In previous posts, I’ve talked about relationships in social media and why I think “friends” is the wrong way to think about a brand’s relationship with their customers.

The old relationship model wasn’t broken. It’s just evolved as customer contacts have moved to new environments. And this has made some relationships a little weird. Kinda like when your preacher starts showing up at your favorite watering hole or your boss joins your tennis team. It’s not like you can yell at your boss for missing a shot – well, maybe you can, but I wouldn’t.

To stick with the boss analogy for a moment, just because your boss is on your tennis team doesn’t mean she’s a tennis buddy all of a sudden. You’re still dependent on her for your income. The power dynamic hasn’t shifted. Only the place where your relationship takes place has changed.

It’s the same with brands and their customers. You’re not peers or friends. Good marketers understand fundamentally that the customer has the power in the relationship. And with Web 2.0, including social networks, that power has been magnified.

In friendships we give and we get. We expect reciprocity. We share fun and heartache. We ask favors and we give them.

Customers and clients? We give to them and we thank them for their business. We then ask them if we could please bust our asses for them again. And maybe, pretty please, could they mention us to a friend.

Things get confusing when relationships shift to new areas – people either get used to the changed dynamic to them or they opt to end them. Traditionally, Facebook has been about social friends. (For some people, who’s jobs are in relationship sales maybe it has always been about business.) As the Web 2.0 world evolves and Facebook and others create strategies for the future, businesses will have to constantly adapt to changing relationships online. But brands will need to walk a tight rope – engaging customers in new places without forgetting who’s boss. This will require constant study of customers, relationships, and technology.

Posted on: March 2, 2010, by : Jimmy Gilmore