Relationships are built on reciprocity. If your company wants to have positive, fulfilling relationships with your customers, it needs to bring positivity and fulfillment to their lives. It starts with providing a product or service that makes their life better. Next comes customer service. Customer service done well secures lifelong customers while failed service induces churn. Lastly, a critical part of relationship-building with customers is branding.
Your brand is the company personified. A well-defined brand is both memorable and relatable to its customer base. One common framework to develop a brand with is brand archetypes. According to renowned psychologist Carl Jung, there are 12 major archetypes seen throughout history. Brands that follow a well-defined archetype rose in value by 97% compared to those without a strong identity. After all, 9 in 10 customers want to shop with brands they consider authentic. The best branding looks effortless to outsiders.
One way to advance both your branding and your customer relationships is through corporate gifting. 2 in 3 people remember company names better after receiving a gift. Gifts can be handed out as a thank you for being a customer, on customer birthdays, or even free at festivals. Gifting done well boosts word of mouth and keeps your brand at the forefront of customers’ minds. This is why 80% of CEOs believe that sending gifts to customers “provides positive and measurable ROI.”
The trick is to match up the gifts your company gives to their brand archetype. The best gifts don’t only benefit the receiver; they also reflect positively on the sender. For example, say your company seeks to embody the Explorer archetype. Explorers typically value freedom. The best gifts for them are outdoor gifts that benefit adventurers. A petit tabletop fire bowl can allow them to bring campfires wherever they go.
