"Customer relationship-building"...Marketers' Top Priority for 2011

In its most recent survey of over 300 business executives, The Institute for the Study of Business Markets (ISBM) uncovers the increasing importance marketing executives are placing on developing their organizations to create high-value relationships that drive their strategic growth initiatives. In fact, the "Top 3" most critical capabilities identified in the survey all relate to relationship building:

1. Identifying Customers' REAL Needs and Drivers of Value
2. Clearly Communicating Targeted Value
3. Demonstrating Direct Alignment with Customers' Growth Objectives

Social provides an excellent opportunity to help businesses gain these essential relationship-building capabilities. By combining the real-time monitoring advantages of social networks, along with robust diagnostics that clearly identify influencers and value drivers, businesses are empowered to develop new levels of relationship insight - faster than ever before. This approach also provides a very tangible way to demonstrate the value of your social investments by using these rich insights to enhance your overall customer acquisition and experience strategies...and the ROI that follows.

How are you preparing your organizations to improve their customer understanding and relationship-building capabilities in 2011?