Today, part of a brand's job is to act like a town hall meeting, a secular and informal public meeting. Everyone in the community is invited to attend, not always to voice their opinions, but hear responses from others.
Image credit to Mashable
We have come full circle, making communication on the Internet more human, and less fragmented, with a rich flow of interactions, like you would find in a large city, but more on a granular level like a small town or village, the most important element being spontaneity of free human exchange. They evolve through an ecosystem that includes your technology, potential customers, and employees.
Almost by definition, a brand's Social CRM can be great only at the expense of a company’s employees, executive leadership (all should have the vision to realize its ROI), and competitors who are less effective at branding and collecting their customers’ social interactions. Money can buy a great SCRM platform, but it cannot buy a brand's social interactions off the shelf.
So, how can a brand gain control of its consumer data, marketing, customer service, and PR efforts in light of the widespread use of social media? Social CRM (SCRM) is one answer (Facebook likely to be the largest), but it can be expensive technology, and still evolving.
At the present time, it is an evolving technology that effectively manages a brand’s demographics, preferences and communications with its audience. It involves fully integrated real-time listening, engagement and measurement workflow process to collaborate with customers, prospects, influencers and employees.
Image credit to Mashable
Let me briefly take you through the evolution of the CRM to the SCRM. Earlier CRM's were involved in social media monitoring and research, and physical listening of digital conversations. These CRM’s could also capture a brand's social presence and gather research. It helped build a brand's social presence by helping companies figure out where and how to engage socially on platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. It also supported the development of SEO strategies, customer services and marketing channels, while building brand attraction, helping control attrition, and stimulating customer conversations.
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