Cultivating long-term relationships with target audiences is a very, if not the most, sustainable way of marketing. It’s much – 6 to 10 times – cheaper to keep a customer than to acquire a new one, and existing customers spend and refer more than new ones.
The next step is to create sense of community around a brand, to help customers relate to one another. What’s more, it turns out that cultivating relationships in this way can help build community as a whole. That’s community building as a sustainable marketing strategy.
It’s deceptively simple: to achieve long-term business success and fulfill your company’s social responsibility, make sure your marketing addresses the elements of sense of community. Fulfill needs and interests, reinforce a sense of belonging, build an emotional connection, keep in touch, and develop trust.
(Part of “Creating sense of community” series.)
