What Have You Done For Me Lately?

Posted on June 10th, 2009 by Justine and currently 1 commenting.

Here are two things I struggle to reconcile:

The belief in the power of “relationship” or “community” marketing as something that demands more than just an online message board … and … the hesitancy to do something about it without a demonstrated immediate (or at least near-term) return.

Take a moment to reflect on how you met three of your good friends. Maybe they were introduced to you at a party via a mutual friend. Maybe you met them while enjoying one of your interests that they also avidly share. Maybe you even met them online. In all likelihood they’ve turned out to be good friends because something cued you that this person was a kindred spirit - someone that had a good vibe, seemed to share your perspective or philosophy on life. You engaged in a conversation and found yourself nodding in agreement, eager to interject a similar experience, laughing over a story that sounds all too familiar.

Now imagine that in the middle of that conversation you asked this person what they had to offer you. “Do you have a lake house?” “Can I borrow your car?” “Can I drop my kids off on Saturday? - I really need to get some yard work done”. And you made your conversation and invitation to get to know you on a deeper level contingent on their answer.

How many friends do you think you’d have?

If we really believe that developing deeper two-way relationships, dare I say friendships, with our customers can be a powerful marketing strategy, then we need to own up to the reality that people don’t want to be your friend if you keep asking them what they’ve done for you lately. That’s not to say that companies should ignore the reality of doing business or try to pretend like they’re not in it to make a profit. It is to suggest that there is a time and place for asking for something in return. And that time is once the relationships have reached a certain level of maturity, grounded in a degree of mutual understanding and trust. Not in month one (maybe not even month six) of your community-building plan.

It’s kind of astounding when you think about it - how many millions and billions of dollars companies are happy to spend on advertising - when the link to actual purchase behavior and preference is far from causal. We throw around words like “engagement” and “advocacy” which clearly aren’t going emerge just because you reached 10,000,000 people who match your target demographic. Yet when it comes to discussing building deep quality relationships with 1,000 people for a much lower price tag, we too often hide behind the ROI argument. “But is it really going to affect my sales?”

Maybe not. Maybe so.

Maybe you’re just asking the wrong question.

The question I’d ask - is what do you have to lose.