Savvy Tips for Effective Collaborative Marketing


by Christian Fea - Date: 2008-05-22 - Word Count: 495 Share This!

Traditional marketing techniques focus the center of attention on the seller and put the business owner in the position of power. Rather than owning the customer as is the strategy in most marketing schemes, collaboration marketing seeks to give the customer the perception that he is in the position of power - that the customer, in fact, owns the vendor

Strategies for "owning the vendor"

To give customers the sense that they are in charge, businesses will need to learn how to gather and analyze detailed information about their customer base. This knowledge requires a specialized skill set, and businesses often hire third party marketing companies to assist with this aspect of their business. However, this is by no means necessary, and it is possible to be the steward of your own collaborative marketing platform.

Collaborative marketers know how to orchestrate and facilitate relationships between customers and businesses. At first this sounds like it may be giving away your customer base, but it is a key marketing strategy. Helping customers to connect with other entities that they are interested in is a twofold strategy: you will gain valuable insight into the interests and spending habits of these customers, and you will validate yourself and your business as a needed and trustworthy source. This type of data leads to powerful new platforms and marketing tools, creating a loyal customer base and gathering valuable information on clients at the same time.

The Customer Centered Premise

In order to woo and maintain new clients, you have to offer them something they feel that they currently cannot get anywhere else. Focus on the customers wants and needs for your marketing strategy, rather than focusing solely on how to sell your products and services.

Ask yourself several questions. What can I provide my customers with that they need? What are my customers looking for? These are a couple of examples of customer centered questions, rather than the more typical business centered marketing of asking: How do I get people to buy my product? And "How do I attract business to my website?"

The Ultimate Goal

The ultimate goal of collaborative marketing is the same as other types of traditional and strategic marketing: you want to get your products and services sold. But shifting the focus and intent of how to do this may give you an edge you didn't previously have.

Collaborative marketing can open avenues and resources that remained previously unexplored by your company. By doing this, you foster trust among your customer base, and provide a service that other companies in your business may not be—personalized understanding of client needs, making the customer feel important and like the focus of your efforts. It is a great way to better understand your client base by focusing on what the customer is looking for, and may ultimately lead your business in an exciting new direction. Collaborative marketing is a creative way to gain a new perspective to help you maximize the marketing possibilities for the utmost success of your business.

Related Tags: joint ventures, strategic alliance, collaboration marketing, integration marketing

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A strategic Collaboration Marketing consulting firm. He empowers business owners to discover and implement Integration, Alliance, and Joint Ventures marketing tactics to solve specific business challenges. He demonstrates how to create your own Collaboration Marketing Strategy to increase your sales, conversation rates, and repeat business.Contact: christian@christianfea.comhttp://www.christianfea.com Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles

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