The Importance of Social CRM How-To Guide

1. How-To Guide The Importance of Social CRM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Social media is a pervasive presence in corporate and personal life. Even for those who aren’t users of social media, rarely will a day pass without them encountering the presence of social media in some aspect of their lives. Social media is clearly deeply integrated into the fabric of society, serving as a communications channel and a way to connect with people and brands. Marketers have long been proponents of social media as a means of engaging customers and prospects, as well as promoting their brands. The uses of social media continue to evolve, growing in sophistication and value. Not long ago, social media and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) were viewed as separate initiatives with different purposes. Now, there is clear intersection between the two, giving rise to the concept of Social CRM. The logic is obvious: an initiative that is all about managing customer relationships should have some degree of visibility into or integration with the vast social media networks and followings companies have built. This How-To Guide will explain what Social CRM (SCRM) is and how your business can benefit, detail various applications of SCRM and outline an action plan for getting your business started in the world of SCRM. WHAT IS SOCIAL CRM? CRM blogger Paul Greenberg provides this definition of Social CRM: “Social CRM is a philosophy and a business strategy, supported by a technology platform, business rules, workflow, processes and social characteristics, designed to engage the customer in a collaborative conversation in order to provide mutually beneficial value in a trusted © 2014 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

2. How-To Guide and transparent business environment. It's the company's response to the customer's ownership of the conversation.” This definition is rich with meaning and implications. The operative word is “engagement”and it differentiates SCRM from Social Media Monitoring, with which it is often associated.There is certainly a connection between the two, but Social Media Monitoring can occur passively – monitoring is essentially a listening activity. SCRM, however, is a managementactivity, implying a level of proactive involvement in the process. Both processes can yieldvaluable insights into customer behavior, pains and sentiments, as well as new trends, and feedback. As a business strategy, SCRM exploits existing social media networks, such as Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter, to invite and encourage dialogue about a brand, its products and services, and in general how it performs when it comes to serving customers. The goal for the brand is to attract and engage an audience – followers - in conversation. These conversations differ substantially from colleagues chatting around the water cooler, because the reach of these conversations is magnified and visible to a large audience. In social media forums, hundreds, or even thousands of followers are free to express opinions, create dialogue, ask questions, and receive honest feedback from the brand and other followers. These conversations are powerful influencers for shaping the perception of the brand. Even when the discourse is initially negative, such as when a customer complaints or expresses displeasure, the brand has the opportunity to not only recover with that customer, but to impress the entire community of followers with its desire to respond, its response and the timeliness of the response. What SCRM is as a strategy, in the simplest terms, is thoughtful, intentional participation in a dialogue that the customer is essentially in control of. © 2014 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

3. How-To Guide THE BENEFITS Social CRM benefits typically fall into these areas: Customer Interaction Facilitates efficient, convenient interaction with customers in a way they prefer to communicate. Grow customer appreciation when customers feel the brands they’re connected to are responding and listening to them. Encouragement engagement through social media channels through rewards and special offers to your brand’s followers. Brand Reach Dialogue with and influence customers that were formerly inaccessible or difficult to reach. Sharing mechanisms make it easy for brand loyalists to promote your brand. Exposes your brand to new markets. Marketing Communications & Research Understand sentiment toward your brand. Listen for new product and/or service ideas. Gather primary research data through polls, surveys and discussions. Inform customers of significant or interesting brand developments: new products, locations, features, tips, offers, partnerships, announcements, etc. Customer Service Promote self-help resources. © 2014 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

4. How-To Guide Identify and resolve complaints in a way that strengthens customer bonds. Encourage discussions among followers that provide advice, tips or other practical help with shared concerns, issues or even product usage. APPLICATIONS New use cases for Social CRM are discovered almost every day, inspired by the relationship and communications potential of being connected to a large group of followers. What follows is a brief discussion on some of the more common use cases for SCRM: Peer-to-peer customer support The social networks you build and curate are often the first place customers go to ask product or service questions. Because these support issues are being posed in a social forum, followers of the brand can and often will provide responses to support questions. Brands that encourage and even reward customer involvement in support delivery through social channels enjoy higher levels of satisfaction and lower support costs. Market research Social media provides an excellent listening post to detect trends, areas of opportunity or dissatisfaction and even competitive threats. Followers of a brand will use their connection to its social media channels to communicate their expectations of the brand and how it needs to perform. Social media followers of a brand represent a sample population or virtual focus group with whom you can conduct primary research quickly and inexpensively. © 2014 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

5. How-To Guide Product launch The vast reach and immediacy of social media communications make it the first choice for many companies when it comes to new product announcements. Pre-announce new product features, terms or conditions to get immediate feedback which is useful for making program changes and enhancements prior to general product availability. Identify excellent beta test or case study candidates by monitoring social media posts. Brand reputation management Monitor social media posts to understand sentiment about your brand. At regular intervals, take a social media snapshot of brand sentiment and track the trend. Identify causes for both upward and downward sentiment trends so you can manage them. Engage directly with brand loyalists and detractors to understand the reasons for their sentiments. Through social media engagement, turn brand detractors into loyalists, and brand loyalists into brand ambassadors. ACTION PLAN For most companies, Social CRM represents a new level of engagement beyond the usual social media presence. Here’s a list of actions to take to evolve from curating company social media channels to receiving the benefits of SCRM: 1.Build your online community Identify the social media channels your customers frequent. Develop a presence on these channels. Monitor your social media channels frequently, both to respond to followers who engage with you, and to post practical information. © 2014 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

6. How-To Guide Publish a social media policy and train employees how to engage customers through your social media channels. 2.Understand what your customers value Seek to deeply understand the audience and followers you have through social media. Based on your understanding, post content that provides value to them. Measure the response you get to the content you share through social media by tracking “Likes” or other sharing activity. 3.Think like a customer Before posting any content, objectively consider why a follower of your brand would care. Avoid posting content that can’t pass through this filter. In general, keep the tone of your content largely about helping or entertaining, not selling. Avoid any content that risks damaging your brand’s reputation. Follow the lead of customer posts, even when it doesn’t relate directly to your product or value proposition. Join in these conversations as a way to engage. 4.Motivate your customers Make it easy and obvious for customers to follow you on social media. Recognize or otherwise reward customers who interact with you through these channels. Be quick to respond to followers who post comments, questions, complaints or criticisms. © 2014 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

7. How-To Guide Strive to avoid appearing defensive or demeaning in your response to complaints. 5.Engage your audience Post a variety of content: videos, blogs, contests, daily jokes, surveys and polls. Don’t be one-dimensional in the content you post. Show some personality in your posts. Let followers see the human side of your business. Never make fun of a follower, even as a joke. Do poke fun at your brand in a light-hearted way. Thank or otherwise acknowledge customers for participating in dialogue with your brand or the community. BOTTOM LINE Your business can benefit from culture of customer-centric social media and CRM. By leveraging the power of online communities and discussion forums, your business can extend its reach and build brand equity by listening to what your customers are saying through social media. Managing the online conversation is a catalyst to grow the stature of a brand. An effective SCRM process provides opportunities to gain new market insights, improve service quality and deepen loyalty to the brand. © 2014 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.