This article was co-authored by Don Broekelmann, the Executive VP of Brand Management at Influence & Co.
Reaching your customers is increasingly difficult in today’s fragmented society, but developing meaningful relationships with potential customers is even more so. Customers can instantly find products and price comparisons online; to keep them from jumping to a competitor’s product that may cost a couple dollars less, you have to establish a relationship. In order to be long-term, that relationship must add value to their lives above and beyond the product sitting on the shelf.
Developing unique engagement programs can help your brand build personal relationships with your client base — if done correctly. A few companies have already created programs that enhance their customers’ lives and businesses while underscoring their companies’ ability to deliver value. There’s one common thread across these businesses: their programs don’t focus solely on their brand or product, but on helping customers become more successful.
1) American Express’ Shop Small campaign: This campaign is designed to help small businesses get more customers in the door. According to Scott Roen, American Express’ Vice President Digital, if American Express can help its customers achieve what they’re focused on, then those customers will in turn be loyal customers to American Express. In addition to creating a campaign to “shop small” and putting its considerable marketing force behind the campaign, American Express provides customers with resources, such as custom marketing materials, to help them maximize the campaign’s impact.
2) Dell’s Center for Entrepreneurs: Dell, a client of ours, offers a hub designed to provide entrepreneurs the resources, expertise, and technology solutions needed to grow a business at any stage. An additional resource for female entrepreneurs, Dell’s Pay it Forward initiative aims to harness the collective power of women’s networks to create a ripple effect, positively impacting the future of female entrepreneurship around the world.
3) American Airlines’ Innovators Initiatives: American Airlines' (a client of ours), Innovators Initiatives is geared toward supporting select startups, small businesses, and entrepreneurs. The Innovators team facilitates connections in the entrepreneurial community in several ways, including supporting organizations that help entrepreneurs succeed, providing travel grants to select companies to meet with potential customers and investors, providing marketing exposure in American’s owned channels, and connecting companies to other groups at American Airlines if there’s a good fit. The team focuses on finding companies they can positively impact by sharing the resources American brings to the table.
4) Kiva’s partnership with Capital One: Capital One has partnered with global microlending organization Kiva to help expand its crowdfunding model for small businesses in the U.S. Capital One spokesperson Alison Cahill said that last year, Capital One provided $500,000 to match loans made to American small businesses on Kiva’s crowdfunding platform, giving entrepreneurs across the country additional funding to start, sustain, and grow their businesses. More than 20,000 individual lenders have made loans to businesses that received a match from Capital One. Capital One feels that small businesses are the backbone of our economy; by helping them succeed, Capital One can also help them expand.
These examples highlight unique programs that enable brands to engage their customers in a more meaningful manner and add value to their lives beyond the core value the companies’ products or services deliver. Better yet, these brands can leverage these marketing assets across existing media channels (content marketing, PR, social, paid media, etc.) to amplify the original reach of the programs.
The critical theme of these programs is that they’re authentically supporting customers to achieve their goals. That not only bolsters the economy these companies are operating in themselves, but the brand advocates these programs create lead to marketing amplification that money can’t buy.
Find ways your brand can help your customers meet with more success. You’ll not only find yourself in a more meaningful relationship, but you’ll also create a valuable marketing asset for yourself. By establishing a two-way relationship with your customers, your relationships may just go the distance.
John Hall is the CEO of Influence & Co., a company that assists individuals and brands in growing their influence through thought leadership and content marketing programs. Influence & Co., one of the leading providers of high quality expert content to the world’s top publications, is the creator of Contributor Weekly. Connect with John on Twitter or Google+.
