There have been many examples of the impact of new media in the last couple of years. For some time, the news that leaked from a media-paranoid Iran after elections there via Twitter was a prime example noted by articles and blogs of all kinds. But the current example has to be the money raised through “text donations” for the Red Cross following the disaster in Haiti, reportedly more than $35 million to date. This campaign combined the ease of a text message with the viral strength of social media to spread the word. And both channels were heralded accordingly.

 But what really facilitated the ability for this system of donations to work? In fact, it was the business relationships that the mobile carriers have with their customers. With that established relationship in place, there was a mechanism to bill, collect and distribute the contributions. Without it, it’s just a bunch of texts drifting into the digital ether. This system can continue to work, but now the opportunity is also leading to a new start-up to facilitate payments through Twitter, a newer version of TwitPay.

What does this mean for the rest of us? For starters, consumer relationships are more than social connections. They are about financial transactions. Your relationship with your customer can begin, grow and be nurtured by social media. But at the core will be a transaction where value is exchanged for value, and where there will have to be a way to quantify and exchange that value. Social media – and really marketing of all kinds – is what we use to get to the transaction. Successful businesses can start by understanding what relationship they have with their customers now. What value do you provide and how are those transactions facilitated? Then you can apply marketing, media, PR and social strategies to further leverage those relationships, to expand services, increase purchase frequency, get referrals and build more loyal customers.