How to Design a Customer-Centric Marketing Strategy

Using a customer-centric approach is the best way to engage with your audience.

Here's a favorite quote of mine: “Always give the customer what they want.” — Steven Spielberg, Jurassic Park (1993)

Sure, he was referring to dinosaurs specifically, but I like to think the sentiment can be applied to other things too. Who's going to argue with Jurassic Park? No one! It's a classic. So let's get this secret out in the open: your customers are the ones who should be determining what you do and say as a brand—not you.

That might sound counterintuitive, but it makes sense. If we're looking at what drives engagement, clearly it's people connecting with something that speaks to them and holds their interest—not something that bores or makes them feel awkward about interacting with brands because those brands don't know who they're talking to or why.

What do Your Customers Want?

Although “customer-centric marketing” may sound like a grasp at buzzword-of-the-moment status, it is a legitimate strategy for any business to employ. The process of customer-centric marketing is quite simple: Put the customer first. But what does that mean, exactly?

To get started on crafting a successful customer-centric marketing strategy you must do three things: be specific about the customer, engage with the customer and give that specific person what they want.

Ultimately, this process follows one mantra: keep the focus on your customers. Yes, you’re trying to make money by selling products and services. But if you put your customers in front of that sales goal and identify their needs to help them achieve their own goals instead of simply pushing your product on them, they will respond positively and spend more money with you in the long run.

What do Your Customers Need?

The best way to determine if you're giving customers what they want is to ask them. Then ask them if they'd be willing to tell you what they need too. It's a tricky question, as most people have an easier time telling us what they want than what they need. Maybe you can offer them a free sandwich for being honest with you about their needs and wants?

In the end, it's your job to find that balance between what customers want and what your company is good at selling. If a customer wants a Mercedes, but all you've got are Fords, then it might be time to start looking into building those Mercedes yourself or partnering with someone who already does.

What do Your Customers Like?

For a lot of companies, answering these questions is the easy part.

For most people, it’s the actions they take after that that are hard.

Everyone has an idea of what their customers like and don’t like and why they buy from them and not from competitors. That knowledge then gets analyzed by marketing teams and poured into a content strategy or advertising campaign that often doesn’t resonate with customers in the way the marketer intended (or at all).

What Do You Know About Your Customers?

If you don’t already, it’s time to get up-close and personal with your customers. You need to know as much about them as possible so that you can create marketing messages that speak directly to their needs, wants and desires. And when we say personal, we mean it! Have you ever considered asking your customer what they like to eat for breakfast?

The first step is always the hardest, but once you get past that hurdle, the rest is smooth sailing. The key is having the right data at hand to meaningfully segment your audience. Then identify your target audience—the people who are most likely to buy from you. Next, outline your customer personas based on relevant demographic information (age and gender) and psychographic information (interests). This will help you understand what they like/don’t like/need/don’t need. Finally, find out what motivates them by looking at their spending habits—they give away a lot of clues about themselves here!

Where Do They Hang Out Online?

Knowing where your audience hangs out online is crucial to a great customer-centric marketing strategy. To start, ask yourself these questions:

• Are they on social media? Your customers’ social media use will depend on their age, interests, and location in the world. If you target millennials, for instance, they may prefer platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter; if you target workers at large companies, LinkedIn might be better.

• Do they participate in online communities? Online communities are places like Facebook groups or Twitter chats that bring people with shared interests together. Joining one of these communities can help you find out what kind of content resonates with your target audience.

• Do they use search engines and review sites? Customers today often turn to search engines and review sites to find information about products — so it’s important for your company website to show up at the top of those results pages by implementing SEO best practices. You should also encourage customers to leave reviews on third-party sites where potential customers can see them!

What Are Their Pain Points?

To build a customer-centric marketing strategy, you have to know what matters to your customers. They have pain points, and you need to know what they are. For example, if you sell software for construction companies, some common pain points may include:

• Not being able to get a hold of their workers while they’re out on site

• Not knowing how much material they need for each job

• Not knowing how long each job will take or when it will be completed

Who are your customers' competitors and can you partner with them to expand your reach?

So, what do your customers’ competitors also have in common besides the fact that they all want to steal your customers away? They might also be a great way to extend your marketing reach.

We know, we know; it sounds crazy and like there's no way that strategy can work. But hear us out because it really can work!

If you've done your research, then you already know who those businesses are. You might even already have a relationship with one or more of them. If not, take the time to get to know them and see if there's a partnership opportunity on the horizon.

How Can You Get Them Talking About Your Brand, Product or Service?

Once you have made it easier for your customers to speak up, you have to make sure that they will actually say something. One way is to create shareable content. But before doing that, you need to identify your target audience and find out what topics they are talking about. A content marketing research revealed that sharing articles is the top reason for sharing content on social media.

Also, do not forget about the importance of engaging in a two-way communication with your customers. This will not only boost customer engagement but also help you gain valuable insights into their needs and preferences. After all, it is difficult to know what your customers want unless they tell you themselves.

Another thing that has proven its effectiveness as a part of customer-centric campaigns is gamification. Gamifying your marketing campaigns can turn them into an exciting experience for the participants – something that everyone would want to take part in and share with their friends!

Which Tools Can You Use to Become Customer-Centric?

In order to become customer-centric, you have to start with two fundamentally important steps:

Step 1: Get the data. The first step is gathering all of the data that you can—data on your customers and your products or services—then sorting it into usable pieces so that you can effectively utilize it.

Step 2: Analyze the data. Once you've got all of your information, it's time to determine what it means, then build a strategy based on these findings. Then, evaluate the results and make adjustments as necessary. It sounds simple enough, but in practice this is actually an extremely difficult aspect of marketing to execute well; however, if done right, this kind of process will allow you to build yourself into an organization that's fully capable of supporting its customers and creating a brand experience worthy of recognition by its peers.

Your company may have to change its priorities and thematic focus in order for your marketing team to create a successful campaign based on insight gathered from the audience.

You cannot just take the information you gather and run with it; there has to be an ongoing dialogue between the company and their customers if they are going to achieve success using this strategy. For this reason, companies must develop corporate cultures that encourage communication instead of discouraging it, otherwise they will not reap the benefits of implementing this strategy. And don’t just limit your communication with customers either—you should also be asking employees for their input into how things can be improved as well so everyone feels included!