Online marketing is actually about relationships

I recently declared that we’re honing our services down to web design and development, and email marketing. I even relaunched our website. No more done-for-you social media for me!

Then, rather ironically, I volunteered to run a social media account–for free–a mere two weeks later. 

When Portland Public Schools’ “rightsizing” scenarios proposed to close 14 schools, the outcry among us parents was loud, and I got pulled into collective action groups.

When someone said they weren't the right person to run social media, I raised my hand and took over @savepdxschools. It's been a brain-melting two weeks, but this pro-bono effort has revealed some pretty potent lessons.

A good cause still needs visibility

For the past two weeks, I’ve been using social media to rally a unified effort to stop rightsizing. I’ve worked with nonprofits on their marketing, and it’s just a fact that even a really good cause needs to let people know it exists.

For the Save PDX Schools effort, it still feels like drinking from a fire hose, but it has been working. The account’s following has grown from 700 to 1300+ followers (that’s over 70% growth, for those of you who like math). We’re consistently getting ratios of nearly 300% on views-to-followers across all content. In fact, our best content has even topped a 1000% ratio of views to followers.

Yes, the content has been quality. Yes, I’ve been posting at optimal times for the accounts. Yes, the strategy and talking points are there. And yet, you couldn’t replicate this kind of result for a business without relationships.

What relationships look like in online marketing

For Save PDX Schools, it's been a community effort, so that's included practices such as:

• resharing relevant content from other school and neighborhood accounts in our Stories, to boost their signal
• strategically sending and accepting Collaborator posts aligned with our message of saving every school
• tagging and resharing local media outlets covering the issue
• gaining visibility from local elected officials who tag and Collaborate with us.

All of those relationships have gotten us tags in return, comments, views, follows, and even the occasional “thank you” from a City Councilor.

This experience has reminded me that, if you want to stop paying billionaire tech barons for exposure, building relationships into your marketing is the biggest step you can take. 

It's all relational in the end

Here's the thing: even if social media isn’t your bag, ALL of online marketing hinges on the relationships you cultivate.

Every email you send to your list is an opportunity to nurture the relationship you have with each reader. The feel of receiving an email–yes, even a marketing email–can be so much more personal than seeing a post on a social feed, if you do it right.

That newsletter swap you did with your business bestie? That’s wider exposure for both of you, because of the relationship you built with them.

The webinar you co-hosted with a fellow service provider? That’s more eyes on you, because you took the time to understand that service provider’s work, and how you complement each other.

Relationships make marketing feel more meaningful and far less gross than garden-variety advertising, and it creates more opportunities for everyone involved. It feels GOOD to lift as you climb, right?! That’s something your audience can feel, too. 

And you know what? If there’s one thing we can do to bring back the good vibes of the Old Internet, it’s using it to share information and create connections, just as it was originally intended.