subject: The Need For Personal Touch Marketing [print this page] Before digital technology and the Internet ever made their appearance, retailers and business owners had real customer relationships. They knew their customers by name and they understood full well what they wanted. And as best as they can, they try to satisfy the customers particular needs by way of personal service. The beauty of this kind of marketing is that customers and prospects receive personalized customer service according to how they prefer it. As such, customers became loyal as they were satisfied with the services they get.
But the inefficiency and costs of doing personal marketing took its toll. Consumers looked for more than personal relationships with their providers. Hence, they traded good interaction with wider variety of products and services at lower prices. And with the emergence of digital technology, more and more people rely on online marketing to help them generate leads for their business. Websites were put up; communicating via e-mails became standard fare; and the Internet virtually became THE tool to reach out to people nowadays. The term now is to go global. Global relationships are being built with the help of online marketing.
But along the way, in my opinion, marketing has lost its simplicity and honesty. Due to the need for big advertising budgets and gimmicks that many companies rely so much on, personal interaction and relationship building is relegated to the backburner. And the sorry part is that nowadays, you can actually count the businesses that worked to show that they knew well enough their customers and prospects to give them what theyre looking for.
As marketing is about getting leads for your business, it should then show your target audience that you have what it takes to know them and to provide them with what they need. You have to show them that youve researched them and evaluated their needs; which basically mean that you took the time and effort to get to know them and to earn their trust. It is about the caring and willingness on your part as the business owner to partner with your client with the end purpose of trying to bring about growth to everyone. This, I believe, would have greater impact than all the online and digital marketing combined.
Getting involved and building relationships again can make a big difference in how your clients and prospects see you. Making connections on a personal level will just about yield favorable results for you. This is especially true if you take the time to listen and learn what your clients really need.
What Im trying to say here is this: you may have the best and the most interactive website; you might even send out millions of e-mails everyday; and you may even have the money to create expensive advertising all of these things can easily be defeated by a personal touch to your marketing efforts. An invitation printing for example or a greeting card that tells your target audience that you appreciate the business they bring can go a long way in telling them how special they are. In turn, they will be loyal to your business as they know that you can be relied on to take care of them every time.
