Relationship marketing is a concept that is defined as marketing that focuses on the satisfaction and long-term retention of the customer as opposed to simply making a sale. In contrast to other forms of marketing, relationship marketing recognizes the value of that long-term relationship between a company and the customer beyond just a one sale and molds a campaign to serve that end.
With the growth of technological advances in the Internet, relationship marketing has flourished to create a much more collaborative marketing environment. It is a fact that people will actually spend more money on a product from a company they favor, such as, one that offers excellent service and shows it cares about its customer beyond its own self-serving rewards. For example, a company that recommends a competitor’s product when they cannot fulfill the need is not only impressive to the customer but also instills extraordinary trust and a deep seeded appreciation that will keep that customer coming back for a lifetime.
In addition, statistics have shown that the value of that lifelong relationship can yield significant increases in the company’s bottom line. Repeat business after all is much more profitable than one sale. One study showed that more than 70% of people polled would shop with a higher priced competitor when they were treated badly at a particular store.
At the center of relationship marketing is the arrangement between the buyer and seller where both have a genuine interest in a more satisfying exchange. One that goes beyond the simple process of the purchase and into a more useful and richer contact that provides a much more personalized and holistic approach.
In this type of marketing, a good question to consider is: how can I serve the customer better to fulfill their needs beyond just making a sale? This type of outlook can yield amazing results for the brand that wants to win over a lifelong interchange with a customer that will lead to word of mouth promotion and repeat sales over the long term.
This is where webinars can be a huge asset because they can be used to satisfy those needs in numerous ways and therefore establish a rapport between the buyer and seller and outshine competitors who are not going beyond the call of duty.
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The Unique Offerings of Webinars
Webinars, also referred to as online seminars are great tools to provide value. Webinars can be used to provide educational content, how-to guides, sales pitches, product demonstrations, and much more to a global audience.
Besides their obvious cost-effectiveness, they include the availability of various tools, like desktop sharing, video, images, Powerpoint slides, social sharing, branding and much more. With ClickMeeting, you also get the new embedded room feature that allows you to embed the webinar platform right on your site, allowing for valuable exposure to all your site has to offer to webinar attendees. Presentations can be as simple or as complex as needed to deliver the required message.
How Webinar Presentations Support Relationship Marketing
Solve Problems
One of the main goals of product creation is to solve a target consumer’s problems. Webinars can also be used to solve your target consumer’s problems in various ways and actually take the concept of ‘usefulness’ a step further. Relationship marketing focuses on a strong and long lasting customer connection to the brand, it is therefore not enough to simply provide a product like everyone else, it is important to think outside the box to create webinars the customer can use to solve problems they have in relation to the industry.
For example, in the real estate business, home sellers often lack the expertise in home staging, which is the process of preparing the look of a home for sale in the market with the end goal of making it appeal to the highest number of potential buyers and therefore yield the highest possible price.
Normally this type of knowledge is passed onto sellers from a relator they already commissioned to sell their home. However, if a realtor created numerous webinars explaining the process, with video of staged homes and specific do’s and don’ts and then posted these to their website this is a great way to solve the target audience’s problems and endear them to that realtor and their brand. This can set that realtor apart from all the others who are using traditional ‘hire me’ sales pitches.
Useful content beyond a sales presentation
One of the best ways to use webinars in furthering relationship marketing efforts is by looking beyond simply providing a line of products that are relevant to a particular target consumer.
Relationship marketing attempts to go beyond the traditional four P’s of the marketing model, which is, pricing, product management, promotion, and placement. It goes further to focus on customers’ needs in and around the specific industry in order to establish quality long-term relationships.
Here webinars provide the unprecedented ability to do so by simply being useful and offering information that they may not find from other brands. For example, an online hardware store creates and places on their e-commerce site several instructional webinars that detail various how-to’s in DIY home improvement.
When the consumer visits the site, they discover that this company is not only a source of products for their home project but is also the ‘go to’ for showing them how to complete that home project.
This type of service can create an insurmountable amount of appreciation on the part of the customer, and something that can make that company stand far above the rest and keep the customer coming back repeatedly.
Bottom Line
Being useful, offering value and solving customer’s problems no matter the industry goes a long way to solidify relationships that can serve both the company and consumer over a lifetime. No matter the industry, webinars offer unique opportunities to educate, inspire, and support positive relationships in the marketing process that can make your brand stand out amidst a sea of others.
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