Summary

In this episode, Michelle discusses the importance of relationship marketing and its role in attracting and retaining customers. She compares relationship marketing to attraction marketing and highlights the benefits of combining both strategies. Michelle shares examples of relationship marketing, such as building communities and implementing loyalty programs. She also explores different approaches to attraction marketing beyond social media content creation. Michelle emphasizes the need to focus on what works for individual businesses and to analyze data to determine the most effective marketing strategy. She concludes by introducing her own approach to blending relationship marketing and attraction marketing through her email newsletter, The Sunday Morning Brew.

Takeaways

• Relationship marketing and attraction marketing are both important strategies for business success.
• Building strong relationships with customers can lead to increased loyalty and repeat business.
• Attraction marketing can go beyond social media content creation and include strategies like running masterclasses, collaborations, and sponsorships.
• Analyzing data and understanding what marketing strategies are working for your business is crucial.
• Blending relationship marketing and attraction marketing can create a powerful marketing strategy.

Links

Focused Visionary

Sunday Morning Brew

Lead Gen Bundle

If we haven't connected yet - I would LOVE to chat with you! Let's share a virtual cup of coffee and you can tell me all about you and your business.

Connect with me on IG: https://www.instagram.com/michelle_denio/

To learn more about customized 1:1 business growth support packages, visit our website or email michelle@michelledenio.com

Chapters

00:00

Introduction and Setting the Stage for 2024

02:20

Relationship Marketing vs. Attraction Marketing

05:10

The Power of Relationship Marketing

07:00

Examples of Relationship Marketing

08:25

Examples of Attraction Marketing

12:45

Alternative Approaches to Attraction Marketing

16:00

Building Relationships and Loyalty

19:10

The Role of Content in Relationship Marketing

20:09

Analyzing Data and Finding the Right Marketing Strategy

23:32

Lead Magnets and Blending Relationship Marketing with Attraction Marketing

25:55

Conclusion and Call to Action

Hello, hello, welcome back to The Real Truth About Business. How's everybody doing today? I'd love that I asked that question. Like, I'm sitting here going, how's everybody doing? And you're all gonna be like, we're good. I hope that wherever you're listening, you're actually answering me, at least in my head. It makes me feel better, like to hear you say like, we're good, we're doing this, I'm excited. Anyways, it is December.

But anyway, that's not what we're talking about today. What I really wanna talk about is relationship marketing versus attraction marketing, okay? Because I feel like in 2023, there was, or I don't know, probably 2022 also, there's just been this push for attraction marketing. Attraction marketing and attraction marketing versus relationship marketing, if you really want like kind of the definition of it,

I looked it up here, just some different definitions. I'll give you one. It's like attraction marketing really focuses on inbound, right? Like inbound marketing and attracting people to you from the content that you're putting out there. All right. And relationship marketing obviously is a little bit more customer centric. It focuses on nurturing relationships, fostering community, et cetera.

So I am a huge fan of relationship marketing. However, I think that there is, I think they both go together really, really well, okay? And if you've been in my world forever, you know that one of the things I always say is that if you build relationships correctly, or if you build relationships, if you're constantly building new relationships, then your content then amplifies those relationships, meaning amplifies it like,

in the sense of people know you, they're watching you, they like you, they've had a conversation with you, so this content that you're then putting out amplifies those conversations that you're having, which then makes it more of an attraction marketing style. So one of the things personally, I'll just be totally honest with you, personally that I have wrestled with is this constant state of content creation. We are inundated with, are you creating content? You need to be on social. Are you creating reels? Are you creating v-

videos, are we doing podcasts, right? Like even this, the podcast is content creation. And then how are you repurposing this? And I've gotten into this rabbit hole of like, I need to create a carousel. I need to create a reel. I need to create a blog. I need to do all these things. And it's like, it's so overwhelming. And I also feel like, I don't really feel like attraction marketing is my jam, right? Like I don't feel like my content.

attracts people in. However, that's not like a fair assessment, right? Because when we think of content, we always just think social. And that's really what I want to talk about today is that attraction marketing can mean a whole lot more than just social media. Alright, and so I want you to reframe your mindset about this, about both relationship marketing and attraction marketing. Because I guarantee that you are doing both of them in your business.

Over 75% of the people that signed up for the focus visionary mastermind Are people that have been in my world for over two years, right? some of them have been in my world for three to seven years and they Some of them I haven't worked with in a couple of years and they've come back. That's Relationship marketing right that right there is relationship marketing. It's nurturing. It's continuing to stay in touch

It's continuing to have conversations with these people. It's continuing to stay top of mind. And so that then also when you do put an offer out there, they're like, yeah, you know what, Michelle, I think this sounds good. I'll give you another example of relationship marketing. We put the coffee club on hold for December and it's relaunching in January, all about relationship marketing, hint, wink, wink.

originally when you first signed up, what drew you in? And again, 90% of the responses I got started with you, Michelle. I mean, first and foremost, you, and this is not me tooting my own horn. This is me telling you, this is exactly what relationship marketing is. When you build relationships and you continue to like really deepen those relationships, when you put an offer out there,

people are much more likely to convert simply because they know you, they like you, they trust you, right? And so then their immediate response is, well, if it's something Michelle's doing, like, yeah, cool, I'm in, you know what I mean? Like that's, so that's another prime example of relationship marketing, all right? So, but how do you even get started with this? What does this even look like? What does a relationship marketing strategy look like? I wanna give you a few examples of some relationship marketing.

ideas, right? So relationship marketing, remember, is very customer centric. I want to give you an exact example of a comparison. And this is 100% from chat GPT. I'm not gonna lie, I totally said like, hey, give me some comparisons. I could give you comparisons all day long. But I think we need to use AI for what it is. And I love using it for that type stuff for research for inspiration, whatever. And I love the comparison it gave me. All right, so I'm going to just kind of share it with you. So there

Attraction marketing example is a company creates a series of informative and entertaining YouTube videos about cooking and recipes. The viewers are attracted to the content and in the process become aware of the company's kitchen products leading to increased sales. Now, trust me when I tell you this works. I am a huge buyer from attraction marketing, right? When I see people, when I see things that like look really cool,

testimonials, content, like I just bought a pillow that's supposed to be like the best thing for your neck, which by the way, it's not sending it back. But the content was drew me in. I don't have any relationship with this company. They just feed me their ads. I see all these testimonials. I got attracted to it. I have a problem. They used it. I bought the product. Attraction marketing works very, very well. This is a prime example of it. Yes, it was social content, but...

They drew me in right and same thing. We're like how many times if you watch like the British baking show I hear people talk about that all the time and they You know, they have like a cake stand that spins and all that right and like all of a sudden now you need a cake Span a cake pan that's been or a cake stand that spins, right? That's attraction marketing, right? Like they are using their content They're showing you what they can do with it and you're like, oh my god. I gotta have that Okay now on the flip side. Here's a relationship marketing example

A local coffee shop keeps track of customer preferences and offers a loyalty program when frequent customers receive personalized discounts based on their favorite coffee choices. This builds customer loyalty and encourages repeat business. So think about this. Like think about your favorite local coffee shop. I don't know that I have this with like a local coffee shop, but we have a favorite restaurant and we love to sit at the bar because the bartender always knows exactly what we want to order. Right? Like he...

always recognizes this. He's built such a relationship with us. He's like, Hey, Michelle, hey, Bill, Michelle, you going with the mall back today? Bill, you going with whatever beer, you know? And he's like, Bill, you want to start with the fried mushrooms or stuffed mushrooms? I can't remember what it, I don't even know what it is, but you know what I mean? Like we built such a relationship with him that we are far more likely to continue going back. And that's why we always sit at the bar too, right? Your coffee shops, your loyalty. Um, they offer you a birthday.

gift like Starbucks does this. I have a Starbucks sitting right here. Starbucks forever, they know when your birthday is, they give you a loyalty, right? That's building a relationship. Yes, it's all through an app and no, they don't personally know you, but they still are rewarding you on your birthday, right? And so like they're saying, attraction marketing is about drawing in potential customers through appealing content, which we just talked about while relationship marketing emphasizes on building and maintaining long term.

long term, which is what I just gave you in those examples of like the coffee club and focus visionary, personalize relationships with existing customers to foster loyalty and repeat business. Again, they both work, but they both work hand in hand. You know what I mean? I feel very strongly about that. When you build relationships, like I've built relationships with a lot of these people by having coffee chats, by having all of...

in these conversations, reaching out to them saying, hey, happy birthday. Hey, I see you're someone off to school. How's that going? You know, hey, last time we talked, you were doing this. What's going on? Give me the update, blah, blah. Like really maintaining those relationships. Then I put out, oh my God, I'm launching the Hunter Coffee Chance Club. If you want this, they're like, hey, Michelle, tell me more about this. What is it? Tell me more. I want in, right? So again, relationship and attraction marketing go hand in hand. They work very well.

together. But here's my biggest yank with attraction marketing is that there's a million and a half freaking content coaches out there that are telling you it's all about content and it's all about storytelling and it's all about this and it's, you gotta create this content and do this real and create this, you know, get a videographer and all this bullshit, right? Like there are other ways to attract people in that you can use attraction marketing that.

are not about creating all this fancy content that takes freaking forever to create. And if that is not your zone of genius, it's even more time consuming. Right? So attraction marketing could look like running a masterclass every single month. Again, that's content. A masterclass is content every single month, right? It could look like running SEO. It could look like doing a podcast sponsorship or

where somebody else is sponsoring this podcast, right? Or you're doing a podcast swap. It could be a podcast guest swap. This is all content. Getting on other people's shows, sharing webinars, sharing Instagram reels, or like Instagram lives, or any type of live together. You could do collaborations. That's all attraction marketing, okay? Content is just like social.

Content, let me rephrase, social content is such a small piece of attraction marketing. Email marketing can go both ways. You can draw people in through a lead magnet, then you're nurturing them. That's drawing them into your lead magnet, that's attraction marketing. Nurturing them in your email marketing is relationship marketing. It's really about...

Finding this balance, you know what I mean? It could be fostering communities, relationship marketing. I think in 2024, if you're looking to create a strategy, here are some things that I would really consider from a relationship marketing standpoint. One, getting involved in a community, right? Whatever that community is. If it's the Hunter Coffee Chats Club, I would welcome you with open arms. If you wanna learn more about it, if you're saying, Michelle, I get it, I hear you.

I hear you, but I have no idea. Like this is not my superpower. This is not something that comes easy to me, but I want to get better at it. I hear that. That's one of the biggest things I kept hearing and that's why I'm revamping the 100 Coffee Chats Club a little bit. Okay, so if relationship marketing is on your list, find a community. Networking, right? Networking doesn't have to look like passing business cards, right? Networking could be...

community like the 100 coffee chats club networking could be being inside of Like a paid Facebook group or a free Facebook group where you're just constantly Networking and connecting with the people in there. There was I'm in a big Facebook group I don't even remember which one it was. I think it was in a podcast. No, no, no No, I think it was in a software like the CRM that I'm using they have a private Facebook group And somebody in there said like this has nothing to do with the CRM But what it has to do with is I really am looking to build

Right? And it doesn't have to be a big community. It could be a private IG community. Um, it could be a Facebook community. It could be a Slack community. It could be WhatsApp. It could be podcast community. It could be anything, right? Like community can look like a million different things. It can be in person even if that's what you want. All right. So that's something I would do a hundred percent. The other thing is, is that you could start to really do some type of loyalty program, remembering people's birthdays. Um,

I'll give you an example of something I'm going to do in 2024 is on my coffee chat intake. I'm going to have a checkbox that says like, are you or somebody in your family a veteran? Because veterans are very, very important to me. The military and our armed services is a very important cause for me and my family. And I want to be able to celebrate and recognize that. And I want to be able to easily recognize that and have a, and be able to pull that up. Right?

I'm gonna be able to segment people that are either veterans. So when Veterans Day comes around, I can thank them for their service personally. I don't wanna just put a post up that says, hey veterans, thanks for your service. No, I wanna either send them a card, I wanna send them a small token of my appreciation, send a DM, a voice memo, something, right? So is there a certain cause that is important to you that you want to remember? Maybe it's birthdays, maybe it's a special holiday, maybe it's if you work with moms, maybe you send out a Mother's Day campaign.

If you work with widows, you know what I mean? Maybe it's understanding like what is the date that they lost their spouse so that you can just kind of reach out to them and say, hey, I know today is a tough day. You know, I'm thinking of you. These are things that like easy things that you can do. You can set up on automations as well, but you can really build strong relationships with people doing those things.

I think attraction marketing still could work, but I think, and again, maybe content is the way you re you build relationships, right? Some people are beautiful at that. You can really build strong relationships through your content. I'm not saying that you can't. That's why I'm saying they go hand in hand. What I am trying to say in this podcast, which hopefully you're hearing, and I'm not like rambling too much, is that it does not.

have to be endless amounts of social content. That is my biggest, that's my biggest takeaway for you is that if you are feeling overwhelmed by everybody telling you all the ways you need to create content to attract your dream clients, trust me when I tell you, if you're building relationships, you don't need your content to attract, you need your content to amplify.

Right? You need your content to amplify the conversations and the relationships that you're building so that it does attract the people in. That's what I'm saying about this. Okay. So, and also attraction marketing can look like other things besides creating reels and being on Instagram stories, 24 freaking seven or posting on LinkedIn five days a week or trying to figure out what the algorithm is doing now. Right? Like that is where I got sucked into this.

I personally have gotten sucked into this a lot about like, oh my God, I need to be creating content. I have so much effing content in my arsenal right now. I literally need to not create a single piece, not one more piece of content. And I can literally repurpose for probably three years and nobody would know the difference. You do not need to keep creating. We do not need more. That is not the answer. Okay.

relationships are what convert over and over and over and over again. Every time the people that are in all of my programs are in my programs. And again, when you hear this, when you ask for feedback and people say, Hey, I drew, I was drawn into this program because of you, Michelle, right? Like that's key data that says when you build the right relationships, it converts, it converts. And that's what you need to look at.

If you can tell me that your content is converting, right? If you can tell me that somebody said like, hey, I saw your Instagram post about this and I want more information. Hey, I see your LinkedIn post, I want more information. Right, if you have data that supports that, do more of it, right? But also think about like, are these people brand new cold leads, like you've never spoken to them and your content is the only thing drawing them in? Or did you have a conversation with them? Are you in a paid community with them?

Do you network with them every single week? And now they also saw your content and they're saying like, oh, hey, I saw you on IG posts about this, but you met them through a networking, right? Like that is what you have to be looking at and figure out what marketing is working and how then you can blend the two together, okay? So for me, it's relationships first and then I will use my content to amplify. Other people use their content to attract.

and then they nurture on the back end. Figure out what works for you, but they both work. And quite honestly, it's not a one or the other. It's a both need to be part of your strategy, but it doesn't need to be difficult, okay? It does not need to be difficult. It doesn't need to be all the things. It doesn't need to be stories and reels and long form posts and carousel posts and master classes and blogs.

and going live and collaborations and starting a podcast, it doesn't need to be all the things. Okay, you really need to kind of pick one strategy for relationship building, one strategy for attraction marketing, and figure out how to blend them together so that it continues to convert. Okay? Got it? Clear as mud is one of my favorite, I think, Elaine.

Jarden if you're not connected, I'm pretty sure she always says that. Let me know if this is clear as mud. I love it So anyway, that's really I mean truly so the other thing before I wrap this up in Just what I've been thinking about as far as relationship marketing and attraction marketing and all this is like this lead magnet drama Like oh you need a better lead magnet or how do we create this lead magnet? Looking at what one works in this constant state of lead magnet generation

And quite honestly, I just told you I have so much content. I've been there, done that. I'm going into year seven in business. I have so much content. And so one of the things that I am planning to do in 2024 is I absolutely freaking love, love my email newsletter, The Sunday Morning Brew. Like it is my favorite thing to write every week. I love connecting with people. I actually got, somebody sent me an email with like a snippet of

free little mini podcast, if it's a free PDF, a worksheet, an exercise, something like that. I am not going to create all these lead magnets that need to be constantly promoted. This is totally another topic and I could keep going. But again, this is how I'm blending attraction marketing, relationship marketing. I love to build relationships through the Sunday morning brew. How do I attract more people to it? I need a lead magnet. I need to draw more people in. I don't want to create a lead magnet.

So I'm gonna combine the two. My free lead magnet is that every single week, you're going to get some level of free resource. So if you are listening and you are not part of the Sunday morning brew, the link is in the show notes. I've got some, these are not like little freebies either. Right, like these are some pretty good free resources. This is mini courses, this is workbooks. This is a lot, like I have a lot of things I wanna lay out.

get on like the coffee chats club wait list. I will, I don't even know if there's a, I'll create a wait list, right? I'll just create a little form. You can click the link in the show notes or on my IG. I'll create a link in my bio. Um, and just, I was just, or just send me a DM and say, Hey Michelle, when coffee club relaunches, let me know and I'll put you in my list. Okay. Let's not make this over complicated. Um, but seriously, the hundred coffee chats club is going to be the relationship marketing club. If you want it to be

So if that's part of your strategy. All right, I'm done rambling. Goodbye.