The Relationship Economy will usher in a new era of media for advertisers looking to match their product/service with an affinity of THEIR Brands preferences and privileges. As individuals promote the creation of “your brand”On numerous social networks, your connections and conversations provide specific data that identifies an audience with specific affinities for branded products and services—an advertiser’s dream for targeted marketing.

The Expert Perspective

Market research firm Compete has recently released a report on the convergence of social media and e-commerce. The report, “S-Commerce: Beyond MySpace and YouTube,” finds that consumer visits to social networking sites have increased 109 percent since January 2004, and page views per visitor have grown 414 percent in the same period. “Social media users” spend less time watching traditional media and have more discretionary income and a greater penchant for online shopping than users of social networking sites.

“Some marketers will advertise on MySpace and YouTube because they’re the two easiest places to visit. That will be an obvious choice. But the ROI won’t be any better than traditional customer acquisition campaigns,” he said. . “It’s stupid to just advertise on MySpace and assume you’re a social marketer. The best thing you can do is get your customers to associate with your brand.” On the other hand, launching a branded social network means competing for a dwindling share of end-users’ attention.

Compete found that visitors to social networking services are currently engaged on an average of three of these sites, and that they would only be willing to add a fourth website before losing interest. there won’t be as many opportunities as you think there are. So they need to be more creative.” The key, DiMarco says, is to create social websites as part of a brand designed to track customers and listen to them at the same time.

THE EXPERTS ARE MISSING A VERY IMPORTANT POINT! IT’S ABOUT YOUR BRAND, NOT THEM.

As mentioned above, when you have your own personal network portal, you will control your own network of connections, articles, news, videos, documents and related media that you want on your personal network portal. As an individual with certain affinities, YOUR network data will clearly indicate what YOUR network is inclined to buy at any given time. Advertising opportunism is not about a brand establishing ITS own network, but about forming a relationship with ITS network. The brand is YOU and advertisers could gain from having a direct relationship with you, if you want to. If YOUR network creates traffic, connections with like-minded people and businesses, then YOUR network is a reach distribution point. One’s value to advertisers is directly proportional to one’s affinities, reach, value propositions, connections, and profile. In the Relationship Economy YOUR brand builds trustworthy and lasting relationships.

YOUR brand creates commerce by sharing value and values. YOUR brand generates revenue and if one wants to advertise on the back of YOUR brand, they will pay based on your metrics, your value, your reach and your wealth. A new paradigm in advertising models and one that will require advertising executives to rethink their entire approach to the economics of relationships. The best thing advertisers can do is associate their brand with THEIR brand! Then, and only then, will marketers succeed in reaching the swarms!

What will YOUR brand attract in terms of advertisers? Time to start thinking.

What you say?

To learn more about the energizing Relationship Economy, visit www.relationship-economy.com