Social CRM: our 6 tips for combining customer relations and social networks
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: gathering 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 delivering the right message.
Why use an S-CRM?
What is social CRM, and how does it work?
Publishers of online CRM (or e-CRM) 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 lets you add listening rules according to your objectives.
- Conversational interaction: you don't respond on the original social network, but in a dedicated conversational space, which each team member can consult. Conversations 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.
10 advantages of using social CRM for your customer relations
- A 360° view of the customer, thanks to multi-channel management;
- To have a social presence and control your e-reputation;
- So you don't miss 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.
Which social CRM is right for you? 6 software packages to compare
Leaddelta
Leaddelta is an excellent Social CRM tool if you're mainly leveraging an audience from Linkedin. In particular, it offers a much more comprehensive inbox than the one natively integrated into the platform.
Another feature: connection management. Leaddelta lets you assign tags to your contacts, delete them in bulk, and so on. For Linkedin, it's the perfect tool. On the other hand, if you're looking for a multi-channel tool, opt for another CRM on our list.
Leaddelta is available from $24.99/month.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Linkedin Sales Navigator, as the name suggests, is another CRM tool for Linkedin. Leveraging the platform's immense B2B database, Sales Navigator connects you with thousands of contacts.
It offers a wide range of filters, enabling you to carry out targeted, relevant searches. With Linkedin Sales Navigator, you can also create contact lists. Very useful for segmenting campaigns.
The tool is available in several packages, from $99 to $149/month.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator
RingCentral Experience Client
RingCentral Experience Client revolutionizes the way organizations communicate. The cloud-based tool centralizes flows from all digital channels, social networks and online chat into a single interface.
The software also integrates all modes of communication (telephony, videoconferencing, messaging and contact center, etc.), so all your teams have to do is choose. RingCentral Experience Client is intuitive, easy-to-use and powerful.
RingEX offers a range of packages, starting at US$30 per user per month.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Salesforce Marketing Cloud is Salesforce's all-in-one marketing platform. It enables you to manage marketing campaigns across absolutely all social channels.
The Studio module includes a social listening function. This means the tool can track in real time what people are saying on social networks about your brand. It's a great way to take the temperature without spending time and money on surveys.
Social Studio also lets you engage your community through centralized post publishing and performance analysis.
Marketing Cloud
Sleekflow
SleekFlow is an omnichannel conversational AI platform. In concrete terms, it centralizes all conversations from different sources (WhatsApp, Instagram, live chat, etc.) to standardize the customer journey.
The beauty of SleekFlow is that it uses artificial intelligence to propose intelligent conversations with users. The tool is aimed at absolutely all areas of the company: marketing, sales and support teams.
It's a solution that can support the development of a structure without investing in more human resources, and automate many repetitive tasks.
Taplio
Taplio is an all-in-one Social CRM tool for leveraging the Linkedin audience. It offers a range of tools for analysis (KPIs, post performance, etc.), post creation (AI assistant, viral content libraries) and lead generation (mass personalized messages, classic CRM integration, etc.).
Taplio is compatible with Sales Navigator to make the most of your database. A powerful lead magnet. Taplio costs $39/month.
6 tips for optimizing your social CRM strategy
Tip 1: Choose the right channels and tools
The first step in a social CRM strategy is to analyze your target audience. The objective? Identify the social network on which they are most active. This approach will enable you to focus your efforts on high-performance platforms.
B2B customers generally prefer Linkedin or Facebook. As for consumers, they're more likely to turn to Instagram or TikTok.
But, of course, it's not an exact science. Once you've selected your social networks, invest in high-performance tools to retrieve, centralize and exploit your social data.
Tip 2: organize teams and processes around the connected customer
In a CRM strategy, the user is the actor in the customer relationship. It's their choice of channels and the questions they ask that will guide their customer journey. Define precise processes upstream for the members of your Social CRM team:
- Who answers on the front line?
- When to transfer a request to an expert?
- What tone should be used? Etc.
Thanks to this approach, all team members (community manager, social customer service, data analyst) will know exactly what their role and responsibilities are.
As a result, you gain in productivity and communication.
Tip 3: Align marketing, customer service and sales around an omnichannel vision
The effectiveness of a social CRM strategy depends on coordination between the company's 3 main departments: marketing, sales and customer service. To foster communication between these areas, create a culture of collaboration with common objectives and KPIs, as well as the implementation of cross-functional meetings.
✅ Each department should contribute information that benefits the others.
Tip 4: Encourage customer feedback
Customer feedback offers two main benefits. On the one hand, they serve as a basis for improving processes, marketing campaigns and products. On the other, they are a valuable conversion lever.
Indeed, according to a Hootsuite study dating back to 2022, over 70% of consumers will be more inclined to use a company if it answers their questions accurately. Your strategy should therefore involve 3 steps:
- encourage reviews,
- respond to them,
- and take them into account.
Tip 5: Implement a social CRM data strategy
Data collection is at the heart of Social CRM strategies. It must be based on relevant metrics (engagement and conversion rates, interaction volume, ratio of positive/negative comments, etc.). Once collected, integrate this data with your traditional CRM to optimize audience segmentation.
Tip 6: Measure impact and adjust your social media and CRM strategy
The social network ecosystem is constantly evolving. To keep up, you need accurate insights. To do this, define relevant KPIs, regularly analyze your performance and adapt your strategies accordingly.
Don't forget, too, to test new techniques (formats, channels, approaches) and analyze competing strategies.
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?