If I asked you what your definition of marketing online was how would you respond? Perhaps you would mention something about advertising or communicating your business message?
What about building relationships? Do you think it involves that as well?
As you probably already know, I primarily use content to market my business online.
Why?
Well, I find that it is much easier to build relationships with people by writing content or creating content. I can be myself and if people are able to connect with me then that’s great because it means I am able to communicate far more effectively to those individuals and they in turn are able to understand and learn far more effectively from me. As a result a positive relationship develops right from the start.
You see, marketing your business is all about effective communication and how better to communicate than through a positive 2 way relationship?
Who Do You Spend Time With?
Think about your friends and those who you enjoy spending time with. What it is that connects you? Perhaps a similar sense of humour? Similar beliefs? Mutual respect?
We all connect with people in different ways and this includes people we purchase things from. In a shop we might be put off by the sales assistant and decide to purchase the item we want from another store.
Or we might go back to the same store again and again because the service we receive is great and the sales assistants are attentive to our needs.
Making purchases online is very different. Often there is little or even no relationship building going on. Or perhaps there is a virtual assistant giving you help!
But the truth is that if there was a real live person to talk to we would experience a far more positive buying experience. So building a relationship with your prospects online should be as important as it is offline – perhaps more so because the internet is impersonal.
I believe that if you focus on using your content to build relationships with people from the start, you will stand out from other marketers and attract customers and subscribers who long for a more realistic ‘real’ life experience. People who want a real person at the end of an email or article or blog post.
- Write your content naturally
- Include your own personality in your content
- Invite feedback and interaction
- Continue to build relationships in your email campaign
- Always be yourself
- Be available