In the last post, I talked about what I thought were the most effective uses of social media for marketing purposes. We saw that social media (especially Twitter) works very well as a customer service and client relations tool. Additionally, social media works well as a tool for spreading brand awareness. I also stated that social media sites can be useful in online reputation management.
In this post, I want to add to these. Lately it is becoming apparent that there is one more important use of social media sites: Relational Marketing.
What Do I Mean by Relational Marketing (RM)?
A lot of marketers use the term "relational marketing". But what does it mean? I'm not really sure, but I define it this way: Relational Marketing is basically "networking in wait". You build genuine relationships and then you wait for the opportunity to introduce your product/service. (Is that Zen enough for you?) "Waiting is a divine kind of doing," (a phrase I coined long ago, and remembered just now actually.)
Waiting. Waiting v. Pushing. This is the essence of relational marketing. Relational Marketing is starting and growing relationships with people, usually with whom you share interests, but who are not necessarily in your target market, people who then refer your products and services to others who are in your target market.
How Do You Do Relational Marketing?
Well, properly speaking, you don't really "do" relational marketing like you "do" other types of marketing. There is no set procedure or set of steps you can follow that will produce a specific end. As a result, many Internet marketers don't engage in it or take the time to learn about RM.
But RM is a real thing, nonetheless, albeit somewhat evanescent. For example, I met a business coach on Twitter, quite by accident. I was just going along on Twitter, doing my own thing, following my own interests, and seeking to connect with others whom I found interesting. In the process, I met Lisa. She introduced me to her network of Twitter followers, and through the course of building the relationship, sharing ideas, and talking about what she does for a living, and vice versa, she gave Gnosis Arts a referral.
So, from that Twitter relationship will likely arise some potential business for our firm. Hunh? Who woulda thunk it?
What Relational Marketing Is NOT
But had I gone in with the express purpose of trying to "sell" or "market" something, however, I don't think I would have gotten the referral. It would have felt to her like one more turnoff from an "overly self-absorbed", self-aggrandizing, salesman. Or, had I tried to put together a 5-point "relational marketing strategy" and foisted it upon the twitterverse, I doubt it would have worked, either. Besides, I am genuinely interested in Lisa's business and did not go in with any motive to "sell" her or her friends anything.
Principles of Relational Marketing
So, while there are no specific procedures to follow in RM, there are principles:
1. Start off by talking about the other person, their interests, their business, their ideas. It's not about you.
2. As with all sales and marketing, you have to first build value. In an RM setting, this means building value, not in your product or service, but in yourself as a human being. RM is, admittedly, a very slow form of marketing. You will spend hours, days, even weeks, cultivating a genuine relationship with a person, before you dare try to sell your products or services. In RM, the first objective is to get the person to like you, what you believe, what you stand for, what you're passionate about. Then, it is to get them to admire you on some level, whether it is your work, or your ideas, or your unique way of looking at things.
3. Contribute something of value to them. Again, it's not about you in RM. Strive to contribute something of value to the other person. A sincere review or endorsement of their business. A unique resource or tool that can help them. An introduction to someone who might be looking for their product or service.
4. Content is king! It cannot be said enough. In cyberspace, your currency is your content. Strive for ever better, ever more quality, content. Don't just be average. Don't just regurgitate the same old s**t everyone else is spitting up. Try to find unique perspectives. Your unique voice online is what fuels RM; without that unique voice, forget about it.
5. Perhaps most importantly, don't start a relationship with the motive of trying to "get" something from the other person. If you learn nothing else, learn this. Now, this is hard, admittedly. "Once a thing becomes conscious of itself, it loses it's innocence." But that is the principle, at any rate.
6. Start by finding people that you are interested in. This seems counterintuitive. Don't try to get people to be interested in you. Rather, find interesting, thought-provoking, intriguing people that you are interested in. start a conversation with them. Get to know them. That's the way. Why? Because, if I'm not really interested in you, why would I expect you to be interested in me?
Besides, people can sense disinterest, disingenuousness. Even across cyberspace. RM is counterintuitive in that regard. I'm not looking for people who are looking for me, but the reverse. I'm looking for people I can dig; I want to network with them, because they inspire me, encourage me. Then, I wait for the "marketing" to emerge from that relationship.
These are just a few principles of effective RM. They are not meant to be specific tips, but just to be guides. No one can really tell you how to do RM. In fact, RM is a lot like playing an awesome jazz solo; the sure way to play badly is to try too hard to control what you play and to think too much about what you're going to play next. That kills it. RM is a way of letting your products/services sort of "find" the right audiences through development unassuming relationships with others in the social media space.
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