Instant Gratification vs Relational Marketing

“Don’t care how. I want it now!” – Veruca Salt
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We all remember the iconic scene in the original Willy Wonka film, where Veruca Salt throws the most dramatic, musical tantrum in history because her need for instant gratification was not met.

There are a lot of “Veruca Salts” in the world of business, especially when it comes to marketing. They want their marketing funds to instantly turn into sales results and it doesn’t quite work like that.

The problem is that true marketing and advertising isn’t an instant gratification game. It does not work like a gumball machine.

In fact, the best campaigns aren’t seeking instant gratification through sales at all, they are seeking long-term relationships with their customers. This is where the repeat customers are created!

When you get stuck on the rat wheel of instant gratification as a business owner, you lose in the long run. You will always be chasing numbers without long-term exponential growth.

The chase for instant gratification in marketing often looks like “sales events.” 
Repetitive “sales events.”

In reality, if you engage in strategies that include excessive amounts of repetitive sales, you train your customers to only purchase from you only during those events. You may see a burst of increases in purchases momentarily, but never long-term profits.

I’m not saying you can’t have any sales events, there is definitely a time and place. However, knowing when to use a sale and when to use other methods to get customers in the door makes all the difference.

Relational marketing focuses on building trust between your brand and your potential customers. Over time, when your potential customers need the product or service you offer, your business will be the first on their minds.

If you do it right though, that shouldn’t just apply to your potential customers, but also the people around them that they trust as well. Who are they asking for recommendations from? Whose recommendations would they trust or believe? You don’t want to miss those folks either!

If you’re truly committed to growth as a business owner, then you should be open-minded to branding strategies that make your business a household name. The kind of company everyone trusts, because they know you and they know what your business is about.

The biggest failure behind the marketing strategies that attempt to create an instant gratification response is that they assume your customer base already knows about your business. That they already trust your brand, as well as the products or services you provide.

For a lot of small business owners, this isn’t the case, especially start-ups. There’s a lot of success in simply being known. To increase their reach more organically, many small business owners are expanding their relational marketing strategies to include cross-branding with influencers and other small businesses.

There are many ways to help get your business’ name out there that will create years of business through loyal, trusting repeat customers. It just might take a little more time and patience, yet may even save you money! Learn more about relational marketing and how your business can reap the benefits by reaching out today or check out more articles related to this topic located on my blog.

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