Social media marketing is a relative newcomer to popular culture but already it is showing plenty of potential to change the way how all the modern world communicate, relate, socialise and talk with each other Goth Egg. The continued meteoric rise of social support systems such as for example Facebook, MySpace and Twitter is at least amazing, especially among the younger generation. It is unsurprising that businesses everywhere are trying to find ways how they are able to tap into social networking and the potential markets which they represent.
A vital feature of social networking is that they are not really much determined by the effectiveness of every person network, but instead on the constantly evolving ecosystem caused by their “openness” to be shaped and moulded by the wants of the users and third parties who use these media as platforms from which they are able to indulge in a wide range of activities, from entertainment, to selling goods and services, to education. In layman’s terms, this inherent willingness to talk about control with users along with the focus on user-generated content has been a fertile breeding ground for famous brands application development, network integration and content management for businesses. Thus, the stage is defined for customer relationship management (CRM) to enter the scene.
CRM strives for the ultimate goal of maximising customer value through the procedure of managing business interactions and relationships with customers at the right place, at the right time and in the right manner. Social media marketing and its potential in CRM to forge a really and completely satisfying experience for customers and a rewarding long-term relationship between customers and businesses are getting sending waves of excitement throughout the, and with valid reason too.
Listed here are four ways how this new media is changing the landscape of the CRM industry and the way we do business.
Social media marketing changes the way how businesses listen. Social media marketing networks are treasure troves of information just waiting to be gleaned for information on what customers say about your business, your competition and your products and services. Businesses who would like to tap into this wealth of information must be willing to listen to what the consumer wants. No more could it be sufficient to deal with social networking as just channels for public relations or as a medium to conduct regular brand audits. Hearing the pulse of social networking should really be a dynamic process that will lead to insights that may shape all your business activities, from product design and concept, to marketing campaigns, to website content and management, and to customer service training.
Social media marketing changes the way how businesses respond. Social media marketing and networks allows businesses to listen to and react to customer sentiment and feedback in real time. In addition, it yields more opportunities to engage with active customers, market influencers and prospects in a timely manner, if it be actively reaching out to customers or identifying and addressing problems before it results in a PR disaster
Social media marketing allows businesses to gather and process more detailed information regarding customers and prospects and consolidate them into even more detailed profiles. It is difficult to overemphasize the added layers of information, detail and potential ROI which social networking will bring to CRM and the benefits businesses can gain from it. It can also transform CRM from being merely an end-to-end process in the customer-business transaction into a focused proactive player. It can help to offer essential background information to sales staff, especially in business-to-business situations and sales cycle management. Information gathered may be used to directly address individual concerns and thus, create more opportunities to boost customer care and subsequently ultimately causing more business and repeat purchases.
Social media marketing changes the way how customers and prospects can decide to take part in CRM. Social media marketing and networks now give users somewhat more control over how they desire their information to be shared online when compared with practices in the past. Websites originally established by businesses to offer information to customers and act as self-service portals have moved past online message and forum boards and evolved into communities where the relationship between businesses and customers is more collaborative and information flows both ways. This change is apparent not merely in business-sponsored websites but in addition in the wider realm of public social networks.
As is seen, these four trends have the potential to drastically revolutionize the way businesses approach CRM along with greatly improve the impact of CRM in organizations. However, despite their growing popularity, organizations wanting to incorporate social networking into their business models must proceed carefully, taking into consideration industry standards, market demographics, their business’s maturity, and their particular CRM goals.