This week I’ve been commenting on Relationship Marketing. Relationship marketing is to market based on a level of permission or connection. It is essentially the opposite of interruption marketing which comes out of context and sometimes uninvited. Also known as permission marketing as Seth Godin made popular, it is dependent on the fact that someone who has invited your message is much more likely to purchase from you as well.

We all have things that are important to us. We all buy and use products and services. The truth is, if you care about your buyers, you should care about the things that matter to them. What better way to establish a relationship with someone than by simply partnering in the things that matter to them.

Relationship Marketing Example 4: Something That Actually Matters

I’m not talking about pure Cause Marketing, which of course is one way to align yourself with the things that matter to your buyers, I’m talking about a little bit more than that. Your customers are real people that are interested in real things. If you take the opportunity to treat them as such (rather than treating them as an impression among thousands) than you might be surprised by the results. Here are some examples:

Tell The Truth: Many recognize Dove for their Real Beauty Workshop campaign that started with this video where a they show how our image of beauty is sometimes distorted. They started an effort to improve self esteem (instead of selling product) and the video went viral.

Help Puppies: Once, a client out of New Zealand, Raw Dog Food manufacturer K9 Natural partnered with a Police K9 community to provide food to their dogs (which was otherwise something they had to do additional fund raising for). It mattered to both of them, in fact the company’s founder was a K9 trainer and handler himself in the past.

Provide a Resource: Samsung did it, by setting up charging stations in airports for people looking for a little juice for their phone. A ran across a liquor company that sent a bus to popular bar areas to provide a ride for people that had a little too much. Even two of our clients are providing highly valued leadership development seminars to add value to the community.