The New Relationship Marketing: How to Build a Large, Loyal, Profitable Network Using the Social Web

By Mari Smith and Guy Kawasaki

A top social media guru shares the secrets to expanding your business through relationships

People have always done business with people they know, like, and trust. That's the essence of "relationship marketing." Today, the popularity of online social networking has caused a paradigm shift in relationship marketing. This book helps businesspeople and marketers master this crucial new skill set. Social marketing expert Mari Smith outlines a step-by-step plan for building a sizable, loyal network comprised of quality relationships that garner leads, publicity, sales,, and more.

If you're a businessman or businesswoman feeling the pressure to shift your approach to using social media marketing, to better understand the new soft skills required for success on the social web, and to improve your own leadership and relationship skills through emotional and social intelligence, this book is for you.

• Outlines how to become a significant "center of influence" for your customers and prospects
• Explains the unspoken rules of online etiquette—and the common "turnoffs" that drive customers and potential partners away
• Details the unique cultures of Facebook, Twitter, and other popular online platforms
• Shows exactly what to automate and delegate to build your social media persona, yet still retain the personal touch

Even if you currently have zero presence online, this book will help you see measurable results in a short time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wiley
• Release date: Oct 3, 2011
• ISBN: 9781118135006

Book preview

Introduction

What Is the New Relationship Marketing, and Why Is It Crucial to Businesses Today?

New marketing is about the relationships, not the medium.

—Ben Grossman, founder of BiGMarK¹

You may have heard this claim with increasing frequency lately: Relationships are the new currency. While it's always been true that people do business with people they know, like, and trust, the explosion of online social networking has led us to experience a fundamental paradigm shift in how we communicate—and, ultimately, do business—all over the world.

Currently, two billion people on the planet have access to the Internet; that's almost 30 percent of the world's entire population.² Additionally, there are more than 5.3 billion mobile subscribers (77 percent of the world's population). This explosive growth is led by China and India, and many mobile web users are mobile-only; in other words, they do not (or only very rarely) use a desktop, laptop, or tablet device to access the web. Mobile-only use is 70 percent in Egypt and 59 percent in India—and even in the United States, it comprises 25 percent of subscribers.³

In addition to the various types of devices consumers and businesses use, the platforms within which they interact are growing exponentially. The world's largest social networking site, Facebook.com, is hurtling toward its first billion members (the site has more than 700 million active users as of this writing).

People all over the planet are sharing more and more personal and private information about themselves via a mounting number of websites and tools. This information is all out in the open and completely available for searching; that is, unless you electively set your privacy settings so tight that only specific individuals can find what you share. More and more, professional recruiters are conducting extensive research, poring over social profiles, and using the data they find to influence hiring decisions. Equally, drawing from this same pool of online information, many employers use publicly shared data to fire employees for misconduct or violation of company policies. Insurance companies, government officials, and attorneys also tap into the plethora of personal information available online and use it as evidence when needed. Plus, of course, businesses have access to everything consumers choose to publicly share about themselves online.

What this means for you as a business owner, entrepreneur, or marketing executive is that you need to become a master at relationship marketing by honing your skills in two primary areas: (1) the technical skills needed to properly utilize the vast array of social tools and (2) the soft skills needed to effectively build solid relationships through these social tools. It's a whole new world that's moving very fast; one false step could cost you your reputation, so you're going to need a trusty road map. That's what I intend this book to be for you.

Relationship marketing is a term first introduced in 1986 to the services marketing literature by Dr. Leonard L. Berry,⁴ who defined it as attracting, maintaining, and enhancing customer relationships. Several recurring themes in relationship marketing literature include customer satisfaction, mutual trust, and commitment or promise. While many of these perspectives compare marketing relationships to a marriage, which is marked by the ongoing mutual commitment and interest of both parties, another perspective posits that relationship marketing is an asymmetrical marketing process that requires an in-depth, personalized understanding of customer needs and characteristics. Relationship marketing's focus is to move all customers up the ladder of loyalty.⁵

Think of relationship marketing as a term with the following overarching definition: those efforts that will make your prospective customers aware of your products and services, position your business in their minds as the obvious choice, and help you build lifelong profitable relationships with them.

At its core, new relationship marketing means genuinely caring about all other human beings on the planet and building solid, win-win relationships. Those relationships are with your prospects, clients, strategic alliances, media contacts, key influencers, and, yes, even your competitors. Ultimately, effective relationship marketing leads to a more sustainable, successful, and conscious business.

The Paradigm Shift

I use the terms social media marketing, social marketing, and new media marketing interchangeably throughout this book. The most important thing to remember is that relationship marketing basically encompasses all types of marketing—both online and offline. This ranges from TV and radio to billboards and direct mail—from Facebook and Twitter to e-mail and mobile.

As you can see in Figure I.1, the ways in which these marketing tactics can be used online are both numerous and far-reaching.

Figure I.1 The Conversation Prism by Brian Solis and JESS3

The Conversation Prism gives you a big picture view of the social media universe, categorized and organized by how people use each network. (See this image enlarged online at www.theconversationprism.com.) The operative word in this model is conversation. New media is about engaging and building relationships.

The acceleration of development in communications technologies has forced human beings to connect in totally new and different ways. We're being called to higher standards of authenticity, integrity, and transparency, and we are compelled to truly care about the world and all the people in it. The power has shifted from corporations to consumers, from dictators to citizens. And, as Guy Kawasaki puts it, The nobodies are the new somebodies.

This paradigm shift has multiple aspects and implications:

1. Your every move is now being tracked, recorded, viewed, and archived. You have to be rigorous about protecting your privacy and your reputation on both a personal and professional basis. However, you're always in control of exactly what you share regarding both yourself and business matters. Keep in mind that Facebook—and many other online social networks—have very granular privacy settings that you need to understand. Plus, many excellent tools for reputation management are available on the market today. You'll find details of such tools in later chapters of this book, at the back in the Resources section, and in the companion website at www.relationshipmarketing book.com/free.

2. We now have a vastly interconnected web of personal and professional connections called the social graph. . ⁶ Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and a vast range of other online networks are constantly plotting out this ever-growing social graph. You need to understand the breadth and depth of this graph—and become an integral part of it—in order to grow your business.

3. You now need to invest in thorough training and may need to shore up your in-house resources to properly manage all your relationships on the social graph. There is a huge range of educational materials, including college degrees, on the subject of new media and relationship-based marketing. (Plus, of course, you're reading this book—which is a very good thing!) And remember, you don't have to do it all yourself; hiring a part-time virtual assistant can take a lot of weight off your shoulders.

4. People are sharing vast amounts of personal information online. You can now tap into this in order to better personalize and hypertarget your communications with your marketplace—and better serve your customers’ needs.

5. Nowadays, your visibility and findability will land you the best opportunities. It's no longer enough to just optimize your website to be found on Google; you have to optimize your online and offline social presence, too. This is what I call radical strategic visibility, something I explain in detail in Chapter 7. The main idea behind this concept is the wider your reach, the more people will see you—and the greater you can build your business.

6. Consumers, publishers, and the media can easily see the size and quality of your online digital footprint and use it as a key decision-making factor. People may choose to contact you (or not) depending on how many friends/fans/ followers/connections you have and what type of information you share online. This is often referred to as your platform. The good news is you can take full control of the quality and the growth of your platform. Keep reading as I explain how in this book!

7. The saying, It's not what you know, it's who you know is only partially accurate these days. What's even more important now is who knows you. If you really want to accelerate your business's growth, you would do well to develop the ability to cultivate solid relationships with influencers. Today's social tools make it easier than ever before to get to key decision makers and top influencers—not only to access them, but also to build meaningful relationships with them. Chapter 7 covers this area thoroughly.

8. Anyone can now carve out his or her piece of virtual real estate on the Internet. Any individual or company can start up shop and create a vast web of friends, fans, followers, contacts, and/or subscribers. The playing field has leveled. The middleman is no longer required.

9. Consumers finally have a voice. And they can speak as loudly as they wish. Businesses have to monitor and respond to what's being said about them across a range of platforms. The good news is that your brand now has an opportunity to demonstrate stellar customer service in public and use this to convert more prospects into paying customers.

10. You can now significantly enhance and accelerate the growth of all your relationships by blending offline and online strategies. You'll meet people in person and can easily continue to build your relationships with them via online social networking. The reverse is true as well: You'll connect with people online, build rapport, and then meet them in person. Today's social media tools allow everyone the opportunity to build—and manage—a greater number of more meaningful relationships. In Part Two of this book, you'll discover the exact steps to growing your business through these social tools.

11 Common Fears in the World of New Media Marketing

Underlying all fears is the fear that we can't handle it.

—Susan Jeffers

The fact that you're reading this book tells me you're probably like a lot of my clients and students: You may have many concerns and challenges that have prevented you from reaping the full benefits of today's social media marketing.

Following is a list of the common challenges I've identified that business owners face in today's world of new media marketing. Perhaps you'll relate to a few of these:

1. I don't have time to build relationships with people I don't know.

2. Social media seems like a full-time job. I'm already maxed out doing what I do.

3. I don't want to have to learn it all. Just give me the basics—or can I just outsource it all?

4. I want to protect my privacy; I don't want to live in the glass house that social networking seems to be.

5. I want to protect my content. I'm afraid of people on the web plagiarizing my material.

6. I don't know what I should delegate. I've heard of ghostwriters and am afraid of being found out that the information I'm providing is not in my voice.

7. Can I really get social ads to work for me? I don't want to waste my marketing dollars experimenting.

8. I don't know the social media best practices. I know these sites have their own culture, but I'm afraid to dive in for fear of doing something wrong.

9. I don't know which sources to trust.

10. I'm not sure how I'd measure any real results.

11. Can I really make money using social media?

If even a few of these fears are familiar to you, just know that you're not alone! Many people have been in your shoes and have forged ahead to build a sizable business and online presence that yields tremendous results and profits. Given these fears are what stop business owners from really creating success with social media, I've dedicated Chapter 1 to getting started and getting past these perfectly normal fears. I walk you through each of these challenges and provide suggestions on how to get started and overcome any resistance you may be feeling to really make your mark in the world of new media.

Eight FAQs on Relationship Building in the New Age

In addition to addressing the 11 common challenges in Chapter 1, throughout the rest of this book, I'll provide answers to the following eight frequently asked questions (that you'll be happy to hear have simple answers!):

1.Do I have to disclose details of my private life when networking online?

2.Can I hire ghostwriters and delegate my voice?

3.How can I add a personal touch without burning up all my time?

4.As my online network grows, how can I scale personally connecting with everyone when my network is too large to manage?

5.Does everyone really expect a reply to his or her questions on Facebook and Twitter? Am I missing out on business if I don't respond to everyone?

6.What are some ways to really stand out—to go above and beyond and really make my current potential customers feel valued and special?

7.How do I discern between taking time for true prospective customers versus people who are just seeking free information?

8.How can I establish relationships with key influencers when they seem so hard to reach?

If you have other questions not listed here that you'd like answered, visit the companion website at www.relationshipmarketingbook.com for ways to connect with me and I'll be happy to answer for you.

Simplicity on the Other Side of Complexity

Marketing has become infinitely more complex. We have many more moving parts to contend with, some of which are very high tech. Yet, marketing is still as straightforward and simple as it always has been. We must maintain that human touch and build solid relationships with our clients, peers, colleagues, and even our