Today is Valentines Day and partnerships are being created, celebrated and strengthened by acts of love, gifts, messages and more.
I have been thinking about the values we put on relationships. A marriage for example brings happiness and stability to individuals, to families and to communities. But marriage, like anything else needs good care and maintenance if it is to last.
In many places today some 40% or more of all marriages end in divorce. Is this because marriage is out of date? Could it be perhaps that marriages fail because the arrangement itself is faulty?
A marriage deserves priority and only by sharing can people grow together. A person who is primarily concerned with what he or she is getting from the marriage will never be truly happy, even if that individual remarries several times. In all honesty I think a marriage works only when each partner focuses more on giving than receiving. As we grow our needs change, to be able to adapt and to understand what our partner needs, feels or wants, is fundamental to a sustainable relationship.
Why should relationships in business be any different?
A person who feels they aren’t valued or important may move on, have an affair or file for divorce. They will probably confide in their closest friends and tell others of their bad experience.
Online and social media give us the opportunity to learn what our customers prefer and want, and we are able to have conversations with them. By talking to them and asking questions we are taking an interest in them. They feel valued, important and involved.
Rather than blasting marketing messages at them, and acting in a ‘controlling’ way, find out what they want and prefer to read and see. Work at the relationship, invest time in understanding your audience.
A bit like a square peg in a round hole, old school marketing techniques don’t fit in a social space. Try not to see the likes of Twitter and Facebook as just another marketing tool, but as a way of getting to know your audience, serving your customers and developing customer loyalty.
Engaged, Content & Shouting from the Rooftops >> Aveyard's latest blog http://bit.ly/fzZpAb
RT @LesleyAveyard: Engaged, content & shouting from the rooftops! http://bit.ly/fzZpAb (just in case you missed it!)
Your comment about blasting out marketing messages as being‘controlling’ is so true.There are many that profess to be active on social media, and yet still blast out message after message about their company.
Nobody wants to be smacked in the face with your message. But if you engage them, then they may ask you about what you do as a natural human instinct.Ive made it my mission to help people without expecting recompense, even though it means I may have to work at later to catch up.
Being genuine and helping people will always bring a reward, but it’s a longer process. You dont always have to go for the ‘pound note jugular.”Collaboration can bring about the most amazing results. There is no substitute for loyalty.
Being on social media does not mean you cannot control your messages anymore, ironically it gives you more control than push marketing.And those customers really stick with you because the value you.
Thanks Robbie :) “Being genuine and helping people will always bring reward” – spot on! We are, as you rightly say, now able to control more than ever what we say and we can create around ourselves the transparency necessary for our audience to make choices and build up trust.
RT @LesleyAveyard: Engaged, Content & Shouting from the Rooftops :) My latest blog http://bit.ly/fzZpAb
Engaged, Content & Shouting from the Rooftops :) My latest blog http://bit.ly/fzZpAb