use content to demonstrate your experience and knowledge, and tell your story in more detail.
Case studies show how you work. They explain the value delivered to clients through results, feedback and expert commentary.
Explain your work in a way that readers can follow. Use photos and video to show the process and the results. Make sure the writing is accessible: if someone outside your industry can understand what you did, prospective customers are more likely to understand your services too.
Case studies are especially valuable for service businesses: customers cannot handle a service before buying, and the outcome may not be immediately tangible. Show the process and what the client received, such as a website, campaign video, conversion results or a lower cost per enquiry.
Demonstrating your work is not the only way to show expertise. Skilled professionals have always earned attention by sharing what they know. Do the same with expert articles that offer readers a useful look behind the scenes.
We share our expertise too, publishing practical insights on digital marketing.
Use the same principles as in a case study: explain complex ideas in plain language and support them with examples.
Interviews with employees and stories about how a company works can make a brand feel more human. Readers get to know the people behind it, which can strengthen trust.
To create a useful interview or company story, prepare questions in advance. Include informal topics as well as the work itself.
For Kompozit Clinic, we interview plastic surgeons to show readers both their professional expertise and their personal side.
Do not be afraid to show a little vulnerability. Everyone has weaknesses, and people may be wary when a brand appears to have none.
Relationships. At this stage, the relationship moves forward. You have assessed each other and made a considered decision. Now the customer needs a clear, simple next step.
Content marketing. A customer may trust you and want to buy, but if the decision is not urgent, they may forget or keep weighing the price. Useful, persuasive content can help them take the next step.
Stay in touch. Offer something useful, such as a gift or discount. It can help someone who is unsure or has simply forgotten.
When we promoted Digitale: Mastery, we sent weekly emails with useful information and a gift for prospective attendees.
The key is to offer something people will find genuinely valuable.
Use paid social posts to remind people about your brand. Pair compelling copy with an image that makes the benefit clear.
At the time, VK offered three in-feed ad formats: a carousel, a universal post and a post with a button.
Use tried-and-tested advertising and sales techniques.
A carousel works well when you want to present several products in a single post.
A real person’s story can feel more engaging than other formats. Potential customers can see your expertise and ask the questions that matter to them.
Relationships. Once a customer has made a purchase, the relationship enters a new stage. Keep building it and strengthen their connection with your brand.
Content marketing. A customer has trusted you and made a purchase. Show them they made the right decision. Ask for feedback, find out what else they need, keep sharing useful information and demonstrate that you value their business.
There is no single content format for this stage. Product quality and customer satisfaction matter most. Keep doing what worked before: share your best work and continue to build the relationship.
When planning customer communications, keep the engagement funnel in mind:
Like anyone else, customers do not want to be sold to from the first interaction. Move through the stages gradually and earn their trust. If your product delivers, you can build a loyal audience that buys again and recommends it to others.
