Sarah Beckham

August 24, 2015

Are you relationship material? Or do you, ahem, only talk about yourself?

A study by Edelman found that 87 percent of people want meaningful interactions with brands, but only 17 percent believe that brands deliver them.

About two-thirds of the survey respondents said their relationships with brands are one-sided. In other words, they feel that they’re the ones giving to the relationship and that brands only take.

Yikes. That’s a lot of relationship issues. So what does all this mean for your business?

Edelman says consumers want brands that are more participatory and engaging. Your customers long to be part of things. …