Why Personal Touch Matters in Your Digital Marketplace

Why Personal Touch Matters in Your Digital Marketplace

The online world remains alien for some businesses. Mostly because too many businesses become detached from their customers online when they should be focusing on marketing with meaning. Incorporating a personal touch is even more essential in your digital marketplace. When done correctly, you can get closer to your customers online than you can in any other way.

That last statement is a bold one but it’s true. And it’s true even when you deal with customers face-to-face. You might be thinking: how could an online relationship with a customer be more important than the relationship I have with them when they are visiting my business or using my service? The answer is because online is more intimate.

Up Close and Personal

It’s about being up close and personal – just like in radio. People who sell radio advertising will explain its effectiveness by telling you how many listeners they have and how radio has a low level of ad avoidance. But that is only part of the story: radio is effective because it is intimate. We listen to the radio in very private moments and personal spaces including in our cars, in bed, and in the shower. The internet is the same.

This is actually a relatively new phenomenon and has come about with increased mobile web usage, smart phones, tablets, and services like Facebook. We now involve in the online world in almost every aspect of our lives – we are online in bed, when we are watching television, and at the dining table.

Whether you run an online store, or you simply want some online success, understand that communicating online is undeniably intimate for your customers.

This is why a rigid and impersonal approach in the digital marketplace does not work. Instead you need to be personal, which includes being imperfect. You need to talk to your customers through digital platforms the same way you would if you were talking to them on the phone or in person. And you need to build online relationships with your customers consistently and respectfully over time. Finally, you need to respond – always, always, and always. In particular you need to respond when things go wrong and you need to do it in a way that is human.

It’s Customer Service

This is simple customer service and it needs to apply in the digital marketplace as much as it does in every other aspect of your organization. But there are other things to consider.

In the days before the internet and online marketing, there was a maxim in customer service that said if you do a good job and treat your customers well they might tell a few people they know. But if you do a bad job and treat them poorly they will tell everyone.

In today’s digitally connected world that truth has gone on steroids, particularly the second part: if you do a bad job, your customer can now tell the whole world.

One of the ways they will do this is through product reviews. The technology behind product reviews has become robust in recent years and as a result consumers now trust them more than ever.

This means you need to get involved. Here are some tips:

• Encourage your customers to review your products and services
• Use the reviews to improve your offering
• Always respond politely to negative reviews, ideally with a positive solution
• And, never respond with templates or pre-written answers

Dealing with product reviews is another way in which you can offer your customers the personal touch in the digital marketplace.

The Personal Touch

The personal touch applies online so remove any anonymity and robotic language. Systems are helpful but make sure that you incorporate real interactions too. Having a human voice is never out of style.