Marketing professional services is not a casual client encounter. Unlike businesses that sell products with a short sales cycle, a firm offering professional services tend to take a relationship marketing approach. Relationship marketing acknowledges the value of long-term client relationships by providing valuable, rich content that goes deeper than the typical sales promotion.
In my last post, 6 Little Ways to Win the Hearts and Minds of Clients, I discussed methods for strengthening your client connection. All of these methods require keen listening and communication skills.
The advent of internet-based marketing technologies offers channels for professional services marketers to apply their skills with dramatic results. These channels are transforming relationship marketing by enhancing a firm's ability to engage through various inbound marketing methods, including: effectively.
- Keywords and Search Engine Optimization,
- Email Marketing Campaigns,
- Blog posts, CTAs, and Landing Pages
- Social Media Channels, and
- Events and Seminars.
For an additional perspective on inbound marketing methods, please look at a Wicked Inbound Marketing Funnel for Professional Services.
Open Doors with Themes for Creating a Rich Content Marketing Plan
An inbound marketing strategy incorporating all the above channels will have a profound effect. Building healthy client relationships by delivering relevant content that gets a response will positively impact your firm's success and every aspect of your career.
Source: SargamGriffinArtDoors.com
A few common themes need to be applied when developing rich content that aims to nurture rewarding, long-term relationships, including:
- Commitment: Relationship marketing always recognizes the value of commitment. It's impit'snt to show this commitment through communication that shows your willingness to do what it takes to make it work. Working with a client and their desired stakeholders to develop a collaborative plan to stick together for success is a step toward developing long-term relationships based on loyalty and trust.
- Compassion: Understanding your clients and the people you work with is important for making a connection beyond superficial. Providing content that gives clients what they want facilitates a solid foundation for making real connections.
- Generosity: In healthy relationships, you often give more than you receive. The desire to serve clients and offer support is fundamental to positive and productive relations. Consistently delivering content that helps your clients is an expression of generosity that will not go unnoticed.
- Kindness: Always show random actions of kindness. Please express kindness in all communication channels; you will find a friendly exchange and increased satisfaction in your daily work practices.
Engaging with clients through various communication channels driven by a solid rich content marketing plan that considers the four themes described above will increase your firm’s pfirm'sal for effectively nurturing and managing client and prospect interactions.
Relationship Marketing Requires a Series of Steps
It is important to map a practice workflow to effectively include inbound marketing methodologies in your business development and marketing practices. If you need a reference for mapping your processes, please feel free to download a sample business development workflow. Could you measure your marketing and business development practices to align with your communications activities, i.e., keywords and search engine optimization, blog posts, call to action (CTAs), landing pages, email marketing campaigns, events, and seminars?
Ultimately, the goal is to attract, nurture, win, and retain great clients. Once a firm has a clear plan for nurturing long-term relationships via inbound marketing methodologies, it will see an enhanced ability to serve clients.
