As a small business owner, are you unsure how to connect with your customers?
Establishing a strong connection with prospects and existing customers is a vital part of the sales and marketing process.
I’m often asked, “What’s the secret to building strong connections with our customers?” The answer is that there are a variety of approaches to relationship building, but perhaps the most important one is the Know, Like & Trust Factor.
As you’re probably aware, most people prefer to buy from those they know, like and trust. This is why we need to use tools such as social media to tell our story and provide an opportunity for people to get to know and like us, and hopefully build the relationship to a point where they trust us enough to buy from us.
The Know, Like & Trust Factor is a key part of building brand awareness. This is a process and not something you’ll necessarily see an instant return on investment for. It’s important to remember that marketing is about building those relationships and establishing your brand, whereas advertising is about getting an instant response from your prospect.
How to get your customers to KNOW you
- Do your research – find out who your prospects are, what do they care about? What problem can you solve for them?
- Have a distinctive theme, style and branding – use it across all your marketing
- Be visible – Develop a social media strategy and set up a posting schedule so that you’re appearing in your prospects newsfeeds on a regular basis
- Post valuable and relevant content that your audience will love
- Share your blog posts with online publications that your prospects read in return for a byline and link back to your website at the bottom of the post
- Attend networking functions or events where your prospects hang out and chat to them
- Find ways to add value without asking for anything in return – give them something worth keeping or sharing
How to get your customers to LIKE you
- Have an engaging About Us page on your website, tell a story and form a connection with them
- Use your photo on your profile or About Us page – it allows people to put a face to the name
- Remember to always write for the reader, not for yourself – it’s about THEM, not you!
- Be personal, write for that one ideal customer as though you were speaking directly to them
- Show your authenticity – don’t try to be something you’re not
- Be generous – offer free advice or a free initial consultation
- Hang out where your tribe hangs out online, contribute to the conversation, interact and be helpful and you’re more likely to be remembered
- Share and promote others on social media or your blog
- Remember, social media is about building relationships, not selling, so you should be aiming for 95% useful and engaging content, 5% selling
How to get your customers to TRUST you
- Keep your promises – if you say you’ll deliver, then deliver – on time, every time
- Be consistent with social media posts, newsletters, quotes or anything you send out
- Share quality content, be helpful
- Ask prospects or readers to share their pain points with you and address those issues in your posts so that they feel you genuinely care about them (no names mentioned, of course)
- Gather and share testimonials and case studies – these are very powerful
- Have a compelling and consistent message
I hope this post has given you some ideas on how to connect with your customers.
Hi, I’m Lyndall Guinery-Smith, The Professional Writer. I love to write copy dedicated to attracting and engaging your customers, and improving your bottom line. I happily work with clients all around Australia. Email me to arrange an obligation-free discussion about your latest project.
