‘Your customers are already talking about you. The fact that you aren’t participating is your implicit endorsement of whatever it is that they are saying.’ (Dave Evans in his book ‘Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day’ )

To really start tapping into what your customers are saying about you, first you have to start listening to them. Everywhere you can: blogs, tweets, whatever social network they use. Be there. Where is the conversation happening? What are the main buzz-themes that your brand is associated with in the collective mentality? Learn and use all these findings. This is what social customers insight is really about.

Before you can build a strategy, you need data. And to leverage all that data you need social CRM tools. Use social monitoring tools, research your community (For better results, try and combine traditional with social media measurements, this way you won’t miss out on opportunities.)

There are four ways that Social CRM is different from its traditional counterpart (from FifthGearAnalytics):

1. It recognizes that today’s customer is different. Customers are rapidly adopting social technologies and want to be connected with others who have mutual interests. Communication is now peer-to-peer versus company-to-customer.
2. There’s less talking and more listening. People like doing business with others they trust. In short, marketers need to leverage the web to listen, share, and participate and do less talking and selling in the old Marketing 1.0 style.
3. Social CRM is an opening tool and not a closing tool. The new CRM will focus on ways to keep the communication flowing with the customer versus closing the sale. When they’ve built up trust through many dialogues, customers will close themselves.
4. Marketing analytics will focus on social insights in addition to current descriptors. Are you wondering why Facebook knows more about your customers than you do? Analytical insights will come from customer opinions and dialogues in addition to the normal preferences, interests, and demographic information.

The most beautiful part of social media is that it’s not a one-way medium, you can’t get involved just to boost up your profit (that doesn’t mean you can’t try, but people will feel that you are not for real). Social media adds value to your marketing efforts because it provides a mutual benefit, both for you AND for your customer. You get to define your social media footprint, and your customers are being listened to, their opinions taken into account. Win-win.

This way, you get to ‘transform interruption into invitation’. (Dave Evans)

Social networks also put the consumer in control, side-by-side with the organization. Every flaw you may have is now subject to being made public. Your brand is not a product of your PR or advertising department anymore, because customers have the freedom to discuss it online. And not only the freedom, but also the power to change perceptions about your brand. Some of these people are influencers in their own communities. People care a lot more about what they have to say than about your press release. Will you do something about it?

Social CRM is often seen as the possibility of CRM platforms to integrate social presences and marketing elements. But sCRM is actually about a different look at customer relationship management, in which the CRM-processes involve the customer even more, also in the CRM processes themselves. (via Conversion Marketing Forum)

by Alexandra Cojocaru

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