FORGET BIG DATA: Why You Should Focus on Relationships Through Social Media

While big data is a topic that everyone seems to buzz around, it's not the end-all of marketing. Even if you knew everything about your prospective customers, you still wouldn't be able to predict what choices they make.

That's why the idea that you would still need to broadcast ideas to them exists.

But where does social media fit in to this idea of broadcasting ideas? It'll all make sense when you consider one overlooked fact:

The Average Person is Now a Publisher

No longer does 99% of content come solely from media outlets like newspaper, magazines and television studios. The average person, with the increasingly large amount of access to online publishing, is now a content publisher.

The interesting idea is that they don't produce in just the form of blog posts or emails. They're bonafide authors that post to their social media accounts every single day.

What do they post about? Everything! From their lives to their last trip to their favorite restaurant. They even announce what products they hate or love, whether that action is in the form of a simple Facebook Like or a comment that decries the negative experience they've had with a particular business.

Shifting the Focus to Relationships

While having a two-way street is great for sending and receiving information, it only does so much. The thing that your business has to do is to take this a step further.

You need to begin building relationships. Take the data, information and signals that your followers get to learn how to do this.

For example, say that you have a negative comment about some service you provide. Say a customer had a god-awful experience with one of your restaurants. Turn it around by replying to their concerns and then by addressing them. This will improve your overall service for the remainder of your customers while letting them know that you care about their concerns, which is a win-win situation for everyone.

But what about building relationships from scratch? While that's harder, it's not nearly as bad as some people would lead you to believe. All you need to do is to start the conversation with a friendly smile, the proper decoration to your social media account and a few welcoming words.

Once you've got the right strategy down for developing relatiosnhips for your business through social media, the rest will come to your naturally. Your next step would be to avoid making social media mistakes that can set you back.