How many of you have complained on a company’s social media
platform, and got a response? If you haven’t used the social channel so far,
you might be in for a pleasant surprise. Companies are getting increasingly
friendly with social networks and using them day in and out to interact with
their customers, and for customer relationship management. A few times when
I've reached out on social networks, my issues were resolved in no time.
Companies are laying a lot of impetus on their "social reputation"
The past decade has seen one major change in the field of
corporate communications. It is no more company-centric but rather consumer-centric.
The focus is on saying what and how, the consumer wants to hear. This new
development means that marketers need to know their consumers, listen to them and
understand them. The need to interact with consumers on their preferred
channels at a time convenient to them has forced corporations to embrace social
media networks. It is a huge cultural shift enabled by the collaborative
philosophy of Web 2.0.
What is Social Intelligence?
Since social media is driving CRM, companies have to develop
social intelligence to interact with the consumers to make a real impact. It is
not just about meeting consumer expectations, but differentiating experiences,
having the ability to rise above the noise out there. Over the years,
traditional CRM has quietly evolved into social CRM because of an increasing use
of social media in corporate communications. How does a company achieve social
networking maturity and harness the tools of social CRM- is a common question
many small businesses wonder about. The process is complex: from establishing a
mere presence, to managing online communities and finally getting benefited via
Social ROI.
- By leveraging social customer insights gathered from numerous touch points in social interactions, a company can implement a sound social CRM strategy that will drive decision-making, maximize performance and surpass the competition.
- By aggregating information from social platforms, mobile and external data, a clear picture of potential clients or people of interest can be attained, leading to smarter marketing. This valuable information can also complement internal operations.
- By encouraging and facilitating meaningful social interactions, strong relationships can be established. Marketers must remember that Push marketing is not the ideal conversation for social media. Consumers have specific objectives when they interact with brand. It could be incentives, entertainment, problem-solving, knowledge, and so forth. Unless those objectives are met, these interactions will not lead to any results.
- By aggregating data from multiple social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram etc) with mobile, and external data like surveys, national stats etc, one can find a whole lot of information about any one person.
It is indeed intriguing to know how much data is available out there that can precisely pin-point people of interest to a company that has access to the right tools and tactics to derive that data.With a 360° view of a single customer, social CRM attains a new height allowing marketers to position their products much more effectively and participate in the customer’s decision making process.
