What is Social CRM

 What is Social CRM?

Social Customer Relationship Management or social CRM is nothing but communicating with customers through social networking sites like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Social CRM integrates social media platforms with customer relationship management (CRM) systems to provide insight into customer interactions with a brand, and to improve the quality of customer engagement. Social CRM refers to the methods used to establish customer relationship using various tools on social networks. It is a lot different from the traditional CRM.

Traditional vs. Social CRM

Traditional CRM majorly stores and manages the static customer data like names, organizations, demographic information, and transaction history and so on. Traditional CRM get this data sourced from email and phone interactions, company records or data fed in survey forms. However, Social CRM offers different advantages than traditional CRM in that it targets prospective customers through social media platforms and offers more convenient customer service, as well as a more personalized marketing strategy.

As we know the dynamics of marketing has been completely changed in past few years. Consumers not only buy the product or services , they also buy feelings, emotions that urge them to buy and stay connected with the particular brand for a longer time. Social CRM is not simply based on client data and client interaction however; it is more based on conversations and relationship we build with customers during the interactions over the social networking websites.

On the other hand Traditional CRM applies an approach of direct advertising to enhance sales, gather customer data to target campaigns at specific consumers, and aims to retain current customers. In addition, customer service is often automated, and customers share the experience through word-of-mouth. Social CRM is based more on customer engagement. Social CRM enables the sales and marketing team to analyse the sales communications between consumers and businesses through social media channels and review platforms.

In this manner Social Customer Relationship Management facilitates sales and marketing team to create a roadmap to prospects, provides faster and better customer service through a consumer's preferred social media platform, and enables consumers to share their experiences with billions online.

 Social Media CRM Tool and Strategies

As we know Social Customer Relationship Management system based on customer engagement, so it uses the following metrics to evaluate the level of successful customer engagement:

Traffic:  Social CRM measures traffic and conversion rates from social media platforms. This enables a business to see how many customers visit sites and how those clicks convert into value.

Engagement: Social CRM enables you to measure not just clicks, but user engagement with the sites.

Level of followers:  Social CRM helps identify active followers and how they do or do not interact with the company's content.

Brand mentions: Social CRM helps measure how many followers are talking about a company or brand, and if those customers are sharing their experiences via social media platforms.

Difference between Social CRM and Social Media

Social media involves social networking websites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. If we talk in terms of business then, customers use these social networking websites to communicate with various organizations and to share their experiences online. On the other side Social CRM is a unique way to know what customers are speaking on social networking websites about any brand, and it’s not only storing the customer information in a customer relationship management system.

Significance of Social CRM

As per one of the recent surveys done by Twitter and Market Probe International, 64 per cent of social media users have shared a positive experience about a business online. By implementing the Social CRM strategy to your business you can avail ample of benefits that are as follows:

Marketing teams can identify and track your businesses biggest online champions and influencers and follow what they are saying and sharing.

Upper management can prioritise social prospecting with the involvement of all relevant employees

Business become less reliant on individual employees for managing a social media presence and less affected if these employees leave.

The Power of Social CRM

Social media empowers businesses to harness the power of community participation and collaboration. These two qualities are inherent in social media and essential in social media strategy. Undoubtedly, inviting community participation comes with some risk too. It is not possible to control what people say about any brand on any social media channel. However, a business should keep track of consumers’ statements, respond to them, and engage with them in a positive way that prompts constructive discussion. Companies should examine customers’ insights, concerns, complaints, and requirements and then onwards find creative, effective ways to participate in discussions with consumers.

The most advantageous and influential part of social CRM consists of tracking the market trends and knowing what consumers are saying about your business or any other brand. Social CRM lets you know what consumers speak about your business that helps your business to address customer needs and concerns in an effective manner. With the power of social CRM, your business has easy access to early warning signs of negative press and dialogue and, at the same time, a platform where your business can address it and mitigate if any damage is done at a very initial stage. By creating a strong social presence of your brand, you enable customers and prospects to find and contact you, providing you more chances to establish and nurture relationships. Social networking websites also offer a platform to address any concerns of customers quickly and effectively. As we know, a customer’s ugly experience with a support person can go viral and ruin your business’ reputation. However, with Social CRM, your business can address dissatisfied customers immediately and in ways that create positive customer experiences.

As your business begins to generate and disperse content, social CRM tools allow you to track your community’s response and start to identify the most influential members who spread across the positive word of mouth about your business and whom other community members look to for information and guidance. Once these key influencers are identified, you can reward them.

Social CRM allows your business to conduct surveys with targeted demographics to analyze the behavioral and geographic profiles of customers and leads. You can run various social media campaigns that give you a brief view of products and services that have a positive impact on customers and also those that have a negative or no impact on customers.

 Benefits of Social CRM

Using social CRM as a central component of your business model can bring significant benefits that are as follows:

Customer Retention

Social CRM allows you to address customers’ queries and complaints effectively and in a timely manner, which creates a positive impact on customers. It also enhances customer loyalty. It also enables you to know more about your leads and existing customers. You can gain a better understanding of your customers’ passions, lifestyles, activities, and so on. This customer-centric data enables you to cater to the needs of customers and leads more effectively.

Social media strategy also provides you an opportunity to proactively listen to customers’ requirements and what they feel about your business. Social CRM allows you to enter the vicinity where people discuss their needs and also discussing your brand and business products and services. You can show that you care for your customers by being where your customers are, listen to them carefully what they say, and get engaged in those discussions when appropriate.

Generate Leads

Uploading relevant content on social media channels that address customer’s needs, provides solutions to their issues, and guides them take the maximum advantage of your products and services is one of the most effective ways to generate qualified leads. Your existing customers recognize the value your business offers, and they spread the positive word of mouth. Social CRM is not only limited to marketing and selling your products or services, but it is all about offering real value and teaming up with consumers to enhance their experience and buying journey.

Lead Conversion

Social CRM amplifies your lead conversion rates dramatically. However, to achieve such a massive lead conversion, your customer conversion process should be automated, seamless, and without any hassle, both online and offline:

Online: You can channelize the process for signing up for your products and services or purchasing products. For example, Amazon.com follows the same model.

Offline: If your sales process is working offline, then you must ensure that your sales team is proactive enough to act on leads swiftly coming in from your business website.

Stronger Brand Presence

Relationships get established well if it is two-way communication. You must follow people if you wish that people follow our business on twitter, facebook, LinkedIn, and so on. As you want that people should take an interest in your brand or business products and services, then you must also show interest in knowing what people want from your products and services. Go through the consumers’ blogs and comments and try to understand what their concerns are. This will generate confidence in consumers’ minds regarding your brand that you care for them and ready to listen to them. Besides this merely showing interest in consumers’ blog and comments not enough, try to come up with solutions for their issues and also share valuable insights regarding your business products and services that will help prospects and your existing customers to know your brand in a better manner. You can also create your brand presence online stronger by re-posting something that has been already shared on the internet related to your business and industry. Retweet the content on twitter that is related to your brand or industry.

Try to make the most of all social media channels by promoting your business content entailing your business products and services information on YouTube, Flickr, Slideshare, and other content-sharing venues. Also, share the links of these social media handles on your business website that encourages your website viewers to connect with you on various social media platforms. Contact and try to take the interview of key influencers of your online community and feature those interviews in an article or blog post of your website.

Reduce support costs

Addressing customer nitty-gritty issues online on social media platforms saves the time of your support team, and also the expense goes down in hiring more employees in the support team. Addressing the queries of consumers on social media channels is an easy and time-saving activity. Even customers don’t want to call on toll-free no’s and wait on IVR for a longer time. On social media channels, it is more convenient to interact with each other.

Thus, Social CRM is a basic need for any growing business today. Undoubtedly, Social CRM software is the most buzz word these days because it is not just a unique way to sell your products and service but a more effective way to build a content strategy of your business and present in from of the target audience and existing customers. Here businesses not pushing the consumers to buy from them but actually educating the customer about how their products and services are most appropriate as per their requirements. Besides this, Social CRM strategies help businesses to delight their existing customers by addressing their issues quickly and generate customer loyalty.