Brands and businesses using social data to inform their social media strategy
However, in more instances than ever before, social data is also being used in other areas of the business, and social media has evolved from just being a vehicle for marketing. ‘Social business’ and ‘social across the enterprise’ are now commonplace phrases in modern business terminology.
Why become a social business?
Social media is changing the way people connect, and is changing the relationship between consumers and brands. Becoming a social business means looking beyond social media to understand how it can benefit your business and change the way you operate. IBM’s statement on their website couldn’t have put it better:
'When you inspire your workforce to innovate and collaborate more productively, you create tangible business value. When you anticipate needs and deliver exceptional experiences, you delight your customers and create advocates. When you integrate…
Definition, frameworks and best practice advice from Accenture and Altimeter analysts
In October 2010 Accenture published a useful new guide to social CRM summarising the transformation required in organisations by the advent of Social CRM. This is useful addition to the framework of 18 CRM processes of Social CRM covered in the Altimeter Social CRM report from earlier in 2010 covered later in this briefing. We think Social CRM and Social Business are still useful concepts to explain the changes to a business needed for the transformation to make full use of social media - the 18 Use cases of Social CRM for example really shows the scope of social media is much more than posting updates on social networks.
The Accenture report summarises the transformation as follows:
Old world
This seems to be the situation c2000. Here a combination of outbound and inbound marketing occurs through a…
Reviewing the role of social media in CRM
Most brands understand the concept of promotion using social media but few understand how to attribute value in the same way as traditional broadcast media.
With the rise of the internet, customers have more choice and have access to more information. Not only are customers far more media savvy and less likely to buy into brand marketing, but they are making more and more purchase decisions based on their value set rather than need alone.
This works the same way for B2B as well as B2C brands, whether it be a product or service, we like to buy from a brand based on need fit but also our experience of the organisation. Factors such as personal recommendations, customer service experience and how well the brand values match our own are now key triggers for deciding on a brand's worth.
The traditional purchase process
…
Beware the social sprawl: consolidate your company's communities
Development of their own online communities by brands is one of the most popular social initiatives for 2013 according to new research. But Michael Fauscette warns that networks can get out of hand as they switch subscriptions to social software, chasing the next hot social tool that promises to deliver more effective collaboration than the last.
Each year, analyst IDC conducts a social business survey to examine the latest hot topic in the space. Whilst the trend of enterprise social network adoption has continued to progress steadily since the launch of the first survey in 2009, there is one area that has continued to evolve: social initiatives.
The…
A review of 2013 trends in Customer Relationship Management
MyCustomer.com recently caught up with CRM expert Paul Greenberg to get his thoughts on what emerged, re-emerged or strengthened in the industry over the past 12 months.
“In 2012, what you saw was the maturation of a lot of things that have been Wild West-y, edgy and unsettled for a long time in the CRM industry. You're now seeing the actual transformation of business on a global scale towards what IBM calls the 'Smarter planet'.”
So says Paul Greenberg, author of the seminal CRM at the Speed of Light and president of The 56 Group. In terms of enterprise software, the re-emergence of customer experience as a message from the vendors was one of the major trends to re-emerge this year, he explains. In…
Six serious misunderstandings about social CRM
18 months ago, customer-centric innovator Dr Graham Hill, authored Social CRM at a crossroads: Where to next?, an examination of the state of play in SCRM.
A year-and-a-half later, I've been reviewing with Graham how brands have been applying Social CRM. It seems that many brands may have taken a wrong turn. But before we get to some harsh truths, it’s worth emphasising the positives – because there has still been plenty of good work done in the interim.
Brands are listening to customers more; businesses are embracing social media as a communication channel; and vendors are developing a strong portfolio of social CRM technology. All laudable achievements.
However, Graham says, when he looks at how the social CRM movement has progressed in the past 18 months, ultimately he gets a feeling of “déjà vu”. Similarities…
Over 44% of adults now using the web to share grievances
Value: [rating=4]
Recommended link: Social Media Leadership forum
This report examines the role played by social media within the rapidly changing landscape of customer service. It was commissioned by Natalie Cowen, Head of Brand and Communications, first direct and created by Dr Andrew Currah.
The report reminds us how important the web and social media in particular have become to brands. In the Exec Summary, Natalie Cowen says:
“Over 44% of adults now use the web to share grievances about products, with companies expected to interact with companies online and get a speedy response”
It seems that many companies haven't changed the way they manage customer service in line with this - Dan Bosomworth summarised a survey in the autumn last year suggesting that 95% of customer Facebook posts were ignored by brands.
We’re alerting you to this new report, since if…
5 rules to live by for your social content strategy
I picked up a copy of the new "Social CRM for Dummies" at the Adobe/Omniture Summit last week and thought I would share some of the ideas from it and alert you to it since it's available as a free download (registration required).
About the guide
You'll know the yellow "Dummies" guides. This isn't a full guide, but a free, short 50 odd page guide created for lead-generation/customers by EmailVision. I think it's still worth scanning, particularly if it's early days in developing your social CRM strategy.
Content generation and distribution strategy
I thought the guidelines on this topic were useful, so I would expand on them. The authors of the guide say that "content generation should be proactive, persistent, multichannel, relevant, high quality and two way.
Here is my guidance, prompted by these ideas, these are the 5 rules to live by when defining and…
5 B2B Social CRM case studies to learn from
Value: [rating=4]
Our commentary : The hunger for information on how to apply social CRM in 2009 and 2010 is shown at the start of this post.
It's helpful since it features 5 mainly B2B mini social CRM case studies - often a good way to learn!
I'm not so keen on the definition of Social CRM in the link below though - this definition of social CRM scopes it better I think. The scope is scary = CRM.
Marketing implications : This post could be helpful if you want to know more about how you could harness social CRM and some of the software tools you could use to support it.
Recommended link: Social CRM case studies…
