3 It's Always Been About the Relationship
Marketing podcast with Mari Smith (Click to play or right click and “Save As” to download – Subscribe now via iTunes or subscribe via other RSS device (Google Listen)
Lots of marketers question the ROI of this tool or the impact of using social media in this way, when the real filter in marketing is and always has been the ability to create and foster relationships.
In fact, you can make decisions about which social media platform you should dive deeper into by simply asking this question – could this platform help us build deeper relationships with our customers? If you can answer yes to that question than you should jump in and figure out how to use it for this purpose.
I think the proliferation of social media and the accompanying ease at which you can build “friends” muddies the fact that the foundational elements of true relationship are platform neutral – the real payoff comes from the relationship mindset.
I visit with master relationship builder and author of The New Relationship Marketing: How to Build a Large, Loyal, Profitable Network Using the Social Web
The new relationship building refers to best ways to employ the new social tool set to do the kind of relationship building that’s always been a crucial aspect of effective marketing.
Mari has built an international business on the back of social media tools by understanding like few others just how powerful these tools can be in the hands of someone that gets it’s all about the relationship. (Okay, she also works her tail off too.)
There is much to learn about how to use the new breed of online tools for good by reading The New Relationship Marketing, but I would urge you to also pay great attention to what Smith does online and off and she’s such a great example of practicing what she preaches.
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Here’s an example of a very large 
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