How to Build an Effective Relationship Marketing Strategy

Saphyte Team

3 min read

Updated: May 17th, 2022

Building an effective relationship marketing strategy may be the breakthrough your business needs in 2022. So where do you start and how can you build one?

Ever remembered a service for being customer-friendly? Patronized a business for the good experience? Or felt the need to stay and be loyal to a brand because you felt like they already know your unique taste?

That’s relationship marketing[1]  in the works. And it’s effective. In fact, it has contributed to a 5% percent increase in customer retention, according to research. This increase in customer retention eventually leads to a rise in company revenue by 25 to 95%.

But why is relationship marketing much more important this year?

Why relationship marketing is important in 2022

Customer relationship has transformed marketing in recent years and especially during the pandemic. Here are a few reasons why marketers are beginning to prioritize it this year:

Digital Privacy Is Reshaping the Internet

Apple and Google enacted privacy changes in 2021, which created customer acquisition challenges for online businesses.

Those that used personal tracking data to hyper-target ads to target customers are massively affected, making digital ads less effective than they were. Meanwhile, advertising costs continue to rise.

A shift is needed for costs to be kept down— and many marketers turn to relationship marketing for customer acquisition and retention.

More competition online due to pandemic

The pandemic fueled an influx of new online businesses. This created more noise and competition in the marketplace, demanding businesses to do something to set themselves apart.

Shift in consumer behavior

Changes in consumer preferences and behavior during the pandemic also forced companies to gain a deeper understanding of customer needs. With relationship marketing, companies can create a strategy that helps them provide more personalized services suited to the needs of their target market.

How to build an effective relationship marketing strategy

Because relationship marketing plays a more important role now than ever, it’s time for your business to consider having one. Here’s how you can build an effective relationship marketing strategy:

1.   Understand how your business works when it comes to lead generation, conversion, and customer retention

To build an effective relationship marketing strategy, you must first understand how your business sales and marketing strategies work. Do you get your leads organically? Do they come to you through your website? What triggers a purchase decision? What makes them stay?

Understanding all these allow you to craft a strategy based on relationship marketing that works. It helps you to understand what to do and what not to do. And more importantly, it helps you mindfully restructure your organization based on that strategy.

2.   Harness the power of data through technology

Of course, it’s going to be difficult to implement some changes without data supporting your decisions. Data remove the guesswork in business decision-making. That’s why, from the start, your business should know how to generate data and interpret them.

All of these may sound difficult to perform but with the right tools and technology, making the right decisions using data would be a lot easier.

3.   Improve customer experience through personalization

If there’s one thing that sets relationship marketing apart from the other strategies, it’s that it’s guaranteed to improve customer experience and it does this through personalization.

Personalization is knowing what your customers want and need and offering them content or products and services relevant to their needs and preferences. It’s what makes them feel there’s value in transacting with you. And because personalization provides value, customers are more likely to return in the future and make purchases from you.

4.   Improve through feedback

Relationship marketing, just like any other marketing strategy, requires constant monitoring for results. And it can be improved through customer feedback.

Businesses that implement relationship marketing must be able to determine which part of the strategy is working and which parts aren’t. This way, they can continue to enhance the strategy to get their desired results.

Explore your relationship marketing potential

Relationship marketing may be the breakthrough your business needs this year. With the business landscape continuously changing, knowing your customers at a deeper level is extremely important to help you adapt to a turbulent market environment.

Use the right tools and techniques to make the most out of this strategy. Build effective connections now. See how relationship marketing can grow your business. Book a free consultation with us and get started here.