Social relationship marketing-Need of an hour

Relationship marketing was described as a paradigm shift in the mid-1990s and has continued to evolve in a range of different business environments. During this time, consumers’ expectations have changed. Consumers have been immersed in technology and two-way communications since birth and expect businesses to engage with them and embrace relationships. This situation presents opportunities and challenges for marketers, who must adopt new approaches and take advantage of social media such as blogs, social networks, content communities, forums and bulletin boards, and content aggregators. Social media enables consumers to connect, communicate, and collaborate with others. Social media are distinguished from other forms of communication because they support user participation on a massive, collective scale; the contributions are also distributed among the participants to view, share, and improve. Online media create new challenges when it comes to relationship marketing. This paper discusses some of the strategies and methods firms should use to develop long term relationships with customers through social media. While building a brand, business and social media presence takes repeated effort, dedication and continued online engagement. This is a skill every entrepreneur needs to know and take advantage. These social-relationship-building strategies will help to transform your company into a valuable resource. Social media, in its current and future iterations, will continue to offer new opportunities for customer relationship marketing, and companies that welcome them will reap the rewards of their current and future social engagement strategies.