ROR is the New ROI in Social Marketing

~~This was originally published on Beckerman Voices~~

I was recently reading a blog post by Ted Rubin, a member of the Open Sky Board of Advisors, who serves as their chief social marketing officer, and his philosophy of “It’s All About Relationships!” struck me more strongly than than it has in the past.

The originator of the term ROR, or return on relationships, Rubin’s ideals were exactly the point I had been making earlier in the day during a customized social media training program I was giving to a client.

Everyone, especially in public relations, wants to know what their ROI, or return on investment, is going to be. But, we need to retrain our boardroom brains.

Companies need to start thinking in terms of relationships and not just investments. Social media is a cost-effective way to help build relationships.

Let’s say you own a winery and want to personally reach out to all your customers. It would be impossible. You would likely narrow your focus down to cities in a handful of regions across the United States. A marketing tour such as that would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and even then you wouldn’t be able to reach everyone.

Enter social media.

Having a Facebook page or Twitter handle makes you accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week to your customers. All they have to do turn on their computers.

Social media gives the people who consume your product, are interested in your business or are influencers in their communities the feeling of a personal relationship with your brand. Although the results can be difficult to measure, having that personal relationship or connection can be the deciding factor with regard to whether or not someone buys your product or service over someone else’s.

With this, however, comes the responsibility to interact with those customers, or potential clients. It’s not enough to just post company information or ask a question every few days.

You need to be available, to be genuine and to show you appreciate the people who appreciate you. After all, in the simplest of definitions, a relationship means sparking some type of connection.