Your customers want VALUE, not a “relationship”.
© Clivia
We love it when marketing myths get exposed. So when a team of consultants at the
Corporate Executive Board (CEB) revealed
these results from a recent study, we were intrigued to see a couple of generally accepted marketing 2.0 truisms debunked.
CEB surveyed 7,000 people and learned that buyers really don’t want a “relationship” with brands despite what a lot of New Age marketers would have us believe. What’s more, the theory that a company can somehow build-up this mythical relationship by interacting more often with customers was also rejected. Turns out that when it comes to customer interaction, more is not necessarily better and can often be worse.
While the study focused on consumer brands, in
our experience and to our way of thinking there’s a stark message here for B2B marketers: know who’s who in your own customer base — and distinguish those who may be relationship-minded vs. everyone else.
There is no linear relationship between volume of outbound messages and the elusive thing that CEB terms “share of wallet”. Interaction that may seem reasonable and even informative to some buyers will be irksome to others. Takeaway: instead of hammering all prospects and customers alike with endless messages intended to get their attention, carefully consider if the content of your message promises value to your prospects’ research in your category — or just adds to their overload.
The trick is to know exactly what your existing buyers perceived in your value proposition that was consistent with their idea of value. This enables you to flavor future content with the most relevant, like-minded ideas. It’s reality-based marketing, not mythology.
