Are you focused on your customer? Many organizations believe they are, but what does a true customer centric marketing approach look like?

“The most effective marketing strategies are driven by a customer-centric culture. A customer-centric organization is where every process starts and ends with customer success in mind. It’s a culture, not an event or a department.” – Digital Marketing Institute

In order for a customer centricity to become a reality, you must first transform the culture of your organization. Most mission statements include something surrounding the idea of customer satisfaction, but few organizations truly know how to put the customer first. Loyal and repeat customers are at the core of business success. Marketing efforts should provide value to your prospects and customers while promoting your products and services. Showing your customers that you care as much about their success as your own will improve your reputation and help to increase brand awareness.

Customer Experience

“By 2020 Customer Experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator.” – IT Pro Portal

Creating an entertaining, educational and enjoyable experience that focuses on delighting your prospects and customers has become paramount for marketers and organizations as a whole.  Making the buying experience as stress free and transparent as possible while building real relationships is the key to enticing prospects and retaining customers.

Clear Communication

“To be an effective marketer, one must have a keen grasp on the effects of different media on communication and understand how consumers are most likely to interpret various messages.” - BizFluent

Clear communication is essential to every business function and a focus on transparency and accuracy will help you to build trust with prospects and customers alike. Keeping the lines of communication open and being upfront and honest with them will help to build trust and develop the relationships necessary to close complex B2B sales.

Leverage Influencers

“The level of trust that people have towards influencers is unparalleled -- it has been shown that offers shared by trusted advocates are four to 10 times more likely to convert than those distributed by brands.” – Entrepreneur

Influencers have a profound impact on the success of marketing campaigns whether you’re trying to leverage them or not.  Influencers aren’t necessarily famous. Everyone is an influencer in their own circle. Simply finding a well-known individual in a niche industry to support your product can greatly increase leads from referrals and social media.

Educational Content

“Content is all of its forms, e-books, white-papers, blogs, case studies, videos, and infographics are how organizations are capturing attention, building credibility, and eventually closing sales.” – HubSpot

Content as part of an inbound marketing strategy is designed to provide value to prospects and customers. A blog or piece of premium content that uncovers or solves a pain point can go a long way toward building a relationship. Distributing valuable content to your prospect universe will build awareness of your solutions and help to attract potential clients.

Build Relationships

“Marketing involves everything the company does to generate interest in its current (and future) products or services. Marketing leverages its knowledge of the marketplace to persuade, inform, educate, announce and invite responses from customers and potential customers. In that context, every communication or touch point is an opportunity to build a relationship.” – Trade Press Services

Every interaction you have with your potential clients will influence your relationship and thereby your ability to attract and retain customers. Showing your prospects that you care about them by communicating and providing value will help you maintain long-term business relationships. Be yourself and stay true to your mission.