Social Blogging

Do you know why trust has gained so much value in the attention economy? Bombarded by an increasingly complex life, by more news and information, by marketing and sales calls of all kinds, people are increasingly “on-the-move” and with less and less time to devote to anyone specific thing. They are rushing from a website to another, from a conversation to another. And this is why their attention has become more valuable than gold these days.

Photo credit: Iurii Davydov

In the era of social media, traditional marketing channels are tricky venues to promote your product. Consumers are suspicious of marketing, they don’t trust the buzz, and relationships created ad hoc to sell a product do not work anymore.

Today, the relationship must come before the sale, not the other way around. By creating and nurturing your community and by making customers your good friends it is possible to develop new relationships and loyal supporters which can be an invaluable asset for any company in the market today.

Once you have a community of passionate fans and followers, it becomes easier to share your commercial recommendations and advice in ways that are more spontaneous, natural and credible.

George Benckenstein explains why building trust and relationships with your customers is so important. Inside communities people influence one another. Personal interests become social objects and spread across your network. Are you part of it? Do you help your community and customers learn and relate with each other in ways that augment their attention investment in you?

That’s what the new Return On Investment is all about. The new ROI is the useful, tangible influence you create rather than the investment you make.

Here, in more detail, George Benckenstein’s vision: