Return on Relationship

Photo Credit: www.finolahoward.com

In March this year, MM Focus was honoured to have Ted Rubin, a leading Social Marketing Strategist, Keynote Speaker, Brand Evangelist and Acting CMO of Brand Innovators, follow us on Twitter. He is an advocate for a concept that is catching much attention in the business world; “Return on Relationship.” He had this to say about the subject.

“In a fast paced, digital world, defining and maintaining our relationship has become unexpectedly difficult. Social Media has enabled us to connect with an infinite number of individuals and given us the tools to extend relationships that years ago would have been impossible. 

Now, the key is to nurture those relationships and extend them to assist in product creation, decrease in customer service issues, life of the customer, sharing with friends, and increased sales.”“Building a relationship with existing and future customers is the true value and strength of social media/marketing and what will and has allowed brands to survive and flourish for the long-term.”Organisations are trying to assign a Cedi value to a Facebook fan or Twitter follower instead of addressing the fact that the engagement and interaction that takes place on social media are incredibly important to a brand.

“ROI (return on investment) is incredibly important whenever investing, but companies have to start looking at ROR: Return on Relationship, when planning, strategizing and most importantly, evaluating social marketing … especially smaller competitors who can more easily drive and control Relationship Marketing. Social Media drives engagement, engagement drives loyalty, and loyalty correlates directly to increased sales.”

A new study shows that over 50 percent of those who are fans or followers of a brand on Facebook or Twitter, respectively, are significantly more likely to buy products and services or recommend the brand to a friend. Welcome to the “Age of Influence,” where anyone can build an audience and effect change, advocate brands, build relationships and make a difference.“The true long-term value of brand and personal marketing is the relationship that will be with you for the long-term and will drive ROI if developed and used effectively.”