Any business that means business should have a customer relationship management (CRM) strategy.
In simple terms, CRM describes the ways in which an enterprise manages its customer relationships. Traditionally, CRM might have consisted of a database containing important customer information that would allow a business to do the following:
- Identify and target potential customers, manage marketing campaigns and generate sales leads
- Improve telesales, account and sales management through efficient sharing of information
- Form relationships with customers, improving customer satisfaction and building profits
- Garner the level of information necessary to know customers, understand their needs and deliver a high level of service
The world of CRM has been turned on its head with the advent of social media. Olivier Blanchard, President of marketing firm The Brand Builder, defines social CRM as: “A business function supported by a system of technologies whose aim is to improve a company’s ability to derive insights into customer needs and behaviours by connecting their transaction data with the lifestyle data they share online.”
The fact is that all enterprises need to integrate social media into their CRM strategies in order to be successful: millions of people worldwide – an estimated 80 per cent of the world’s population – use social media to share their experiences of products, services and brands. A customer who has a bad experience with a product can now, quite publicly, air their frustrations online. The power has moved from the corporation to the consumer – the need for enterprises to focus on customer experience has never been more crucial.
Social networking, blogging, microblogging, media sharing,
Customers love nothing more than sharing their experiences through social networking, blogging, microblogging, media sharing, social bookmarking, geo-social, e-commerce and virtual communities. But rather than freaking out at this new level of user-generated content (UGC), an organisation can listen and use the information to understand what makes their customers tick, reworking merchandising strategies, devising marketing campaigns and fostering closer links with their customer base.
One clear advantage for an enterprise choosing to embrace UGC is that their websites tend to rank higher with the leading search engines. In addition, UGC increases the likelihood that a customer will buy, because they are more trusting of brands that come with reviews. Less tangible, but equally important, is the information gleaned about product issues, customer preferences and trends.
Specialist companies
In order to benefit from social CRM, it is vital that social media is fully integrated with the technologies a company uses to manage its customer relationships. For those who don’t know where to start, there are specialist companies that can help you through the quagmire.
There are many experts out there who are passionate about creating loyalty and profitable customer relationships – experts who know all about engaging with and retaining customers through their ICLP loyalty approach.
The experts examine company data across all channels and touch-points, uncovering insights that can be converted into loyalty concepts and marketing programmes, with the aim of meeting company objectives and securing customer commitment.
Mainstream adoption of social media will continue to grow, meaning that the frequency with which customers interact with companies and brands will only get stronger. Through careful social platform selection and data analysis, organisations can implement social CRM strategies to stay ahead of the game.