Yup – We, as marketers, are finally opening our eyes to this new marketing movement where we stop relying so much on our brands, and start relying more on our “Bonds†with customers. For those that don’t know, “Bonding” is a marketing strategy in which an emotional relationship is built between a product and its customers.
So it’s time to get intimate with our business’ prospects, and begin creating product / customer relationships that actually touch the emotions of the people that shop with us. As I said in my previous article, “ATTENTION– Marketing Has Been Re-Brandedâ€Â, brands are great and all, but they aren’t as important as we’ve been making them out to be. I really don’t give a damn if your logo is featured during the Super Bowl, or on the front page of a small town newspaper – I want to experience, emotionally, what your product is all about. Because… “When you touch my heart, I’ll touch your productsâ€Â.
I know a lot of you are thinking to yourself… “This sounds cool and all, but how can one possibly implement a “Bonding†strategy to a boring product such as a No. 2 pencil? There’s can’t be an emotional connection to a wooden stick with lead in it!â€Â
My answer to that question is this… “I don’t know.â€Â
I don’t know, because I don’t know your industry and what it’s all about. I don’t know what the product means to you, and I don’t know what it means to your customers. Only you can truly understand these important characteristics behind the soul of your business.
But what I can tell you is this…
Once you trust me, and truly understand and believe that your product, or ANY product, CAN benefit from the art of “Bondingâ€Â, you need to start over from square one with your business. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean you should pack up shop, close the doors and start COMPLETELY over – I simply mean that you need to MENTALLY restart the business development process and imagine how you would create your product if you had a bonding strategy in mind. What is it that you could do to your business that would allow it to have an emotional connection with it’s customers? You really need to get creative here, and pretend that you’re an artist who’s trying to tug at the heart of an individual. And don’t be surprised if the process is a little difficult at first – Some of us have a little bit of trouble connecting with the Da Vinci portion of our being. Just rest assured that it is possible.
I wish I could say that there is a switch that you could flip in your head that would jumpstart a brainstorm on bonding – Unfortunately, there really isn’t a straight-forward approach to developing such a mindset. This is something that requires practice. You have to consciously think about your product, on a intense level, to find its emotional triggers. After you have tip-toed into this mindset, try to go deeper and LIVE this mindset. The more you work at this, and live the bonding philosophy, the quicker ideas will come to you. The bonding strategy that is going to catapult your product through the hearts of your customers will appear in your mind out of nowhere… when you least expect it. The subconscious mind is a powerful and wonderful force!
Not all artists were born with the gift of creativity – Many of them had to train themselves to become the spiritual influences that they are. Your product might not have initially been created as an emotional influence, but I guarantee it can become one with the help of your bonding persistence. Meditate on your product’s being, and really zone in on what makes it special to the people who use it… including yourself. Once you have your bonding strategy figured out, implement it immediately and watch how your customers begin to literally LOVE everything your business does.
“Touch the hearts of your customers, and they’ll touch your products.â€Â
Tell me something bizMAVERICKS… How many of you already work with a product that effectively uses “Bonding” in its marketing game plan? What emotional triggers are your products tapping into? Has your bonding strategy proven to be successful?
Wishing you continued success…
bizMAVERICK…
Brad Williamson
Funny I should come across this post today. I have just done a re-design of my company and it’s direction and am working towards the Bonding road that you talk about. I sell fund confections that not only help save endangered species, but also help create wildly successful events.
As I sit and think about the benefits my products can offer my customers, I have also been thinking about how my products can emotionally connect with them as well. Emotions like happiness, excitement and joy come to mind as well as words like delight and fun. I know I need to connect to my customers emotions and how they will feel when they use my confections at their next event, but sometimes it is easier said than done.
Kathy Lindberg
The Wild Bon Bon
visit our blog
http://www.wildbonbon.com/blog
Hey Kathy!
I checked out your site and I don’t think you will have a problem at all with emotionally connecting with your audience. Good work!
bizMAVERICK…
Brad Williamson
Very true. It is becoming more of a I like the relationship better than a brand.
Excellent points in your article but I believe you miss the point about Bonding with customers. Inward reflection is great but it doesn’t create dialogue.
Gone are the days when a “Man” orders for his meek and humble wife. The customers are “King” and own the communication and information gathering process, so why not align your products and services around what customers have in their minds about your brands.
Excellent points in your article but I believe you miss the point about Bonding with customers. Inward reflection is great but it doesn’t create dialogue.
Gone are the days when a “Man” orders for his meek and humble wife. The customers are “King” and own the communication and information gathering process, so why not align your products and services around what customers have in their minds about your brands.
Thanks for the comment Mario!
Your comment makes me believe that the message I was trying to express in this article might not have been clear enough (Which is TOTALLY understandable).
I agree with your point Mario, but what I was trying to say was this…
I didn’t mean that “inward reflection” is intended to directly sell consumers on products. This inward reflection on the soul of a product is intended for the business owner to gather an impression on how their customers potentially feel about the product.
Once you figure out the emotional triggers your product has, based on your own inward reflection towards the item, you will be able to bond with your consumers because you understand what elements of your widget they could possibly be emotionally attracted to.
I stress creating this mindset because there are too many of us that market with only dollar signs in mind instead of product quality.
I hope this clears things up Mario ; )
bizMAVERICK…
Brad Williamson
It totally makes sense, Brad. The fact that we have so many competitors out there means we have no choice but to ‘bond’ our customers and brands together by using emotional triggers and what not.
For example a pencil is just not a ‘tool for writing’, it may in fact be a ‘friend to vent your emotions with’. I don’t know exactly either – it’s got a lot to do with what your target market uses for their goods.
A useful way of thinking about it might be:
Who is your target market?
What do they buy your pencil for?
What emotions are involved when they use the pencil?
How can you put this into a few simple words to communicate to your customers/prospects?
No doubt that relationship marketing is THE way to go and creating an emotional bond is one of the great tools you can use. I think Mario was thinking about a different tool to use to foster relationship marketing. Great ideas guys!
Robert
That clears things up, Brad
Thanks
Hi Brad:
Nice article, and I think it can be applied very much to step beyond the “typical” CRM processes and tactics.
If one decides to go beyond and integrate the emotional side in the CRM strategy, it will boost in results.
Thanks for sharing.
Regards.
That is Absolutely right! Make your customers feel that you are one of them, and you will be able to sell them something.