My Sicilian dad was a huge fan of proverbs. One of his favorites: “Dimmi con chi vai e ti dirò chi sei.” Translation? Tell me with whom you hang, and I’ll tell you who you are. Some pretty profound insight from the 1880s that not only still holds true today but, ironically, takes the concept to a higher level, underscoring the importance of relationships in integrated marketing strategies.

The concept is simple. If you as an individual spend your waking hours with other individuals who play and listen to jazz (for example), chances are, you enjoy playing and/or listening to jazz. Chances also are good that you will seek out those folks with whom you share likes and dislikes and vice versa. Same holds true in terms of groups, organizations, and companies. If the information generated by these entities is shared with others for whom that content holds interest, chances are the interested parties are going to come and keep coming to your parties.

Birds of a feather flock together. The more things change the more they stay the same. Sicilian proverbs are in great company as old world wisdom abounds in this new world of opportunity. The key is to realize that it’s really nothing new…just a new option with which you can do it.

Content is still king. The information that piques our interest, feeds our hunger for information, companionship, validation – whatever it may be – is still what connects us, gets us to trust the source, helps us to build a relationship, and drives us to take action and repetitive engagement. In the digital age, that action finds us online in social forums and on company websites.

And when we speak about our integrated marketing strategies, we must make the most of our relationships in order to get more and more people to come to our door. And we need to make sure that those relationships are of high quality. “Tell me with whom you hang, and I’ll tell you who you are.” Credibility by association. And the more credible and reputable your connections, the more so are you by default.

Today is so much easier to build those connections: creating content on your blogs, sharing images and videos, sending out press releases via a newswire (such as Marketwire) that further amplifies your news and increases those inbound links and associations…all of this and more is yours for the taking, even if you’re operating on a shoestring budget. And it must be part of one’s integrated marketing strategy to fully maximize traffic, conversions, and ultimately bottom-line results.

One is a lonely number. And nobody wants to throw a party where nobody (or the wrong “bodies”) show up!