Customer-centric Marketing

Recently updated on August 28th, 2024 at 10:07 am

The age old adage that “the customer is always right” still rings true in the era of digital transformation. Regardless of your business offering or target market, the goal of creating awareness with potential or returning customers at key points in the purchasing process is vital to success. Having a coherent strategy that is compatible with both digital and traditional channels of marketing communication is a requirement for being able to reach the target audience at the correct times, in the correct places. Talk to consumers when they’re listening.

At the same time, listen to your customers. Learn when they’ll be looking for you and make sure you’re not only visible but pleasurable to engage with at every turn. That means being friendly and responsive on social media but it also means making sure that your website and eCommerce operations are slick and efficient, to ensure that consumers have a satisfying experience when engaging with your business. Understanding your target audience is an important step in being able to satisfy their wants and needs.

This customer-centric mentality is the basis for good business. When people like the work you do, the service you provide, when they are pleased with the role you and your products play in their lives, they’ll be back for more. Not only that but they will also be the first to suggest your brand to others who may be in the market for your business’ services or products. The goal is to attract and retain those customers that bring the most value in both the short-term (growth) and the long-term (resilience).

Digital tools like Google Search can be used in business to inform a company’s understanding of a given target audience or market. When marketers can identify a consumer’s intent to purchase a product or service they are well-equipped to reach the correct people at the correct time, with messaging relevant to their individual circumstances.

It’s all good and well gathering the data to help improve business decision-making but how can marketers collate it for useful applications? The tidal wave of information available through digital marketing activities may seem daunting to handle. The answer is automation. Automation improves the ability of marketers to make sense of collected data to identify the most valuable consumers. Automation allows businesses to improve their campaign metrics over time. This does not mean replacing people with machines though. By interpreting the data and making strategic adjustments to the campaign, people become empowered through automation to improve their abilities. Particularly those abilities which cannot be automated, like strategising.

With customer-centric marketing at the core of their activities companies can identify opportunities early on in the customer journey, reach relevant audiences and markets with tailor-made messaging to develop purposeful relationships that give rise to value. This is the basis for creating economic growth in the short-term while maintaining value in the long-term.