Crafting Meaningful Connections, Pt. 2

I’m back! It’s time for the second post in my “Crafting Meaningful Connections” series. In the first post, “Giving Customers the Quality Time They’re Craving,” I discussed the importance of spending quality time with customers. 

Of course, this isn’t the only type of quality connection you need to form between customers and company brands. Making them feel cared for and noticed must happen on various levels, with multiple forms of connections. Because remember, everyone feels connections differently. 

I’m personally a huge fan of quality time. But luckily, everyone’s brains and emotional receptors are built differently than mine. So, you need to slowly but surely add in a few other tactics to emotionally satisfy and engage customers. 

In this post, I’ll be sharing ways to craft meaningful connections through gifts. The best kind of gifts — free. I’m not talking fruit baskets, destined-to-collect-dust candles, or K-cup samplers. What I’ll be discussing are gifts that will keep your company top-of-mind all year long. 

Here are three gifts you can give customers in the coming months that will draw them even closer to your purpose, mission, and product: 

1. The gift of inspiration

As a writer, mom, wife, employee, and all-around human, I crave inspiration. Little bits of it from pink and gold Instagram notes are nice. But sometimes they just don’t do it. There are times when we all need a stronger dose of inspiration to get us feeling motivated and connected to the world. 

Recently, Hubspot did this for me in a free gift of their own. Amanda Zantal-Wiener, an in-house author at Hubspot, shared one of her favorite infographic artist’s pieces of work about finding the inspiration to write all year long. 

The best part about this gift is that it wasn’t just a compilation of quotes from accomplished authors throughout history. The infographic offers actionable tips. Tips that I’m currently using to inspire my writing on a daily basis. 

Consider how a subtle gift like this could impact your customers. It doesn’t have to tie directly to your product. It does, however, have to relate to customers’ daily struggles, needs, and interests. 

Once you have these details figured out, you can start searching for the perfect infographic or — our favorite way of going about it — create your own. 

Bonus tip: When finding or creating your infographic gift, be sure its compatible with your blog. Hubspot’s infographic, for example, fits within the blog post. This makes it easy for your audience to scroll through and keeps them on your page. 

2. The gift of knowledge 

Marketing trends are tricky shapeshifters. One thing that will remain the same, though, is the importance of customer engagement. It’s critical to note that engagement goes far beyond satisfying customers. Engagement means building an actual living, breathing relationship between company brands and customers. 

This is one trend that pays off, too. According to Gallup’s customer engagement report, companies that successfully engage their B2B customers realize 63 percent lower customer attrition and 55 percent higher share of wallet. 

In today’s world of information, customers want to feel in control of their relationships with company brands. Their goal is to ensure they’re making the best decision before spending their hard-earned cash. We can’t blame them for that. 

Offer honest information to your customers. Give them the gift of knowledge by sharing what’s going on in the world that impacts them. Use social media to share trends, hot topics, and even news updates. While giving them the knowledge to make informed decisions, you’re also encouraging them to connect that information back to your brand and mission. 

3. The gift of power

Knowledge is power. And consumers have all the power in the tip of their fingers. That’s why my favorite gift is the gift that keeps on giving — original research. 

Your customers aren’t waiting around, scanning your blog and social channels for good tips and witty banter. They want hard evidence that what you’re saying, the advice you’re offering, is backed by facts. 

Now is the time to show them. 

Dig in and find out what information will best help your target audience. Narrow this window by finding holes in research and a need for new insights. Once you survey a pool of respondents, craft a well-designed report. Use this gift to give your customers the power to devise actionable plans that fit their own or their customers’ needs.