Why establishing relationships is vital to marketing

Have you ever heard the saying, "It's not what you know, it's who you know"? This saying can be applied to a number of situations, such as getting a job, or being features in an article, etc. However, one area that it can be applied is with your marketing efforts. Most small businesses find that their initial marketing efforts are most successful when they get referrals through friends. Often your best clients are the ones that come from existing relationships.

The following are 3 reasons establishing relationships is vital to marketing:

1. More exposure. The more people you know, the more relationships you develop, the more exposure your business gets. Why do you think things like Twitter and Facebook are taking the marketing world by storm? They allow you to create relationships, and share your business, new things, ideas, information, etc. with everyone you have created those relationships with, which provides you with more exposure to your business. The more people you know, the more opportunity you have to get your name out there. Everyone you know, knows people you don't. This means that they may talk to those people about your business. If you provide a service, for example, and someone you know, knows that, and then someone they know needs that service, they can pass your name along. Many small business build their client base that way. Someone they know tells someone else about them, and they grow as a result.

2. Opportunities you may not know about otherwise. When you build relationships, you gain the marketing advantage of having opportunities you may not have known about otherwise. You may hear about an event, or an opportunity through a friend, or you may be able to put on together with a friend, etc. Relationships open doors that other things may not. For example, because you know someone, you might be able to pitch a project that you otherwise would not be given any thought on. Through relationships, you are often given opportunities for marketing your products you would not have otherwise.

3. Credibility by association. Sometimes, the best benefit of forming relationships is that you get credibility by association. If someone sees that you know someone, or that you have done work with so and so, they may be more willing to work with you. This is one of the reasons people advertise who their big clients are. It gives them a credibility they might not have otherwise. In addition, if you use these relationships for affiliate marketing, you could gain many other marketing benefits.

The fact is, relationship are key to business success. Who you know does matter. So, do not neglect that aspect of marketing, as you never know how much business you will get from people you know. It is worth taking the time to develop and maintain relationships.