6 Tips to Build a Relationship with Your Customers
Let’s face it – founders of health and wellness brands aren’t typically your standard “salesy” type of person. That approach doesn’t resonate with you, and chances are it doesn’t resonate with the people you want to reach either.
You started your business because you have a mission. You have a certain set of people that you want to connect with the unique services or products you offer.
Your business isn’t just a way to bring in the dough (although that’s certainly a nice perk). You want to make a difference in the world and the lives of your customers or clients.
How do you do that?
By creating connections with them. Easier said than done you say? Well, I’m here to help with my top 5 tips to build a relationship with your customers.
1) Know who you’re trying to reach
Before you can build a relationship with your customers you have to figure out who you’re trying to build that relationship with.
If you make period products, you’re probably trying to reach people who menstruate and are in their teens to mid-adulthood.
If you’re a savvy health tech company you want to connect with people who value having well-designed tools to help improve their health and wellness.
If you’re a personal development coach you want to resonate with people who are looking to create momentum in their lives and learn tools so that they can thrive.
You get the picture.
Your target audience helps dictate your tone, what platforms you use for content marketing, and the all-around vibe of your brand. Once you dial this in, you can stop worrying about reaching every potential customer, and target people that you know can benefit specifically from your product or service.
2) We love some authenticity
One of the biggest evolutions in the world of branding and marketing is the level of authenticity people crave. Social media means more and more people have become the face of their brands, and consumers have that much more access to you.
So you might as well show up in the most genuine way possible because trust me – people know the difference.
Authenticity can look different if your business is not based on you being the face of your brand, but it’s still just as valuable.
This is especially true for a business in health and wellness. People come to you with a sort of vulnerability. Hoping that you have the thing that can help them feel better, heal something, or optimize something about their life.
When you’re real with them about who your brand is, your story, mission, goals, and all that fun stuff, they’re that much more likely to be curious about and invested in what you have to offer.
3) Consistency builds trust
You’re busy, I get it! But having a sporadic content marketing approach not only hurts you in the game of algorithms and SEO but also affects your relationships with your audience.
What’s one of the most important parts of any relationship? Consistency.
Whether it’s a romantic relationship, friends, family, or your audience, consistency builds trust. Consistency means people can rely on you. Consistency deepens and enhances a relationship.
What does consistency mean for your business?
Picking what areas of content marketing you want to focus on, coming up with a plan, and figuring out systems that allow you to execute it with ease. That also means delegating when and where you can – you don’t have to do it all yourself! (May I suggest reaching out to a health and wellness copywriter like myself?)
That could look like staying active on Instagram, having an email marketing campaign that hits their inbox weekly, publishing brilliant blogs on the reg, or all of the above.
While it’s helpful to hit your content marketing approach from multiple angles, it’s most important that you pick a few platforms that you can commit to so that you can show up consistently.
4) Give them a reason to come back
Why should people come to you? Having a stand-out product or service is a vital place to start, but these days people need more than that.
That’s the world of content marketing.
But like I said before, content marketing doesn’t have to be icky and salesy. My approach to health and wellness copywriting is that it’s not only a marketing tool, but a tool for evidence-based education to help add vital information and value to your audience’s lives.
There is so much content out there these days. What sets you apart?
What hole do you fill?
What value do you add to their life?
Value can mean being entertaining and funny, sharing important research and information, or being honest and vulnerable to create a heartwarming space for them to turn to.
5) Transparency = trust
I’m not gonna beat around the bush here. Your customers and future customers are intelligent. Old-school marketing techniques don’t work anymore. These days people demand transparency and for good reason.
Transparency means understanding what values you prioritize in your business and being able to communicate them with your customers.
Some of the most important values in health and wellness these days are:
Evidence-based information
Sustainability
Inclusivity
Accessibility
These are just some examples to get you started, but you probably already have a good idea of what your values are, now it’s time to communicate them with your people. Being transparent about your processes, your story, and your manufacturing if you have a product or process if you offer a service are all ways to show up and be transparent to help build that trust muscle.
6) Have fun with it!
Look, there’s enough stuffy marketing out there. Sometimes people are so concerned about staying neutral or turning people off that they suppress their personalities.
But that’s what makes you stand out. That’s your secret sauce. That’s the key to brand strategy.
People want to enjoy themselves and they’re drawn to joy and fun in marketing. So how can you lighten the mood a bit?
You have to know how to read the room and certain businesses may need to take on a more serious tone, but you can still do that in a way that feels relatable and approachable.
What’s something else people crave in relationships? Enjoyment. You want to be able to have fun with and enjoy your time with the people in your life.
Bring that into your business and people will keep coming back because you help sprinkle a little extra joy in their lives!
