Keeping an eye on your audience on social media is the best way to find out if there is an imminent PR crisis as opposed to finding out through a barrage of emails and unpleasant posts on your social channels.
First things first. What the heck is social media CRM? Roughly, any interaction with your customers on social media can be classified as social CRM. In fact, if you haven’t already, you should incorporate social CRM into your CRM strategy. More often than not, customers would tweet directly at you if they don’t like something related to your product or service - mostly because it would expedite their case if they mention it on a public platform. This is why it’s more important than it’s ever been to keep a close eye on your social channels.
The fundamental difference between traditional CRM and social CRM is that the pace of traditional CRM is determined by the brand and the pace of social media CRM is determined by the customer. This is why it may seem a bit overwhelming at the outset, but it’s worth the trouble since it is the best way to make an impact and reach your audience.
Why? Simply because customer expectations are rising and will continue to rise. Social media is how most people express themselves today and managing customer interactions via the most widely used medium ensures maximum visibility and an overall good experience for your consumer.
It’s probably pretty obvious but social listening can help you keep an eye on your brand in the most effective way possible. Here are a few reasons why Social media CRM can be your best friend
The main aim here is to display that your team is equipped and capable of solving problems as easily on Twitter/Facebook/Instagram as they are able to using your usual CRM processes.
Taco Bell gets it right not just with their witty comebacks and fun posts, they’re also big on solving customer complaints and problems on social. Why? Because customers can be as rewarding on social media as they can be critical. Here’s just one shoutout that Taco Bell received on social this year.
.@TacoBellTeam thanks for making it up to me. Take note - This is what customer service looks like. #ILikeTacos #LiveMas pic.twitter.com/Z9Rup1orhs
— Jen Bowen (@JuniperUponHill) July 30, 2018
Customer service on Twitter is not just about solving problems. It’s also about clearing misconceptions! Here's a look at how Skyscanner were quick to let people know that Wakanda isn't a real place on Twitter. That's social education for you!
Sorry to the 354 people who tried to search for Wakanda and ended up in Warsaw. pic.twitter.com/agrNzhkkHN
— Skyscanner ✈️ (@Skyscanner) February 20, 2018
Here’s an example of great customer service from India’s largest food delivery and restaurant review giant - Zomato. They have an account dedicated to customer complaints called @ZomatoCare and have made social media very much a part of their CRM strategy.
The Worst Experience we have got.
I was logged out of the website as well as the app. Not able to login since then. Well played Zomato. People sure won't forget this !! pic.twitter.com/LtQZMqRPot— Prakash Gandham (@prakash_gandham) October 8, 2018
Spotify is a stellar example of swift resolution of problems using social media. Check out the way they solved this issue that a UK based spotify user had. It took a mere two hours for him to have a resolution. No phone calls, no emails or messy interactions. Just a couple of tweets.
@SpotifyCares https://t.co/ap1PlGW1mB
— (((Deb Rag))) (@ohnemit) October 8, 2018
With all the ruckus on social media about Facebook, it’s nice to see a major social media website listen to its customers and take their complaints seriously. Here’s a quick resolution by Linkedin via tweet.
Most companies today offer some form of customer service or the like via Twitter or other major social networks. It’s pretty much impossible to maintain a low profile on social media today and social CRM ensures that you have some semblance of control or awareness around what is being said about you online.
@LinkedIn is sending invitation in our own name? This is really not cool.
You guys just send an invitation like I’m asking my competitor to except my invitation, which I never sent! This is WRONG on too many levels!
Do I need to delete my account?— miro (@miro_emir) October 4, 2018
As mentioned before, you can use Talkwalker’s Free Social Search to monitor your social presence in real-time. It helps you track everything being said about you on the internet over a 7 day period across all major social channels and blogs. It provides a much better alternative to being stuck to your computer and monitoring each and every post that mentions your hashtags or social handles. Check it out here!
Hootsuite is a stellar tool which has a free version which allows you to manage your presence across all major social networks - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc. The best part about Hootsuite is that it not only facilitates social listening, but it also allows you to post and respond directly from the platform itself.
Twitter is the most frequently used platform for customer complaints and what better way to keep an eye on Twitter than by using a monitoring tool by Twitter itself? TweetDeck allows you to monitor your Twitter account, hashtags and any keywords. And like Hootsuite, you can tweet directly from TweetDeck. Note: It’s also free
If you haven’t jumped onto the social media CRM bandwagon already, then now would be a good time to start talking to your customers via your social channels and addressing their concerns. Remember - it’s really hard to limit customers to a single channel of communication such as email/phone or Facebook. We’re moving towards an increasingly connected ecosystem on the internet and it’s no longer an option to be present on all social media that your customers are using - it’s a necessity.