Crafting meaningful customer connections: Building business and bridges

Everyone says customer connection is important, but what actually is it? 

If you’ve spent more than five minutes on our website, you’ll know we’re the champions of customer – and supporter – connection. It’s the thread that joins our brands and every single piece of work we’ve ever done, or will do – even the internal process jobs. It all boils down to customer connection in the end. 

But what does that actually mean? Isn’t any contact with the customer a connection? Well, yes. Technically. But not all touchpoints truly connect with the customer. So, what are we banging on about? 

When we talk about connection, we’re talking about meaningful communications. Comms that build a relationship with your customer by talking their language, meeting them on their wavelength and understanding what they want or need – and when.  It’s communicating in a way that truly resonates with your customers, at the best possible time. The connection can come – or not – through any communications going from your organisation and to the customer, whether that’s marketing comms, events, customer service or contractual information. 

If you’re not already taking this approach with your comms strategy, you’d be forgiven for thinking this sounds like a mammoth effort – understanding your customers, their different needs, the best points to contact them, tone of voice to use and creative that will resonate… It’s a lot to consider. Is it really worthwhile? 

The stats, STAT

It IS worthwhile, yes. But we would say that, wouldn’t we? It’s our raison d’être and our bread and butter. But don’t just believe us. Take a look at these stats: 

• 68% of customers will spend more money with a brand that understands them and treats them as individuals (Khoros)
• 89% are more likely to make another purchase after a positive customer experience (Salesforce Research)
• 78% of consumers will do business with a company with excellent customer service again, even after a mistake (Salesforce Research)
• 68% of consumers will pay more for goods and services if they have good customer experiences (HubSpot)
• Almost three out of five report that good customer service is vital for them to feel loyalty toward a brand (Zendesk)
• Those who rate a company’s service as good are 38% more likely to recommend that company (Qualtrics XM Institute)
• Investing in new customers can be up to four to five times more expensive than retaining existing ones (Forbes)
• Businesses can grow revenues between 4% and 8% above their market when they prioritise better customer experiences (Bain & Company) 

So, while it might take some time and effort to truly start connecting with your customers, it really is worth it.  

So, how do you start? 

We’d love to encourage you to jump straight in by doing some super cool, clever and fun things with your customer comms. But hang back…You don’t want to do cool for cool’s sake. There are some steps you need to take before then. 

Prep 

You need to think about what you really want to achieve as an organisation. Then work backwards and ask yourself how your customer comms can get you there. And keep in mind that you’re going to want to prove your initiatives work, so consider how you’ll measure the impact they have.

Getting to know your customer

Knowing your customer really is the key to it all. In order to know how, when and what to communicate with them, you need to really understand them. What are their demographics? How are they similar? How are they different? What issues do they have that you can help them solve? What are their habits and patterns when it comes to purchasing? A lot of the time, you’ll have some awesome data at your fingertips – but sometimes you’ll need an organisation like us to help you unlock it, or enrich it.  

Strategise and optimise 

Once you’ve got your useful data in a usable and complaint state, how can you get the most out of it? Perhaps you know exactly what to do with it and how – having all your tech ready and waiting. But if you haven’t, no shame. It’s not uncommon, and that’s why we exist. We like to say we’re strategy-led, data-fed, and that’s exactly right. We listen to what you’re trying to achieve in your organisation and then help you use your data and tech to get there. Don’t know what your data is telling you? Not sure if you have the right tech? Don’t know how to segment your audience? Not sure how to communicate with your audience or perhaps you don’t know where to start with AI? We’ve got you. We can help you with all of that and more. Plus, we’re not a ‘one-and-done’. We like to work as an extension of your team in true partnership. We test, learn, optimise, update and improve, gradually helping you to move towards a truly Modern Data Platform.  

Creating connections – the classics 

When it comes to connecting meaningfully with your customers, there is no one-size-fits-all. The way you achieve this is as unique as your business and its aims. Nevertheless, it’s always interesting to understand what’s worked for others. Here are some classic ways to create deeper customer connections: 

1. Personalisation
   You already know you should be using names in emails and dynamic content but there’s always an opportunity to think outside the box. Remember when Coke replaced its logo with your name?! What type of personalisation would mean something to your customers?
2. Interactive content and gamification
   Active participation really engages your audience and gamification in particular sets the reward chemicals in the brain off – leading to positive feelings being associated with your brand.
3. User-generated content
   People trust people a lot more than they trust companies, so if you can show real-life customers enjoying your product or service, you increase the level of connection and trust with your brand.
4. Live content
   Webinars, ‘how-tos’, demonstrations and reviews in a live format really help your audience feel connected to your organisation – they can see you and hear you in real-time and can ask questions there and then. It puts a face – or faces – to your name.
5. Gather feedback and use it
   According to American author and theologist David Augsburger, “Being heard is so close to being loved that, for the average person, they are almost indistinguishable.” And he’s got a point. Hearing your customers’ feedback and acting on it is an incredibly powerful tool in your creating connection toolkit.
6. Get visual
   Images are processed by the brain much faster than text is, and you know the old saying; “A picture is worth a thousand words”. So, put some thought into it. It’s not just what you say that creates connection.
7. Think about your tone of voice
   It’s often not what you say, but how you say it that has the impact. So, think about how your audience feels most comfortable communicating and the best way to get your information across. You might feel very clever using a load of jargon and industry buzzwords – but does it really resonate with your audience?

If you want to talk customer connection with us, give us a shout – we’d love to find out about your goals and help you meet them.