How Companies Are Using Social Media To Become More Customer-Centric

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CIOs & CMOs

BII

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We've all heard that the secret to success at any company is to be obsessively customer-centric.

That's easier said than done. Especially today — when customers interact with companies and brands incessantly through a dizzying variety of channels: email, mobile apps, and increasingly, social media.

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Historically, the heart of a company's customer service efforts is a piece of technology known as Customer Relationship Management, or the CRM.

But traditional CRM software — organized around databases of emails, addresses, phone numbers, and customer histories — doesn't always keep up with today's communications habits, particularly when it comes to social media.

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Today's customers expect brands and businesses to be there for them everywhere, across mobile and social media.

That's why customer relationship management is refocusing on social media. It is also becoming more flexible, fast-paced, and interested in customer opinions.

In a new report from BI Intelligence, Business Insider's paid research service, we explore how companies are interacting more effectively and serving customers better with a focus on social media.

We refer to this sea change as social customer relationship management (social CRM, or SCRM).

Gain instant access to this report by signing up for a free trial of BI Intelligence >

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Here are some highlights from the report on social customer management:

  • The report looks at data and mini-case studies to reveal the best practices for opening up customer relationship management, and involving different facets of business organizations in this function, from customer service teams, to marketing departments, IT officers, and sales executives.
  • The wealth of data on customer desires being generated by this strategy is helping organizations work more effectively, and achieve better results.
  • We discuss social CRM's huge sales potential. The data shows that social customer management doubles the percentage of sales leads that result in actual sales, relative to traditional CRM approaches.
  • The report also explores the three main differences between traditional and new social-influenced approaches to customer service and relationship management.
  • We explain why it is critical for brands to adopt a social customer strategy, especially as social media and mobile apps begin to mediate more and more customer feedback, purchase decisions, commerce transactions.
  • We present the four necessary ingredients of a successful social customer strategy, and mini-case studies of businesses that have paved the way for holistic approaches such as SCRM.
  • We'll answer frequently asked questions about social customer relationship management and what defines it.
  • We explain the fact that because social customer management is a strategic stance rather than something that comes out of a box like brand-name CRM software, it has often fallen on deaf ears.
  • The report digs into data showing that a social customer strategy will differentiate companies from the pack, which is still woefully bad at responding to customers on social media.
  • Boosting leads and customer lifetime value are two aims of social customer management, but a broader goal is to bring customers' concerns deeper into the company's decision-making.

The full report provides in-depth analysis and detailed data on these trends, including ten charts with underlying data sets that subscribers can download and use in spreadsheet format. Subscribers also gain access to ongoing data-driven coverage of social media strategy and social media customer service.

For full access to this report along with dozens of in-depth social media and mobile industry reports and a library of hundreds of charts, sign up for a two-week free trial of BI Intelligence.