What is customer-centric marketing?

Put simply, customer-centric marketing is a way of marketing that prioritises customer needs and interests above all else.

Customer-centric marketing isn’t just about getting to know your ideal customers in order to generate leads, it focuses on what’s best for the customer, rather than your company. 

Benefits of customer-centric marketing

You might think that it’s common sense to approach marketing this way and that every company is doing it, but they’re not. And that’s a big mistake. Research has shown that companies who adopt a consumer-centric approach improve marketing ROI by at least 15-20%. Why? Well increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by more than 25% and studies show that it costs nearly five times more to attain a new customer than to retain an existing one.

Think about the times that a company has gone above and beyond for you, really listened to your concerns or helped you in a way you might not have expected. It stays with you and it makes you more likely to use them again. Consumer-centric marketing builds customer loyalty and gives a brand a solid reputation. And with 88% of CEOs currently concerned about customer loyalty, more companies are likely to adopt this way of marketing.

Adopting a customer-centric marketing approach doesn’t only benefit the customer either.  It drives employees to make good decisions and do their best work, so customer centricity is both a growth strategy and a way to build a strong company culture.

Developing a customer-centric marketing strategy

To be successful in customer-centric marketing, you need two things:

1. A really good understanding of why your customers need what your company provides
2. The ability to show customers how your product and/or service will benefit them

It goes without saying that you’re not going to be able to adopt a customer-centric approach if you don’t know who your customers are. Not only do you need to identify them, but you also need to find out what they’re looking for. What are their wants and needs? What is important to them? What don’t they like? You need to dig deep and really understand your customers before anything else.

Then, you need to show your customers why they need your product or service, and why they shouldn’t opt for one of your competitors. You have to show them that you can provide real value and that they’ll benefit from choosing you.

Tips for customer-centric marketing

Think long-term

Customer-centric marketing requires a long-term approach. If you’re too focused on getting quick wins in the short-term, you may get some leads in the door but you’re not going to be able to build a long-term, valuable relationship with your customers.

Use data

Data is your best friend when it comes to customer-centric marketing. You can’t argue with data and if the data is telling you something about your customers, you’ve got to go with it. But how do you get data? Well there are lots of ways. Your analytics tools should be able to give you a good jumping off point and you can use things like social media monitoring tools and even customer surveys to build upon that.

Look beyond the sell

Focusing too much on leads and excluding everything else tends to drive marketing tactics that nobody likes and while it may result in a few sales, it’s not going to add long-term value. Of course lead generation may be important to you, and it should be, but it shouldn’t be your only metric. Can you provide customers added benefits that extend beyond the point of purchase? If so you’ll create a more memorable customer experience.

If you’re looking to shake up your marketing strategy in favour of a more customer-centric approach, we can help. We’re an experienced digital marketing agency in Manchester who would love to hear about your long-term goals. And we’d love to help you achieve them! Drop us a message info@foreveragency.com or give us a call 0161 204 7200 and let’s see what we can do.