The age of mass advertising is passing away. Back in the 60-s of the last century, a company could reach up to eighty percent of the US adult population by running a TV advertising trailer some thee times during the prime time. Today, to achieve the same result it has to run such trailer for some three hundred times or more. It has greatly reduced the effectiveness of mass advertising and has greatly increased the cost of it. A successful advertising more and more requires an interactive and personalized approach, when communicating with the customers. Even though, the TV advertising still remains the most popular Media means with the advertisers, it does not provide the needed level of interactivity. Here it is where the brand relationship management comes in. The necessity of such new approach to marketing and advertising is obvious. Building a brand relationship is no longer optional, it is a must for the modern business running process.
Let us take a look at what a brand relationship is and what you can do to improve this relationship with your customers. First of all, you have to understand that selling to the already gained customer is much cheaper than finding a new one. That is your start point and vital argument for doing all that you can for keeping our customers. For many businesses their customer list is one of their most precious intangible assets. Here are some things that have to be done for building up true brand relationships.
· Changing your focus from yourself to your customer.
Building a brand relationship, it is essential to understand that your customers are not interested in what 'you are willing to do' or 'what you can offer' or 'how good you are'. What they really want to know is how you can help THEM, what you can do for THEM, what solutions you can offer to THEIR problems. Let us say you sell cars. If a customer comes to you, it is obvious he or she is looking for a car! However, you have to discover what they really look for. What is their inner motive? Most people want to possess a car that would make them feel good and look prestigious. The others are striving for more practical things, such as comfort or a car capacity. By finding out what they really want and trying to meet their needs, you are building a brand relationship. Then, they will come back again and again and you will have many referrals from them.
· Keeping in touch with your customers.
A newsletter can be one of the cheapest and the most effective ways of keeping in touch. You can send them either by email or by a regular mail. However, creating a brand relationship, you should not impose yourself on your customers. They have to be willing to receive your newsletters and have a possibility to unsubscribe.
· Clearly communicating what your field of expertise is.
Some entrepreneurs try to make it look like as if they are experts almost in everything. They indeed might be so talented and skilled, however, people may not trust such person. Your collaterals have to convey a clear idea of your ability to meet their needs and offer them the best solutions, possible for their problems. When people see you as an expert, they see you as a person, able to get the answers for their questions.
These are only few things you can do for building a brand relationship with your customers. You may find many of such solutions on your own. The main thing is not to loose the importance of BRM out of sight, when running your business.