Customer Relationship Management (CRM/) is essentially how businesses more effectively than ever before can manage customer profiles, collect information and consequently predict and help automate the sales process. A CRM platform is a must-have in today's data-driven world—at least for those companies that want to remain competitive and be able to stay on top of customer servicerelations issues with any amount of efficiency.
Add to a comprehensive CRM system a robust social media marketing strategy and your business is poised to gain an even "bigger picture" approach to understanding customers and their overall onlinepurchasing behavior.
The ever-evolving social media platforms out there also allow you to track pertinent data relevant to those users who engage with you. So what happens when combining the power of CRM and the social media information that you can collect…You get even deeper insights into who your target consumers are, what patterns they exhibit and ultimately, how to best utilize this knowledge to your marketing advantage.
Today's consumers do expect businesses to "know" them; in other words, if they do interact with you on social media, if they've previously purchased something from you, if they've left you reviews, they expect you to remember this and react accordingly. With a social media/CRM platform you have easier access to these things and thus you do have a greater capacity to respond and engage. And of course, more engagement means more chance that that customer will keep coming back.
So how can you most effectively leverage your CRM platform in terms of social media marketing and social listening? Keep reading to find out more…
5 ways that a social CRM platform can be used to help your marketing strategy
1. Customer relationships can be optimized
By looking at such information as to how much the average customer spends on your products, their overall buying behavior and which products customers favor, among other data collected and then coupling this with the analytics gathered from social media channels, you have a far more comprehensive overview as far as any customer profile goes. As now you can also gauge things such as general interests, brands they follow, and the types of interactions they prefer.
2. A better tool for customizing social content
Social media CRM allows you to see things regarding your customers' likes/dislikes that perhaps you would not otherwise have access to. What influencers do they follow? Hashtags that keep coming up? Given what you discover you can then tailor content and make it more relevant to them, thereby boosting engagement.
3. Helps with social customer support
Customer service via social media channels is increasingly becoming a staple for numerous companies. And yet, users are somewhat disheartened by the efforts of many businesses in this capacity, as in a recent survey less than ten percent of those asked responded that they were satisfied with the quality of customer service through social media channels. By integrating CRM though, you now have access to your customers' histories. The combination of the two enables you to make smarter decisions when it comes to how you respond to your customers on any channel.
4. Enhance social advertising
With social CRM platforms, you can also define your target audience far more efficiently. This way too, when it comes to Facebook ads, for instance, you can now create such that are more aligned with the buying habits you observe via CRM tools. This also comes in very handy as far as generating ads that remind users to restock past purchases. Your paid campaigns will only benefit from social CRM tools, as you will see a much better ROI.
5. Suggest alternate purchases
As CRM tracks customer purchasing patterns and also can predict what they will be likely to buy in the future, by tying this to social media, you are now able to develop more dynamic campaigns around other relevant products. The integration of a social media strategy with CRM allows you overall to create more personalized messages and thus increases the likelihood that they will be susceptible to alternate product suggestions.
In the end, it is all about gaining the most comprehensive picture of your users. By using CRM and social media marketing together, you get a much better understanding of who your core audience is and consequently, the best strategies that you can use to target them. You are ultimately in more of a "direct" connection with the consumer.
If you are thinking about implementing a new marketing strategy, or want to update your CRM platform, First Union Lending can help. Our business loan programs are designed to be flexible and fast; meaning, we get you to cash for whatever project you have in mind and you receive the funding quickly. Call today to find out more about our business loan packages!