The positive stream of online media choices and the ever increasing willingness for people to adopt them means that, for businesses to be a success online they need to create a different kind of relationship with their customers and then manage carefully nature it.

As consumers and decision makers we receive our information online, process it and are continually influenced by the Internet, social-networking sites, mobile phones and much more. Despite the technological advances in most of our lives, each designed to make our lives simpler – most people use the same logic to make their online decisions as they do offline ones. We all understand how the average online decision maker has more information at their finger tips than ever before with more products, businesses and brands to choose from. But it’s ‘choice’ that many businesses still struggle to get to grips with – your customers choose who they are interested in, they choose the products they buy, the brands they become loyal to and businesses they deal with.

Competition for online success is as fierce ever, if you are not smart this competition can start driving up your marketing costs and contributing to real world issues such as shrinking margins and deteriorating customer loyalty. With increased demand for marketing accountability, a customer-centric approach is absolutely key to building a successful online business. ‘The customer is king’ has never been more poignant.

The reason ‘marketing’ firms and departments exist is ultimately to help businesses find, keep, and grow the value of their customers – but how can you take a bigger slice of the market you occupy? Well, regardless of the online tools you ‘choose’ – you must take a customer focused approach to every piece of online activity.

Be passionate.

Show that your business is passionate and sincere about its products and services. Stand out and you must be interesting!

Understand what your customers value.

If you adopt a truly customer centric approach, you will understand exactly what your customers’ needs, wants and desires are. Ask yourself; what do our customers expect? Strive to appeal to those desires, then use your website metrics to leverage that understanding you extract in the future. What your customers value should is core when developing your activity program and choosing the channels and tools to deliver it.

Building relationships and experiences builds your brand.

Remember that your brand is how the world sees your business, products or services – and not simply what you say it is. Focus on creating relationships with your customers that are mutually beneficial. Make sure that your business keeps every promise your brand makes. Use your activity to develop how you want your brand to be seen.

Make it easy for your customers to say YES!

Analyse, plan, and implement a strategy that creates a permanent state of purchase readiness for your customers, focus on creating profitable relationships and loyal customers.