How Valuable Are Your Relationships?

A lot of time has been spent talking about what a business can get from a customer or what a customer can get from a business. But the real question is which transaction is more important? Who is ultimately getting the most value in a business to consumer relationship? Until recently I would have said that without a doubt a business receives much more from its consumers, however my opinion has been changed forever. 

Ted Rubin, a keynote speaker, suggested that the most important transaction that takes place is called the “Return on Relationship”. He defines this term as “the value accrued by a person or brand due to nurturing a relationship.” 

As a concept this seems very simple but the implementation is a very different story. It takes a lot of work to keep an open line of communication with your consumers, and timing is everything. Jay Baer states that 40% of consumers expect a response within 60 minutes of posting to a social media platform – and that is a lot of pressure for a brand. However, by giving consumers a return on their relationship consumers will move up Seth Godin’s relationship ladder from stranger to friend and from friend to loyal customer. Innately this growth has a monetary value attached to it. Relationships are the new currency!

After listening to Rubin at Pivot Con earlier this year my mind has been forever changed. I now see more value in social media that I have ever seen in social before. I have significantly changed the goals for my marketing plans in order to adopt this new way of thinking, because in my eyes, it works! Brand evangelist play a huge role in the success of a brand and quite simply these people would not exist would the Return on Relationship principle.

What brands do you know of that have provided a great relationship experience with you? It can be in-store, online or over the phone – as long as you felt the connection and it was maintained. Palm Bay does an amazing job interacting with their consumers online and responding very quickly to questions or concerns. MANY businesses could learn from this example.

Who is your Blogging Guru?

As a young duckling of the blogging world I have been sent on a mission to learn from the great “swans” of the industry. On my journey I have come across some amazing blogging artists but three authors in particular really caught my attention. Not only did these bloggers design and write their blogs well but they also taught me the art of a successful blog, which I plan on using in the future.

Mitch Joel was my first mentor. His blog had a lot of really great lessons that we all can learn from. First is that size matters! Joel’s blog used a variety of different blog lengths in order to keep his readers on their toes. He also uses great reader grabbing headlines. By using this technique readers are engaged right off the bat and are not only wanting but willing to read more. Joel’s final strong point is that he writes how he would speak. When reading his blog I felt as if he was sitting across the table telling me a story. I found this made his information more relatable and enjoyable to read.

I found my second advisor in Seth Godin. In the past I had read his book entitled “Permission

Marketing” but just recently did I discover his blog. Godin is known for posting his blog on a very reliable schedule. Users know exactly when to come back in order to receive more of his knowledge which I found to be an amazing strategy. Godin is also the master of creating momentum. His content is engaging and he gets the readers coming back time and time again.

The final blogging guru I learned from (and my personal favourite) was Bernadette Jiwa. Her blog has a very clear and defined focus of “the story of telling”. When you go to Jiwa’s blog you know exactly the type of post you are going to get. Her blog is very well designed. The colour palate is not only visually appealing but soothing/comforting to the reader. Strangely enough what I found most interesting about Bernadette’s blog is her ability to mix her content. She uses videos, images and social media in order to keep the content up to date and engaging. This is a strategy I think we can all learn from!

All of these people are more than bloggers - they are authors! I believe that the learning I have received from reading these blogs have helped me grow from a little duckling to a full grow duck! I look forward to my blogging future after learning these strategies!