Social CRM: when customer relations and social networks go hand in hand
What is social CRM?
Social networks have revolutionized the way consumers interact with companies. Whether it's giving feedback, asking a question of customer service or seeking information, more and more consumers are turning to these channels for the speed and availability of answers.
According to a report by NM Incite, 71% of consumers who had a good service experience on social networks were likely to recommend the brand in 2016.
Find out more about this unavoidable trend in customer relations today, as well as some examples of CRM strategy and tools, making it easier to prospect and build customer loyalty!
What is social CRM? Definition
First and foremost, what does CRM stand for? It stands for Customer Relationship Management, and refers both to the management of customer relationships and to the tools used to do so. It's also sometimes referred to as GRC (gestion de la relation client).
Social CRM, or SCRM, combines two concepts:
- that of customer relationship management, through customer knowledge and the centralization of customer interactions;
- social media management, i.e. the management of social media and the use of the data they circulate, to support a company's marketing activities and sales development, among other things.
The recent trend in social CRM, or SCRM, is therefore the use of social social networks as part of a CRM marketing strategy.
💡 Often used in B2C, social CRM can also be used in B2B.
From CRM to social media CRM
Sales lead to customer service, which leads to a more targeted marketing strategy, which leads to more sales (virtuous circle).
Social CRM objectives
To return to the diagram above, with social CRM, we're talking about :
- social selling: collecting and analyzing data to understand the online customer journey and encourage the act of buying;
- social support: developing customer support, in particular via conversational tools;
- social marketing: increasing web visibility and engaging communities.
More than ever, the customer is at the heart of everything we do.
But if CRM objectives are the same as with a "classic" CRM, the company must now respond to the need for speed, via multi-channel customer management that is increasingly asynchronous (in deferred time, without spatial or temporal constraints).
The challenges of social CRM
The challenges of social CRM are the same as those of traditional customer relationship management, such as collecting and centralizing information on prospects for marketing segmentation and targeting, collaboration between sales, marketing and support teams, performance monitoring, etc., but the means deployed differ.
With an increasingly customer-centric approach, customer relations and marketing managers have had to rethink their approach and integrate the social dimension into their customer relations management, as well as their tools.
Main differences between CRM and social CRM
As we've seen, the stakes and objectives are the same, only the approach, the points of contact and the timeframe differ.
Social CRM works on the customer's terms.
The customer becomes a player in the customer relationship, contacting the company via the channel of his choice and at the time of his choice.
The company, for its part, reaches a wider target, but qualifies it more easily by varying digital media and emphasizing the interactive aspect.
Consumers openly give their opinion and the keys to sending them the right message.
Why use S-CRM?
- To have a 360° view of the customer, thanks to multi-channel management;
- To maintain a social presence and control e-reputation;
- To avoid missing out on opportunities to get to know and interact with prospects;
- To detect and track market trends;
- To attract new customers;
- To retain existing customers;
- To defuse potential bad buzz;
- To identify industry influencers;
- To create a community of brand ambassadors and measure recommendation capacity;
- To convey a modern brand image.
Using social CRM: examples of tools and tips
What is a social CRM tool?
Online CRM (or e-CRM) publishers are now developing the tool by integrating a connection with social networks, in addition to traditional channels.
A social CRM platform thus offers companies a solution adapted to social CRM, and enables customers to interact with them via their preferred channel. What are the benefits of social CRM for your customer relations?
- Centralization of multi-channel customer data: social CRM features a unified timeline and live feed to receive all customer requests in a single space.
- Personalized exchanges: the user's profile appears in the CRM so you know who you're responding to, and can even access advanced statistics such as the pages of your site they've consulted. In this way, you can contextualize their request, personalize your response and your future marketing campaigns.
- Finer customer knowledge: connecting your CRM to social media enables you to exploit the data collected there for better segmentation, particularly in terms of behavior. An integrated targeting tool allows you to add listening rules according to your objectives.
- Conversational interaction: you don't reply on the original social network, but in a dedicated conversational space, which each team member can consult. Conversations initiated on social networks not only generate data on the quality of the customer experience, but also improve it.
- ROI measurement and reporting: thanks to the tracking of links published on social networks, you'll know which channel has been used to reach your customers, so you can determine which investments to prioritize next. Track performance indicators such as sales generated per social contact, ROI per channel, etc.
Social CRM: examples of tools
If it's important to take care of your social networking strategy, it's equally important to integrate it with a CRM tool to exploit its full potential. Here's a selection of software to help you do just that:
- Ring Central Experience Client, for managing flows from all digital channels, including social networks and online chat, centralized in a single tool.
- Salesforce Marketing Cloud, and its Social Studio module, for "listening" to conversations on social networks, while engaging your community and tracking your multi-channel exchanges from a single interface.
- SuiteCRM is an open-source CRM that can be fully customized to your needs, and offers numerous add-ons for centralizing customer follow-up on social networks (Whatsapp, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.).
Tips for optimizing your social CRM strategy
- To enrich CRM, a company can encourage :
- customers to leave a review on their Facebook page,
- or its prospects to take part in a game with a prize draw, in exchange for answering a few questions about their needs or consumption habits, in order to get a better idea of them.
- To manage customer relations, a chatbot can be developed to answer simple questions, or schedule a phone call for more complex questions if necessary.
- Implement a social CRM datastrategy , based on data collection via social networks (in compliance with the RGPD). Because knowing your prospects and customers well means you can offer them the products or services they need, and communicate with them in the right way.
Putting people at the heart of CRM strategy
Social CRM isn't about technology. It's about the people, processes and cultural changes needed to sustain and grow a business.
M. Lieberman, VP, SugarCRM sur emarketing.fr
SCRM enriches your relational strategy and encourages greater commitment from your target audience.
Are you ready to take advantage of social network exchanges to feed your CRM?
Updated article, originally published in July 2020.
Article translated from French