Social Glitz

I’m not telling you anything new when I say that Web 2.0 and social media have changed the way we use the Internet. Neither am I telling you anything new when I say that that’s the reason why marketers and PR professionals are finding themselves in an increasingly difficult situation. We, as consumers, are no longer as easily identifiable as we used to be. These days, us consumers can be any number of things. Producers, users, active participants, members of niche communities, and if worse comes to worst, even critics.

So how can the companies of today ensure that they don’t only find new customers and retain existing ones but also avoid all hell breaking lose when they are confronted with a critic that happens to be quite influential in the online space?

The answer to that question is rather simple but sadly, still very often misunderstood. It’s this question and the simplicity of the answer that led me to conduct research on how to use Twitter as a tool for relationship marketing. By telling you the topic of the research I’ve given away quite a bit upfront but not to worry, the most interesting part is yet to come.

The term “relationship marketing” is used frequently. In fact, it’s used to a point where everyone things they know what they are talking about but only few really do. What is it? How does it work? And how do we best use it in combination with online communication tools such as Twitter?

Transactional vs. Relationship Marketing

Before the 1990s mass marketing was all the craze. Most marketing activities were focused on finding as many customers as possible for a product. But then one of the most important changes in marketing took place. One that is now as important as ever. Companies these days continuously develop the right products for their customers, which is also where the idea of relationship marketing comes in. The idea behind it is simple. It’s not about solving individual customer problems but rather about the long-term support of customers in their processes. In contrary to transactional marketing, that has a raise in market shares as a goal, relationship marketing builds upon long-term relationships to raise customer value. Read more at socialmouths.com

Since its  inception, social media–for most marketers–has been about amassing massive amounts of followers, fans, twitter connects and subscribers.  We talk about influence and engagement as if every customer we have is a number, barcode or statistic. So focused on quantity and measurements we often miss the foundational element that makes social, well, social–the relationship.

As with any relationship, the break up sucks. In the case of business and social media, trust me it’s you… not your customer causing the relationship to fall apart. Exact Target has reported some interesting data that tells the story of the business, customer break up.  Are you making these marketing mistakes that cause your customers, readers, fans, or followers to say enough is enough? Read more at websuccessdiva.com

This week’s mashup is a collection of must-read, hand picked resources from across the Internet focused on Facebook marketing–how to adjust after recent changes to Page design, how to market your business effectively, Facebook by the numbers and much more.

How Much is a Tweet or a Like Worth to You? ChompOn has released some interesting findings (pdf) related to social media sharing and its value to e-commerce. Specifically, the firm sought out to answer the question: “What is the value of a social action in online commerce?” What they came up with is that a Facebook Share was worth $14, a Facebook “like” was worth $8, a tweet was worth $5, and a Twitter follow was worth $2. (via @WebProNews)

Facebook Adds New Relationship Status Types, but Not to the Ad Tool Facebook is rolling out the option for users to set their relationship status to “In a civil union” and “In a domestic partnership”. These types will allow gay couples to more accurately describe their relationship. However, advertisers don’t have the option to target users based on these types, or any other types than “Single”, “In a relationship”, “Engaged”, or “Married”. (via @InsideNetwork)

Why Most Facebook Marketing Doesn’t Work First, deep campaigns don’t work. Digital agencies love deep, expensive campaigns on Facebook, with tons of pages, interaction, and art. It fits in with how agencies build microsites and websites, and justifies the $100,000-plus price tag that they like to charge. Examples include lightweight games, prediction contests, treasure hunts where you include friends, and such. Unfortunately for agencies and the brands that drop a lot of cash, Facebook users decidedly don’t like deep campaigns. (via @RWW) Read more at websuccessdiva.com

Facebook is rolling out the option for users to set their relationship status to “In a civil union” and “In a domestic partnership”. These types will allow gay couples to more accurately describe their relationship. However, advertisers don’t have the option to target users based on these types, or any other types than “Single”, “In a relationship”, “Engaged”, or “Married”.

Users can change the setting by going Edit Profile, then Featured People, and using the Relationship Status drop-down menu. Not all users have the new options yet, though.

Facebook has been slowly increasing the number of relationship status types. “Widowed” became an option in September 2009, and Facebook has since added “Divorced” and “Separated”, though none of these are targetable through the ad tool. The site recently released statistics that showed that users who are “In a relationship”, “Married”, or “Engaged” are much happier according to the Gross National Happiness index than users with the status “In an open relationship”, “It’s complicated”, or “Widowed”. Read more at www.insidefacebook.com