Editors Note: After one day at the CM Summit, one obvious theme is “creating relationships.” The following blog posts address our take on this as it relates to social media and S16.

Lots of relationships here... and this is a screen shot from our test Insight on the CM Summit.

If you’re like my friend Nick, you didn’t even know the term “DTR” existed until recently. Let me enlighten you on this secret girl code.

DTR = Define The Relationship. It’s a common term used by the ladies to talk about their situation with a guy. I.E. Girl 1 says, “We’ve kissed a few times. Had a few dates.” Girl 2 says, “But did you DTR yet?”

After observing sessions at the CM Summit on Wednesday, I realized that DTR is more important in online marketing than ever.

The days of “Mad Men” are gone. Consumers dismiss transparent efforts at engagement. They’re looking for a real conversation. An honest conversation. Open communication. They want someone to listen. Basically, they want the perfect boyfriend.

So, define your relationship with your audience. To throw out another pop culture term, you can’t be afraid to enter an LTR.

LTR = Long-Term Relationship. An acronym I learned while reading The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists (don’t ask).

After listening to the “experts” today, it’s apparent that marketers have a tough time finding potential relationships. That’s why Spark is so relevant to this conference.

The core of our software is about discovering relationships that already exist among your audience. By finding and joining in on these conversations, you plant the seed for an LTR with the influential members of your online community.

If anything, the first day of the summit proved that Spark is necessary in the social media space.

Tagged as: cm summit, Spark