Social CRM is quickly overtaking traditional CRM in the eyes of companies of all sizes. Brands no longer use social media for the sake of just having an online presence. Departments can now access insightful information gathered through social interactions. 

In turn, the social media team can benefit greatly from client information from other departments.

Social CRM: What is it?

It stands for customer relationship management on social media. It entails integrating social media platforms with your CRM system so that every team member within the business has access to a complete record of interactions with the client or potential client. Social relationships can therefore develop into viable business leads. 

You may more clearly assess the success of your social marketing strategy by integrating social media into your CRM. Direct links between client interactions on social networks and business consequences like a purchase or subscription are possible. You can develop highly focused, bespoke audiences for social ads. 

The ideal foundation for audience segments is the qualities of existing customers. Indeed, businesses can increase customer involvement by using social CRM. Customers participate actively in a brand’s story rather than being passive spectators, which allows them to understand how much a company values them as a client.

Why is social CRM vital for your company?

The traditional methods of marketing and sales are rapidly being replaced by a more social and participatory approach. It’s crucial for businesses to adapt to this new style of thinking because the sales environment is rapidly changing and leading to the emergence of new business models. Social CRM is the most current development in customer relationship management solutions. 

This platform can be used simultaneously, or both internally and externally. As a result, it can benefit the customer base, boost sales, or help with enhancing communication amongst a company’s business sectors.

A modification of viewpoint

The CRM tool is enhanced by a social CRM by enabling real-time data exchange. Similar to a newsfeed on a social networking platform, regular live updates allow for the most accurate stats. It allows for controlled and monitored interaction with customers on social media. Social media monitoring is a term that has been used to describe this behavior. 

Due to the fierce competition in every market, the focus has switched to the client experience. To manage the varied spectrum of social media, analysis and decision-making engines are crucial. The sales presentation has been replaced by customer involvement, and the goal is to strengthen bonds through more considerate and amiable interactions.

It aids in the publication of important information and can offer quick feedback on business performance.

You may start providing your clients with content after you understand what they find important. Find out what matters most to your potential customers. You need to recognize and get rid of the things that are holding you back if you want to advance. Listening to your customers is the best approach to identifying those. Online, a lot of people communicate their impressions with friends and followers.

By increasing the amount of input you receive through social CRM, you may improve the precision of your analysis. Strategic, customer-based decision making is increasingly driven by real-time data, monitoring, and analytics.  By monitoring factors like consumer behavior, key words, and click throughs, businesses may learn things like the best time to post and what products are in demand. 

They can then increase sales using this knowledge. Even though it can be time-consuming, this modern marketing tactic is substantially less expensive than the conventional one. The program evaluates how users relate to, view, and interact with the neighborhood as a whole. Plans for products, marketing, and sales are then built using this information.

You can better understand your target market.

Assume you are regularly engaging with your prospects on social media, which is their natural environment. You are aware of their desires, emotions, inspirations, and annoyances. You learn more detailed, practical information about your clients’ attitudes toward your business, your brand, and certain goods and services. 

The sales teams may now socialize in a common space with other like-minded individuals with conversion as their ultimate goal. This is categorized as “consumer intelligence” and, conceptually, is related to business analytics. Social CRM puts the client front more. It is more dependent on dynamic shifts in the online behavior of prospects than it is on pre-established procedures. 

The one fatal flaw of traditional CRM is the lack of synchronization. Contact information is manually updated after being input but not necessarily as changes occur. You run a greater chance of engaging with someone who is no longer interested in what you have to offer and conveying your message to the incorrect audience.

It increases the leverage of the customer success and customer support teams.

Social media benefits organizations with internal CRM platforms. An internal social CRM that encourages communication and collaboration between business groups enables a customer-focused sales cycle. Internal newsfeeds, threads, and the choice to “follow” or “like” other employees have all improved communication between organizational silos. Business operations can be expedited when there is an open flow between sales, support, and product offerings.

Monitoring the social media activity of your target market gives your customer success and customer support employees the most current details on any potential problems that your customers might encounter. You may position your business as a proactive customer-centric one if your customer success team responds to these issues before the consumer contacts you to request assistance. The more time you have to discover a solution, the sooner you realize there is a problem.

Increased brand awareness results and gives your brand a more human touch.

Your brand will become more visible online as a result of social selling. Assume your social selling efforts are successful and your remarks are pertinent and useful. You’ll receive a lot of likes, reposts, and other social engagement signals in that situation, which will encourage word-of-mouth advertising. Statistics show that brands are more well-known when they increase their social media production by 10%. So, you may practice cold calling with social CRM. You may approach your prospects more personally if you are aware of what is going on in their lives based on their social media posts. 

It enables companies to build solid ties with their clients. In general, if you have a deep understanding of your clients, they will regard you as a reliable friend.

Strategies for using social media CRM for business

Utilizing social data to provide superior client service.

76% of customers say they look forward to consistent contact from all departments. More than half (54%) assert, however, that teams don’t seem to share the information due to receiving different responses from the sales, support, and marketing firms. Social CRM gives you a complete picture of your customers’ interactions with your business, including their social networks. 

Based on this new knowledge and how it helps you communicate with real people, develop a social media CRM plan.

Using social CRM to completely understand the value of a lead and a client.

When you have a thorough grasp of how social interactions affect sales, you can fully appreciate the value of a social lead over time. You can use this to help you create a social media budget, especially for the money you want to spend on social marketing.

Create specific audiences for social media advertisements using CRM data.

CRM enables you to identify your customers. Based on factors like age, geography, social activities, and other factors, social CRM enables you to transform that data into highly targeted new lookalike audiences for social marketing. Compared to a lookalike audience based on fans or followers, a lookalike audience focused on customers who have already made a purchase from you is more likely to result in conversions.

Improving lead qualification with media networks.

Including social interactions into customer and lead profiles can aid in the quicker and more accurate qualification of leads. Make sure you have the right campaigns and offers in place to nurture leads that you receive from social media networks. Think of drip campaigns, opt-in newsletters, and deals that are only accessible to social leads. 

As you move toward the sale, this will help you establish your reputation and develop the relationship.

Bottom Line

Through a variety of cross-analysis procedures, the top social CRMs on the market assist in ensuring the lowest cost of customer acquisition and retention. They help businesses throughout the whole sales cycle, from lead creation and nurturing to conversion expenses, make informed decisions. This is based on how well their various social media strategies have performed generally.

Larger businesses can use social statistics and big data analytics to monitor client contact in real-time reporting. In the end, a competent social CRM will offer guidance in making decisions to spur growth through personalized, targeted advertising. You can see that Social CRM accomplishes much more than simply storing client data. It is necessary for all prosperous enterprises. You can increase productivity and forge enduring bonds with your customers by making the most of social media’s wealth of knowledge.

Martin Gessner

Martin Gessner is the Founder of Focus on Force.

He has spent over 10 years working in various Salesforce roles including business analyst, project manager, consultant and solutions architect. Along the way he has earned twelve certifications, published "The Salesforce Career Playbook", and helps Salesforce professionals learn more about Salesforce, develop their career and prepare for certifications.