Question

1. On the one hand, it is common to talk about building relationships and loyalty with the tools of direct marketing. On the other hand, it is also true that direct marketing tools such as spam, and telephone interruptions at home during dinner are constant irritants. How does one build relationships with irritants? Be specific.

Answer 1

The key to building relationships through direct marketing tools with target customers lies in precise targetting and customization. The touchpoints such as email or direct phonecalls offer the opportunity to personalize messages to a large degree than is allowed by conventional or digital mass media.

Any topic that is known to be of interest to the target individual can be used to build relevance. The idea is to provide a relevant personalized message to the customer based on his interest, which is in line with the value proposition of the brand. E.g. an email on the health benefits of specific herbs/plants targetted towards a health conscious consumer from a brand selling organic food may come across not as an irritant but as something which adds value.

Also it is important to follow regulations and communication protocols which protect the rights of the consumer. For example ensuring unsubscribe links on an email are provided as per cyber laws and regulations. Customers should be contacted only of they have opted-in for such kind of communication. Typically the email should mention this upfront so that the consumer doesn't feel their time is being intruded into.

Another very important faactor which builds loyalty is consistency of communication. If there are multiple threads/topics of communication being targetted at the same customer without a consistency across the theme, it would result in an information overload and hence the customer dropping out of the value proposition