Valentine's Day is upon us, yet again. And for those looking for an alternative to spending the day as one of dozens of couples gazing into each other’s eyes in a sensibly priced restaurant — how about talking about relationships with our customers?

Now, I’m not a therapist, but I’ve read enough self-help books to know that experts place communication at the heart of a successful relationship. That stands to reason that if two people can’t communicate effectively they are doomed. They have no way of anticipating the other’s wants and desires, and no way of articulating their own. Which in turn means they are likely to end up miserable.

I am, however, a marketer. And in this sphere, I know we spend a lot of time thinking and talking about communication. We marketers love to talk about ‘1:1 conversations,’ building relationships with consumers and developing an emotional bond. Much of the last 20 years in digital marketing have been devoted to attempting to mimic successful human relationships. That has consisted of reading ‘digital body language,’ creating predictive marketing engines, and leaping enthusiastically on each and every new communications channel open to us.

And where are we now? Still about as clumsy a Casanova as ever, ham-fistedly bringing up in conversation a film someone watched 6 months ago, completely out of context and usually then the other party is busy attempting to do something different. That’s not love. That’s creepy!

So What’s The Answer?

One thing I DO love in Salesforce is that as a platform, it consistently enables our team to truly focus on and understand the individual as people. It enables us to piece together and record what matters most to a contact, and create a genuine conversation with them. And it’s the quest for the perfect conversation that is the basis for all good relationships.

That’s also why marketers tend to be jealous of our colleagues in sales. In the latter there’s an opportunity to speak directly to people and build up that kind of rapport that — until now at least - has only been possible between human beings, rather than a person on one hand and a computer on the other.

In marketing, and particularly B2C marketing, “it’s complicated.” If you’re dealing with millions of individuals, actually knowing their name and what they care about is going to be tough. But there are signs that the great relationships built on tools such as Salesforce will soon be available to marketers as well.

At Swrve we provide mobile organizations with a platform for understanding and communicating with their customers. And as anyone who uses a mobile phone knows, that’s something most organizations really do struggle with. I don’t know about you, but I am tired of sharing my bed with a device that wakes me up at 4 in the morning to tell me my daughter’s virtual pet needs feeding.

But like I say: that is changing. We now work with customers who process billions of events a day in their quest to really know everything about the mobile user. And that knowledge is the foundation stone of genuinely targeted, meaningful campaigns that yes, are more effective, but perhaps more importantly when it comes to building relationships — less annoying!

The products — and attitudes — that can deliver genuinely relevant and delightful conversations is out there. Organizations that want to succeed tomorrow will start using them today.

That quest for ‘perfect conversations’ doesn’t stop at mobile either. We wouldn’t put up with a partner who only spoke to us when we were at home. Similarly, single channel approaches to customer conversations won’t work in today’s ‘always connected’ or omni-channel world. That’s why our customers put great consideration into ensuring that mobile works alongside conventional online and even bricks and mortar channels to deliver seamless experiences.

As a result, marketers are beginning to enjoy the same relationship-building power that sales teams have enjoyed by using Salesforce. And it’s those tools that enable us to have our customers fall in love with us all over again. So perhaps this Valentine's Day marketers should seize the opportunity and really get engaged!

About the Author

With over 20 years of experience in product marketing, social media, demand generation and brand building, Steve Gershik is an expert in what B2B companies need to do to survive and thrive in competitive environments today. As CMO in Swrve, Steve helps innovative marketers connect with customers in new, interesting and delightful ways. Swrve powers the next generation of mobile marketing automation solutions.  Unlike web-first marketing automation technologies, Swrve makes it easy for marketers to reach customers through the devices that they use all day, every day. 

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