{"id":2917,"date":"2011-04-16T19:31:07","date_gmt":"2011-04-16T19:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/?p=2917"},"modified":"2011-04-16T19:31:07","modified_gmt":"2011-04-16T19:31:07","slug":"return-on-relationship-the-new-measure-of-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/2011\/04\/return-on-relationship-the-new-measure-of-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Return on Relationship: The New Measure of Success"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Social media is quickly becoming a way of life\u2026 and a way of business<\/em> as more and more companies are realizing they need to integrate social media into their marketing strategies.\u00a0 We can\u2019t, however, expect to do \u201cbusiness as usual\u201d and succeed in building an eager audience around our brands.<\/p>\n

If you want to continue to reach your market in this social media age, the marketing focus needs to be on building relationships,<\/em> and <\/strong>metrics<\/strong><\/a> need to expand beyond ROI (Return on Investment) to include ROR: Return on Relationship. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Most measurements and empowerment stats that are used with regard to relationships (i.e. number of Facebook fans, Twitter followers, retweets, site visits, video views, positive ratings and vibrant communities) are not financial assets, but that doesn\u2019t mean they are worthless. \u00a0Instead, these are leading indicators that a brand is doing something that is creating value that will be with you for the long term and will drive ROI if developed and used effectively.<\/p>\n

So how do you build and strengthen relationships with your audience <\/strong>(as a whole, and as individuals) <\/em>to increase your ROR? <\/strong><\/p>\n

1. <\/strong>Listen <\/strong><\/p>\n

If you want to be heard above the growing social media \u201cnoise,\u201d you need to first listen<\/em><\/strong><\/a> <\/em><\/strong>to your consumers <\/em><\/strong>so when you do<\/em> speak, you get it right.\u00a0 What are they saying, what are they feeling, what are their pain points, what solutions do they need?<\/p>\n

2. <\/strong>Make it be about THEM<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

First think about and first address what matters most to your audience<\/strong>.\u00a0 Give them a platform to show you what they need, want, are interested in, and expect.\u00a0 Whatever matters most to them<\/em> should become what matters most to you<\/em>!\u00a0 We marketers like to think that social media is primarily a set of tools for\u00a0our<\/strong><\/em> marketing purposes, but in reality, social media is also a strong set of tools\u00a0our consumers<\/strong><\/em> <\/em>use to share and influence opinion about our brand.\u00a0\u00a0 Our consumers<\/a> now have\u00a0\u201cthe channel of <\/strong>me<\/strong><\/em>.\u201d<\/strong> Consumers\u2019 opinions now create the \u201creality\u201d of the brand \u2014 if enough consumers say negative things about your brand, your brand loses its credibility, and (thankfully) vice versa.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

3. <\/em>Ask \u201cHow can I serve you?\u201d<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

Taking the \u201cME\u201d mentality one step further, when we are\u00a0advertising<\/em> instead of\u00a0building relationships<\/em>, we are focused on what our consumers can give us instead of how we can best serve them.<\/p>\n

Your consumers will recognize in a heartbeat if you are simply trying to get<\/em> something from them \u2013 and they will not stick around.\u00a0 It\u2019s not that you aren\u2019t allowed to want anything from your consumers, it\u2019s that there must be a give<\/em> to go along with every take<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0 If you truly want to make an impact, aim to always put more energy and attention in your \u201cgive\u201d column than in your \u201ctake\u201d column.\u00a0 It will<\/em> pay off.<\/p>\n

4. <\/strong>Aim for Ongoing<\/em> Engagement<\/strong><\/p>\n

Building relationships is about starting meaningful dialogue and taking the time to thoughtfully and genuinely engage in ongoing conversation.\u00a0 Relationships focus on getting to know your consumer and giving them reasons to stay engaged — not just getting them to react. This needs to be all the time\u2026 not simply campaign or initiative based. That is the biggest mistake being made today by marketers and brands\u2026 with consumers, and especially with influencers.<\/p>\n

5. <\/strong>Know the People in Your Audience<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Short and simple:\u00a0 if you are only focused on the money, you risk completely overlooking the people<\/em>.\u00a0 Don\u2019t make that mistake!\u00a0 If you don\u2019t know who your<\/em><\/strong> people are, you might as well toss your marketing money down the drain.<\/p>\n

Relationships ARE the new currency \u2013 honor them, invest in them, and start measuring your <\/em><\/strong>ROR<\/em><\/strong><\/a>!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ted Rubin<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Originally posted at Content-to-Commerce<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Social media is quickly becoming a way of life\u2026 and a way of business as more and more companies are realizing they need to integrate social media into their marketing strategies.\u00a0 We can\u2019t, however, expect to do \u201cbusiness as usual\u201d and succeed in building an eager audience around our brands. If you want to continue … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,7],"tags":[1213,1212,32,480,120,479,30,1029,3],"class_list":["post-2917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-posts","category-tedrubin","tag-brand-metrics","tag-content-to-commerce","tag-marketing","tag-return-on-relationship","tag-roi","tag-ror","tag-social-media","tag-social-media-marketing","tag-ted-rubin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2917"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2919,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2917\/revisions\/2919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thesocialcmo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}