3 reasons why 2024 is the year to put more 'relationship' in your marketing

By Michele Fitzpatrick, VP of strategic services at Marigold

The concept of marketing is evolving. Marketers today can no longer afford to view their efforts as a series of campaigns and tactics designed to generate a short-term transaction. Better to view it as a process of establishing a relationship with customers — relationship marketing.

The concept of relationship marketing is not a new one. But a “perfect storm” of developments has converged that make relationship marketing even more attractive than ever, offering great potential for brands who make the wise decision to adopt it going into the new year.

This means thinking of your audience as more than customers. They’re people first, with wants and needs that you can meet. In 2024, it’s time to rethink marketing strategies and tactics through the lens of developing a personal and contextually relevant conversation with people who either know or love your brand. That means evolving from offering generic buyer journeys to engaging in real time with a real person who is actively trying to decide what they want or need, and figuring out where and how they want to research and buy it.

As we move into yet another new year, the biggest challenge facing all brands is to break down institutional silos to offer a more cohesive, holistic marketing experience for customers. After all, customers don’t see the world as corporate departments or marketing channels. To them, it’s all one experience.

Here are three reasons why it will be critical for all marketers to fully embrace relationship marketing in the months ahead to ensure a successful 2024.

1. Long-tail impact of the pandemic

During the early days of the pandemic, shopping and buying behaviors rapidly changed due to necessity, reduced access and supply chain shortages. Looking back, 80% to 90% of people changed what they bought, where they bought and how they bought in a concise amount of time. While some pre-pandemic shopping behaviors have returned, many have not. Add to that the fact that historically there are long-term societal and psychological impacts that accompany a pandemic, which may take a decade or longer to recover from. While we’re over the initial health scare and supply chain issues, the long-term psychological and societal impacts will be with us for a while.

In 2024, brands need to double down on being more human and personal in marketing and messaging, and in understanding the buyer journey in a more personal way. Brands need to think of people as people first, not as mere customers or buyers, and should do more to engage in contextually relevant ways over time. This is the primary domain of relationship marketing. Lean in!

2. Economic impact

Challenging economic conditions are impacting people around the globe at work (job instability) and at home (things cost more). And when times get tough financially, people buy differently. More essentials. Occasional splurges. Buy at a discount.

While early reports suggest that 2023 Holiday shopping will be up year over year, the biggest increase is non-gift items and buying everyday things at a discount. This has happened many times in past economic downturns.

There’s an additional phenomenon that when times get tough, people tend to buy less-costly luxury items as a pick me up. Dubbed the “Lipstick Index” by Estee Lauder decades ago, this consumer behavior appears every time we have a significant dip in the economy. I may not be able to afford an expensive coat, but I can certainly splurge on a gorgeous new lipstick. You get the idea.

Lastly, data from Forrester confirms that consumers will keep spending in 2024, but they will be cautious spenders focused on value, special offers, and payment plans.

For these reasons, in 2024, marketers need to be respectful of people’s financial situations. This may require collecting zero-party data from and about consumers in order to be more relevant in how to message and engage with them individually. This is a foundational concept in relationship marketing. Create a value exchange to know more about customers over time. Use those insights to show empathy and understanding. It works.

3. People’s relationship with technology is evolving

With the rise of digital connectivity, people are spending more and more time on screens. This accelerated during the pandemic. Today many people have a love / hate relationship with their devices. For some, it’s an addiction.

According to recent data from Accenture, people are starting to feel like technology is happening to them rather than being there for them. As a result, many people want to regain control and reduce the role of technology in their lives.

In fact, Accenture's data shows that 47% of people find the speed of new technology overwhelming. Another 41% of frequent tech users say that technology has complicated their lives just as much as it has simplified it. And 1 in 6 people said they are switching to less advanced tech solutions, like dumb phones to control the time they spend with technology.

Another sign that our relationship with technology is changing is that an estimated 80% of holiday retail sales this year will occur in brick-and-mortar stores, despite the rise in e-commerce sales People are using technology to enhance their shopping process, but not necessarily the vast majority of their actual purchasing behavior.

In 2024, marketers must continue to bridge the divide between online and offline. While consumers feel tech fatigue, they still lean on digital channels to help make informed purchase decisions and purchases.

This is another place where relationship marketing shines; omnichannel relationship marketing, that is. Get to know customers across all touchpoints, embrace the omnichannel CX, and meet customers in relevant ways wherever they are in their path to purchase. Leverage loyalty programs and strategies to connect the dots. Remove friction from the buying process.

Brands that lean into relationship marketing in 2024 will be rewarded with brand loyalty and repeat purchases. Think about customers as people, support them in a contextually relevant way across channels, and make it easier for them to find and buy what they need.

It sounds like a simple idea, but making it happen can be challenging without the right strategy, or customer intelligence, or tech stack. The good news is that viable solutions exist for all of these challenges. Learn more here.