Here’s a simple yet very effective example of using analytics for understanding consumer attitudes towards airlines in real time. In this study, Jeffrey Breen has used the R programming language to analyze consumer sentiments about major U.S. airlines expressed on Twitter. For more on the methodology and results, see the following embedded Slideshare presentation (if you cannot see the embedded file, click here to view it on Slideshare website).

As you can see on slide no. 27, the twitter sentiment scores obtained  for many of the airlines are “comparable” to results of The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). What is important to note here is that by analyzing few tweets using freely available R programming language (which is part of the GNU project), it is possible to achieve results similar to that of an elaborate and expensive market research study such as ACSI at a fraction of a cost, that too in real time. Isn’t that a game changer?

Now imagine using Big Data Analytics to analyze Social Media data – not only text data but also pictures, video, GPS , Social Graph/Social Media linkages and using that information for engaging customers on Social Media channels. That in my opinion is the ‘holy grail’ (if I may use that term) of Social CRM.

In one of my earlier post, I have defined Social CRM as the business strategy of engaging customers through Social Media with goal of building trust and brand loyalty. Big data analytics is a key enabler for engaging customers on social media channels for building trust and loyalty (Social CRM). What do you think?

• Big Data — Big Money Says It Is A Paradigm Buster - Forbes.com
• For Start-Ups That Aim at Giants, Sorting the Data Cloud Is the Next Big Thing - The New York Times
• Accel Makes Big Commitment To Big Data With $100M Fund - The Wall Street Journal
• Five startup predictions for 2012 - c|net
• Big Data: Investments Flow into the Next Big Thing - a great post by Dick Weisinger

So what is Big Data and why it is in the news so much these days?

According to Philip Russom, Director of TDWI Research, Big Data has three defining attributes – three Vs as he calls them. They are Data Volume, Data Variety and Data Velocity and together they constitute a comprehensive definition of Big Data. So Big Data is not just about Data Volume, but also the variety of data (mostly unstructured) and the velocity with which the data is generated and need to be analyzed. (for more, check out following posts by Philip Russom and the TDWI Best Practices Report titled Big Data Analytics):

• Big Data Analytics: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
• The Three Vs of Big Data Analytics: VOLUME
• The Three Vs of Big Data Analytics: VARIETY
• The Three Vs of Big Data Analytics: VELOCITY

Given three Vs of Big Data, ‘traditional’ data storage, retrieval and analytics methodologies are no longer going to work. Cloud Computing is going to play a key role when it comes to Big Data Management and Analytics. And here in lies the opportunity for Outsourcing companies.

Traditionally, data collected by organizations is ‘safely’ stored in massive relational database accessible to only few within the organization and requires elaborate infrastructure both in terms of hardware and software for storage, retrieval and reporting/analytics. In such an environment, it is not possible to easily outsource Data Analytics function/processes alone given the heavy investments made in terms of hardware and software.

Because of the business requirement of analyzing vast amount of ever changing structured and unstructured Big Data almost instantaneously, companies will be hard pressed to do this on their own. But given the fact that Big Data stored in cloud can be accessed from anywhere the internet is available and can be analysed almost instantaneously by third party service providers,  outsourcing companies can offer to their clients value added services in the area of Big Data analytics without heavy investments on the part of clients in specialized hardware and software as was the case with ‘traditional’ data analytics. This will bring down significantly costs (especially fixed costs) associated with building and maintaining analytics infrastructure and solution center.

Just to give an example in the area of Social CRM, Social Media has empowered customers like never before as they can discuss about brands/products on Social Media channels. The best any marketer can do is to Listen, Learn and Engage customers. Given the three Vs of Big ‘Social’ data and the fact that most of the user generated content resides in the cloud, outsourcing companies can offer cost effective analytics solution to their clients to enable them effectively engage their customers/prospects in real time.

What do you think? Do you agree that Big Data Analytics is The Next Big Opportunity for Outsourcing Companies? Look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments:

As I explained in my previous post titled 2012: Year of Empowered and Assertive Digital Customer, thanks to Mobile, Tablet computing and Social Networking revolutions, customers are empowered like never before and they are leveraging technology not only for shopping online, but also for highlighting poor customer service experiences. This growing trend of empowered and assertive customers leveraging technology for connecting with other like minded individuals to share their experience about products and services will be the big story of 2012.

In order to make sure that 2012 doesn’t become a year of Social Media disasters or  Social CRM crises, CEOs and CMOs of large and medium sized companies should include following three new year resolutions on their 2012 list:

1. Improve collaboration within the enterprise and invest in collaboration tools

2. Listen to what customers/prospects are saying on Social Media channels and learn from it

3. Empower employees to engage customers/prospects on social media channels and invest in customer collaboration platform

How important are these to the survival and growth of business? In my opinion, these are as important as resolving to lose weight for someone who may suffer a heart attack if he/she doesn’t lose weight, or as important as bringing debt/expenses under control for someone who may face financial ruin or bankruptcy otherwise.

One may argue that these doesn’t apply to leading companies or brands that enjoy dominant position in their market. Well, think again. It doesn’t take long for assertive customers, empowered by social media to drive home their point of view. If you want proof, look no further than Netflix or GoDaddy in this regard. So as I said, better to lose weight than suffer a heart attack and better to control expenses/debt than face financial ruin.

Dear CEOs and CMOs, are you listening? Wouldn’t you include these three New Year’s resolutions to your 2012 list?

As 2011 comes to an end and as we look forward to celebrating New Year 2012, one thing that strikes most looking back is the massive increase in ownership and usage of Smartphones and Tablet computers.

Just consider following headlines in the last few days:

“On Christmas day alone, a total of 6.8 million iOS and Android devices got activated around the world, a 353% increase from Christmas 2010″ (for more, see this link)

“Consumers have spent a record $35 billion online shopping this holiday season” (for more, see this link)

“Apple’s iOS accounted for a whopping 13.4% of Online Sales on Christmas Day” (for more, see this link)

“According to a recent report, Facebook reached more than half of global audience in October 2011 and accounted for 1 in every 7 minutes spent online around the world and 3 in every 4 social networking minutes” (for more, see this link)

These are just a few headlines I came across during last few day of 2011. And they all points to the fact that thanks to Mobile, Tablet computing and Social Networking revolutions, customers are empowered like never before and they are leveraging technology not only for shopping online or scoring great bargains, but also for highlighting poor customer service experiences.

This growing trend of empowered and assertive customers leveraging technology for connecting with other like minded individuals to share their purchase intentions and experiences about products and services will be the big story of 2012.

Questions is how many companies are listening to customers, learning from it and engaging them? Not many. So if 2012 is going to be the year of Empowered and Assertive Digital Customer and if companies are not ready for it, we can also say that 2012 is going to be the year of Social Media disasters and Social CRM crises, and many companies will learn the Social CRM lesson hard way. And that will spur investment not only in Social CRM, but also Enterprise Collaboration Platforms, Mobile engagement platforms and Data Analytics.

What do you think? Do you agree that 2012 is going to be the year of Social Media disasters and Social CRM crises? Please do share your thoughts:

(Picture courtesy: Beautiful sunset in Dallas, Texas as seen from my apartment)

This YouTube video has created a Social Media storm of sorts and as I write this post, it has been viewed 3,576,412 times for this one YouTube post alone. I have seen it on my local TV news too here in Dallas, Texas.

Well, before it was too late (remember United Breaks Guitars YouTube video), FedEx  posted its own response to customer’s video with the following statement by Matthew Thornton III, Senior Vice President, US Operations, FedEx Express:

“Along with many of you, we’ve seen the video showing one of our couriers carelessly and improperly delivering a package the other day. As the leader of our pickup and delivery operations across America, I want you to know that I was upset, embarrassed, and very sorry for our customer’s poor experience. This goes directly against everything we have always taught our people and expect of them. It was just very disappointing.”

(YouTube video response by FedEx embedded below):

This incident of Social Media brand crisis underscores the importance of having a Social Media Crisis Management Plan. It should clearly highlight roles and responsibilities, procedure and protocols to be followed in the event of a brand crisis. Because the first step in solving any crisis is to identify and respond to it, and respond FAST when it comes to Social Media as FedEx seems to have done here. What do you think?

But on the economic front, all seems to be ‘gloom and doom’ and ‘economic’ forecast for this holiday season seems to be dark, damp and cloudy with possibilities of storms – some severe. Question is can social media help marketers cheer up their holiday sales this season? or specifically, how can social media help boost sales on Thanksgiving weekend, which traditionally is the start of the Christmas shopping season.

Answer is yes, social media can be used very effectively for promoting sale of merchandise this holiday season. For example, how about announcing deals on company’s or store’s Facebook page rather than newspaper advertisements or promotional flyers? And to get the deal, customers will have to “Like” the deal. Better still, a customer can avail of the deal only if few of of his/her Facebook friends buy the product. More the number of Facebook friends who buy a product, higher the discount a customer get. Just imagine the excitement this will generate on Social Media and resultant free publicity.

And most online stores have option of Gift Shipping but what about having similar options on Facebook page of the company or the store, where a customer can select what items he/she want as Christmas Gift and this will be displayed on Customer’s Facebook profile letting friends and family know so that they can buy the desired gifts rather than something that is not going to be used or even worse, is going to be returned to store for refund/exchange – a big problem for retailers.

As I wrote in one of my previous post titled Social CRM: Thinking Outside the “Call Center” Box, we need fresh outside the box thinking to take advantage of unique characteristics of Social Media and Social Networks. Companies must leverage unique characteristics of Social Networks and re-engineer their business processes to derive full benefits from it.

If used properly Social Media can drive sales to such an extent that volume of sale on Social Media Saturday will be far greater than volume of sale on ‘traditional’ Black Friday with promotion only through flyers and advertisements.

What do you think? Do you agree that Social Media can help marketers cheer up their holiday sales this season? Please do share your thoughts. Would love to hear from you:

Social media have radically changed this equation between companies and their customers by empowering customers like never before. Customers can discuss about products on social media channels and companies have no control over what customers are saying about their brands.

But instead of engaging customers on social media, most companies still rely on marketing the old fashioned way – a vestige from the industrial age! Marketing processes being followed today by most companies are still very similar to what was done in the industrial age.

Companies need to realize that when it comes to creation and delivery of products and services, expectation of “Social” customers are vastly different from that of customers in industrial age. “Social” customers expect companies to “listen” to them and take appropriate action on their comments regarding products and services they purchase and pay for.

Social media have provided tools for customers to express their opinion and customers are using Twitter and Facebook for the purpose. We see comments about brands/products on Twitter and Facebook all the time. For example, delayed flight or bad experience at a restaurant. But instead of listening to customers’ feedback on Social Media channels and engaging them, companies still expect them to call or write to them if they need any help. In a nut shell, companies are still living in the industrial age when customers have moved on into the social age.

In fact, I wrote about this almost two years’ back in a blog post titled “How Customer Engagement will determine winning brands in Social Era” In this post, I explained that level of customer engagement will determine mind-share and market-share for a brand. ONLY those companies that effectively engage their customers and prospects will emerge as winners and those that are not good in customer engagement will lose market share.

Unlike in industrial age, not involving customers during product/service creation and delivery, and very limited after-sale support via phone is not going to work any more. Companies need to use social media channels and collaborate with their customers at every step of product or service creation and delivery.

To survive and grow in the age of social media, companies will have to re-engineer their product design, manufacturing, delivery and support processes, and not just their marketing processes, in order to involve customers at every stage of product/service creation and delivery.

Companies that succeed in involving customers at every step of product/service creation and delivery will thrive and grow. Rest will become history. Question is how many senior executive realize the challenge that is in front of them and are prepared to make this transition?

Social Media can play a major role in finding this “win-win” equation between companies and customers, by helping companies better understand their customers’ needs (not wants or desires) and customers can better collaborate with companies using social media channels to design and co-create products or services that fulfill their needs. One key challenge facing all large and medium sized companies in this regard is how to engage tens of thousands of customers across the world on social media channels.

Well, solutions to this problem is to “Go Local”. Meaning, companies must engage their customers on social media channels at a “local” level. So if a company segments or classifies customers “geographically” or at a “store” level, they should engage their customers on social media channels at a store level. This means that companies need to have a Social CRM team for engaging customers at every local unit (like geography or store).

Unlike traditional CRM, which was all about centralization of information into a database for decision making at the top, Social CRM is all about engaging customers at a “local” level and empowering front-line managers for decision making where it matters the most – at the local level in a decentralized way. Because companies cannot collaborate with thousands of customers in a centralized way.

Here’s an example of this approach: Retail giant, Walmart recently announced that any one of Walmart’s facebook fans can get information from their “local” store by clicking on the Local Walmart tab on the Walmart’s Facebook page. “Liking” a local store will enable customers see local promotions for that particular store and a map of the store with exact location of advertised specials (for more, see this and this).

This strategy of “Going Local when it comes to Social CRM” is applicable to companies across all industries, be it retailers, restaurants or banks. Companies need to form Social CRM teams at a “local” level to engage customers and build win-win relationship with them.

What do you think? Do you agree that key to Social CRM success is Going Local?

Well, we have a great case study on this subject. Netflix, Inc., the provider of online video streaming and DVD by mail service seems to have misjudged the negative impact of price increase and other service changes they announced “unilaterally” this summer and as a result dissatisfied customers have leveraged social media tools to express their disapproval (for more, read this).

But instead of fighting fire with fire and using Social Media channels to engage customers for building trust and loyalty, Netflix has maintained a low profile on Social Media channels. Guess what? Blockbuster, a competitor of Netflix has seized the initiative by engaging Netflix’s customers using Social Media channels. Blockbuster not only offered a “30 day free trial geared at Netflix customer” on Twitter but also “started a new Twitter contest promising a free year of service for the four best Netflix breakup stories” (for more, read this).

Key takeaway from Netflix’s CRM crisis is that it pays to engage customers on Social Media channels because if you don’t, your competitor will. In that case, you will not only be sorry about not engaging your customers but as a double whammy, will also be sorry about your competitor leveraging the opportunity and walking away with your customers.

Life for companies that don’t care about their customers is tough indeed in Social Age. Don’t you think so?

Companies must understand that Social Media channels empower customers to find & connect with other like minded individuals, interact with them in a “public” way and this is Consumer to Consumer interaction (C2C). Companies must leverage this C2C interaction for marketing rather than using B2B or B2C marketing techniques on consumers who are interacting with other consumers (C2C) on Social Media channels.

We need fresh outside the box thinking to take advantage of unique characteristics of Social Media and C2C interactions. For example, instead of trying to respond to each and every tweet or Facebook posting by customers, something not practical for a medium or large business, the emphasis should be on creating advocacy and building trust among consumers, keeping in mind the “Social Context” and C2C potential of the medium. No where this is more evident than in support communities, where brand advocates/loyal customers help other customers out by answering their questions or suggesting solution (C2C) rather than company Reps trying to answer all the question.

Such crystal gazing for estimating market potential for Social CRM software and services reminds me of the story of two shoe salesmen in Africa trying to assess size of the market for shoes. One salesman reported that there is no potential for selling shoes as no one wears them. Second salesman reported that there is tremendous potential for selling shoes as no one wears them. It’s all in the perspective!

In my opinion, the magic revenue number of $ 1 Billion for Social CRM is an under-estimate and true size of the market or potential for Social CRM software and services is much higher than ‘just’ a billion dollar. This is because Social CRM is an indispensable part of any CRM system due to the fact that Social Media has empowered customers like never before, they can discuss about brands/products on Social Media channels and companies have no control over what customers are saying about their brands/products. This discussion is visible to all including other customers, potential customers and competitors.

The best any marketer can do is to Listen and Learn from what customers are saying and Engage them in meaningful conversations. In other words, marketers have to treat Social Media channels as the front-end of CRM system, capture all relevant information from Social Media channels in the database and use Predictive Analytics and Knowledge Management tools to derive insights and help in decision making. As a result, CRM ain’t CRM if it isn’t Social!

And if CRM ain’t CRM if it isn’t Social, size of Social CRM market is equivalent to the size of CRM market in terms of number of installations (this includes large/enterprise class and SME/Small and Medium sized installations of CRM system). In terms of dollar amount, size of Social CRM market is equivalent to a substantial % of CRM market (atleast 25% of CRM market in my opinion). There is tremendous pent up demand for Social CRM software and services, not only among large enterprises but also small and medium ones. The only reason why it is not manifesting in terms of $$$ or revenue for Social CRM vendors is that software/services offered by existing vendors don’t address the pent up demand for Social CRM.

In other words, most Social CRM vendors don’t have a good product/service offering to address this demand. The moment any Social CRM software/services vendor offers a comprehensive solution for this pent up demand, marketers are going to lap it up the way customers lap up Apple’s iPad or iPhone for example. What I am trying to highlight here is that underlying demand for Social CRM software and services is very strong, but software vendors and service providers have not risen to the occasion to meet that demand and hence haven’t been able to tap into it. Hence to say that “market for Social CRM is on Pace to Surpass $1 Billion in Revenue by Year-End 2012″ does not truly reflect the size of Social CRM market. It is substantially more than $1 Billion in my opinion, in fact many times more than that.

What do you think? Do you agree with Gartner that “market for Social CRM is on Pace to Surpass $1 Billion in Revenue by Year-End 2012″ or you, like me think that it is substantially more than $1 Billion? Please take the following survey and share your opinion. (in case if survey question box is not visible below, you can Click here to take survey

In these days of gender equality, we can rephrase this quote as “The consumer isn’t a moron; he/she is your spouse”, but the fact remains that a customer is the most important person for any business, more so in a competitive economy where customers have many choices. You may ask what that has got to do with Social CRM? Let me explain:

The sole reason any business, be a mom and pop store serving a small community or a multi-national corporation (MNC) having tens of thousands of employees across several countries with thousands of products and millions of customers, exists is to serve its customers. All business decisions and actions undertaken by every employee are aimed at satisfying needs and wants of customers, starting right from understanding customers’ needs/wants, designing a product, manufacturing the product, distributing and marketing the product and post sales support. Any action not aimed at making customers happy is fruitless or is counter-productive.

Heavy up-front investments are made (fixed costs incurred) in the process of creation and delivery of a product or a service with the assumption that the customer will like what is being offered and will purchase the product. Any active customer involvement in product design, manufacture and delivery process is ‘minimal’ at the best through market research. This results not only in costly product failures/increased risk for the business but also higher sales and support costs.

In ‘Social Age’, it is not only possible, but incredibly easy and inexpensive for business to collaborate with customers and work together irrespective of physical location and other barriers. Thanks to social networking technology, business has an opportunity to engage customer and prospects in ‘real-time’ at every stage of product design, manufacture and delivery process in order to minimize risks and maximize value delivered to customers.

Question is not how business can afford to engage customer on social media, it is how business cannot afford NOT to engage customers on Social Media channels. Social CRM, which has been defined as the business strategy of engaging customers through Social Media with goal of building trust and brand loyalty is the way to go for business (for more, see this).

To quote David Ogilvy again, “the consumer isn’t a moron; she is your wife”. Wouldn’t you want to engage your spouse or significant other (customers in this case) on an ongoing basis? And we all know the costs if we don’t engage significant people in our life, don’t we?

Here’s how – set up a branded and moderated customer community focusing not only on product usage but also underlying passions surrounding usage of your product(s) and let product enthusiasts and brand advocates help other customers out in resolving any issues. Community Moderators (company appointed representatives similar to customer support agents) need to step in only when required and provide necessary info or resolve an issue. For example, if you are marketing cameras, have a customer community on photography and travel (underlying passions) and not on cameras, where customers can share pics and tips, and help each other out on how to take great pics, which SLR lens to use or what should be the shutter timing/ISO setting etc. Who better to assist customers than other customers who use the product on a daily basis. Company representatives (moderators) can chip in where required.

This will not only reduce call volumes (and costs associated with it) to other support channels like phone and email, but will also empower customers share their expertise and experience and be recognized in their “community” of like minded individuals – something that is at the heart of Social Media revolution.

Besides setting up a branded and managed community, marketers should also integrate their CRM system to the community platform, so that activities of customers on the community can be monitored and individual customer can be recognized/rewarded on the basis of their contribution to the community.

Customer Support communities deliver ROI not only through reduction of call volume (and associated costs) to other support channels, but also can be a great source of new product or marketing ideas and drive customer loyalty through empowerment. You can’t go wrong with that one. Can you?

What do you think? Please do share your thoughts on the subject:

In this post, I want to discuss how Social Networking technology and Social Media tools are transforming customer support function. For many decades, marketers have been providing service to their customers over phone, and over email/chat after spread of internet. Both, phone and email/chat are private and one-to-one in nature. For any support, customers have to call a phone number (normally a 1-800 toll-free number here in the US) and wait for a Customer Support agent to answer the phone and resolve any issues or provide any necessary help. During the whole support process, marketers are in total control of the interaction to the extent that agents use “scripts” or pre-defined workflow during most customer support calls. This also highlights the fact that customer support personnel are just working as “agents” and are not really empowered to solve customers’ problem and have to adhere to their scripts during the call. How many times have we heard the phrase “sorry, my system won’t allow me to do that” in response to a request during a support call.

I am happy to note that thanks to rapid expansion of reach and effectiveness of Social Media channels, this is about to change. Social Media have empowered customers like never before as they can express their opinions/feelings about brands on Social Media channels, including commenting about poor customer service or wait times for some one to answer customer service calls. Marketers have no control over what customers are saying about their brands or poor service. Given this scenario, best strategy for a business is to engage customers on Social Media channels if customers prefer that option, especially when wait time for phone, email or web based support is too long for the customers.

As more and more customers air their grievances on social media channels, it is important for marketers to engage them and not wait for them to call customer support phone numbers. Social Networking technology provides great tools for “engaging” customers. Unlike traditional media channels, Social media communication is not only two-way, one-to-one, but customer is an active participant and “owns” the conversation.

Moreover, conversations over Social Media channels are public – visible to all. And customers and potential customers are discussing about products and brands on Social Media channels, including poor customer support whether the marketer is participating in the discussion or not. This is why it is utmost important for marketer to have a Social CRM strategy and invest in Social Media tools for effectively engaging customers and prospects. Gone are the days of “scripted” customer support calls.

Level of customer engagement will determine mind-share and market-share for a brand. Those marketers who effectively engage their customers and prospects will emerge as winners and those who are not good in customer engagement will lose market share.

What do you think? Is it time for Customer Support to move over and Customer Engagement to take its place? Please do share your thoughts on the implications for business.

In “Social” age, customers are empowered like never before as they can share their experiences and opinions about brands/products on Social Media channels and marketers have no control over what customers are saying about their brands/products. This discussion is visible to all including other customers, potential customers and competitors.

The best any marketer can do is to Listen and Learn from what customers are saying and Engage them in meaningful conversations. In other words, Social Media channels are the new front-end of CRM system and CRM system should be designed in such a way that it captures all relevant information from Social Media channels and uses Predictive Analytics and Knowledge Management tools to derive insights and help in decision making.

Here’s how five key technological trends are driving evolution of CRM into next generation Social CRM systems:

1) Cloud Computing/SaaS CRM:

Social Media channels (like Twitter and Facebook) generate tremendous volume of user generated content created by millions of users. Not possible for CRM system to import/store the data “locally”. This is unlike “traditional” CRM, where data was generated by few users and stored in “local” database. SaaS Model makes it possible to store information in the “cloud” (shared space) and access it from (Social) CRM application “on-demand”

Social Media space is changing and evolving rapidly. Very difficult, if not impossible, for any CRM vendor to incorporate all new channels and feeds “locally” for every installation of CRM system. Under the SaaS model, it is not difficult to add new Social Media channels/feeds to the “hosted” (Social) CRM application and make it available to users “on-demand”

2) Service Oriented Architecture (SOA):

Service Oriented Architecture and Cloud Computing not only make it easy to integrate applications, but also facilitate “plug and play” modules and add-ons that can dramatically reduce time and cost involved in extending functionality of the application. SOA design is of great help in Social CRM as new social media tools and functionality can be added without expensive customization or upgrades as was the case in traditional CRM systems.

3) Real Time “In Process” Analytics:

Predictive analytics has made it possible not only to analyze past customer behavior, but predict future behavior too based on statistical models. Predictive analytics logic/modules can be “embedded” in Social CRM work-flows to analyse and predict customer behavior from “real-time” social network data feed and take corrective action by triggering appropriate work-flows based on pre-defined business rules. For example, if a customer (or a group of customers) tweet about their dissatisfaction with a product or service, predictive analytics can help in identifying who among them are most likely to defect so that company can take corrective action before it is too late. Better still, if they happen to be customer(s) of a competitor, company can make an attractive offer and win them over. And thanks to SaaS model and SOA, this level of real-time “In Process” analytics functionality is available to small and medium sized companies with no large scale investment requirements upfront.

4) Smart Phones and Tablet PCs:

Mobile phones have evolved from “simple” telephones to mobile multi-media communication hub connected to internet via “always on” wireless broadband connection. This is going to be one of the big stories over the next couple of years that will fuel exponential increase in Social Networking Sites and their user base. It is estimated that currently more than 650 million people worldwide, or 13.4% of mobile subscribers, use the Web via a mobile device at least once a month (see this link). This number is all set to skyrocket as inexpensive smart phones continue to flood the market.

Similarly, Tablet PCs, given their large hi-resolution screen with multi-touch input, Accelerometer sensor for UI, touch-sensitive controls and high speed internet access via 3G/4G or Wifi/WiMax have the potential to change the way we use Social Media tools and take Social Networking to a whole new level.

Current Social Media tools such as Twitter or Facebook are “text” or “web-page” UI based. NextGen Social Media tools will leverage full range of functionality available in Tablet PCs and make media consumption for information & entertainment or playing online games a truly Social experience.

5) Enterprise Application and Data Mashups:

In any large or medium enterprise, we have a diverse range of applications such as “on premise” CRM or SaaS CRM, BPM, MDM, ERP etc. to name just a few. Adding Social Networks to Enterprise Application landscape increases complexity of integrating and managing all the applications exponentially not only because of amount of data generated by users on Social Networks but also the need to monitor and respond in “real time”. Enterprise Application and Data Mashups can solve this problem by combining data or functionality from multiple applications and presenting information in the required format in a seamless manner.

In a Social CRM system for example, Enterprise Application and Data Mashups can be used to combine data/functionality from multiple applications such as CRM, MDM, ERP etc. and new services can be created “on the fly” or specific work-flows can be triggered based on pre-defined business rules in a user friendly way.

All the five tech trends discussed above, namely Cloud Computing/SaaS CRM, Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Real Time “In Process” Analytics, Smart Phones/Tablet PCs and Enterprise Application/Data Mashups are now converging and are set to transform how marketers engage their customers through social media with goal of building trust and brand loyalty!

What do you think? Please do share your thoughts and opinion:

Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that there is a shortage of Social Media consultants or self proclaimed “experts”. They are dime a dozen (or should I say tweet a dozen). What I am saying is that we have a shortage of people who really understand the power and potential of Social Media/Enterprise 2.0 tools AND can relate these tools to existing marketing/IT processes.

Just ask any self-proclaimed Social Media “expert” or Social CRM “guru” how many years’ experience they have implementing CRM solutions and for which companies have they implemented CRM, ERP, BPM, MDM or similar solutions? How many CRM “As Is” and “To Be” process flows have they mapped or how many Use Cases have they written? For how many clients have they documented CRM business requirements (BRs), Functional Requirements (FRs) or have designed the CRM system? What are their thoughts on integrating CRM system with multiple other enterprise information systems like Billing, Finance, HR? Can they describe current best practices when it comes to Data Migration or MDM? (heck, ask them what MDM stands for?) You can judge expertise of self-proclaimed gurus based on response to these questions. It is easy to browse internet, collect few talking points, prepare a sleek presentation and lecture unsuspecting audience about Social CRM, but when it comes to real life Social CRM, these are the questions we need to ask and there is a shortage of people who are good at both, Social Media AND Enterprise Solutions.

In the past few months, we have seen a shift in attitude among senior marketing and IT executives in favor of using Social Media and Enterprise 2.0 tools for engaging customers/employees and resources are being budgeted for Social Media initiatives. Spending on Social CRM solutions is likely to rise exponentially during 2011-2013 time-frame and in just 24 months from now, Social CRM will account for a major chunk of CRM (and Enterprise Solutions) market.

Unfortunately, we don’t have supply of talented people in enough numbers to match this demand in Social CRM space. Real bottleneck to growth in Social CRM is lack of competent people to drive sCRM initiatives. Unless you have the right people guiding your Social CRM initiatives, you are likely to go wrong and as we know, failure is not an option when it comes to Social Media.

Given my experience implementing CRM Solutions for more than a decade, having successfully managed many large and complex CRM projects for Fortune 500 companies in the US, here’s my suggestion: Identify people in your organization who “get” Social Media and know about existing marketing/IT systems and processes. Empower them to drive your Social CRM initiatives.

And since there are so few good consultants available for recruitment when it comes to Social CRM, Management Consulting and IT Services companies should identify consultants in their organization who “get” Social Media, are active on Social Media channels and entrust them task of building Social Media/Social CRM competency with specific focus on industry verticals (like Banking, Insurance, Retail, Pharma and Health Care, Travel & Hospitality to name just a few).

Sooner they do this, better for them as only those consulting and IT services companies who can bring right thought leaders and talented teams to the table for addressing growing demand in Social CRM space are likely to emerge as winners and can expect to corner a lions share of the market. This is all the more important given importance of Social CRM to senior marketing and IT executives in client organizations. Although size of Social CRM projects (in terms of revenue or team size) may be small as compared to large ERP or CRM projects, given the criticality and visibility of Social CRM initiatives, a successful sCRM solution implementation can open doors for many large “transformational” projects involving Social Media and Enterprise 2.0. It is absolutely vital that Management Consulting and IT services companies have right talent in place for leveraging Social CRM opportunity.

What do you think? Do you agree that we are facing a talent crunch when it comes to Social CRM? What is your experience. Look forward to hearing your thoughts on the subject …..

Between then and now, we have seen a lot happen due to this convergence. Customers empowered by Social Media tools such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube have started connecting and sharing like never before right from their mobile devices and are asserting their influence, be it for venting their feeling towards a brand or their anger and frustration at their rulers. This has even led to downfall of many a dictatorial regimes, in power for decades, in just a matter of days – something unthinkable even a few months ago. The biggest lesson business can learn from recent events is that Social Media is the new front end of CRM system and CRM ain’t CRM if it isn’t Social. Here’s why:

Social Media has empowered customers like never before as they can discuss about brands/products on Social Media channels and companies have no control over what customers are saying about their brands/products. This discussion is visible to all including other customers, potential customers and competitors.

The best any marketer can do is to Listen and Learn from what customers are saying and Engage them in meaningful conversations. In other words, treat Social Media channels as the front-end of CRM system, capture all relevant information from Social Media channels in the database and use Predictive Analytics and Knowledge Management tools to derive insights and help in decision making.

What is important to note here is that “Social” is not a middle-ware or another layer in the architecture of CRM systems, but is the front-end of CRM system, where customers decide the format and content of information. It is responsibility of the company to record and store all relevant information from Social Media channels and derive value from it by using Predictive Analytics and Knowledge Management tools for effectively engaging customers.

Companies must also leverage unique characteristics of Social Networks and re-engineer their CRM business processes to derive full benefits from it, rather than trying to fit “Social” engine to their existing CRM carriage or merely treating Social Media as another 1-1 channel like phone and email, albeit public!

This requires fresh outside the box thinking. For example, instead of trying to respond to each and every tweet or Facebook posting by customers, something not practical for a medium or large business, the emphasis should be on creating advocacy and building trust among customers, keeping in mind the “Social Context” of the medium.

No where this is more evident than in support communities, where brand advocates/loyal customers help other customers out by answering their questions or suggesting solution, rather than company Reps trying to answer all the question. As a part of their CRM initiative, marketing managers should design programs to track and reward Customer Advocacy behaviors on Social Networking sites. This will not only help in brand promotion on Social Media channels but will also help in building trust and loyalty among target audience.

As you can see from my explanation, CRM ain’t CRM if it is not Social, thanks to ‘Social’ Customers!

What do you think? Would love to hear from you. Please do share your thoughts on the subject:

Thanks to Social Networking technology, now it is quite easy to connect online with not only family and friends, but with other like minded “strangers” (whom we wouldn’t know otherwise) and exchange information, opinion and views, such that it is visible to all in our network. In other words, sharing and exchange of information or opinion about products or services is truly social in nature.

Startups like Groupon have leveraged not only the innate urge of people to share information about good deals with family and friends using online social networks, but also the potential of Social Media for collaboration among “strangers” for group buying discounts.

Contrast this with the fact that established retailers, both online and brick & mortar, have been slow in embracing Social Media despite the realization that it has the potential to disrupt traditional retailing model (for more, see my earlier post titled How Social Media will disrupt the traditional “Retailing” Model). Most initiatives so far by retailers were limited to either offering social sharing options on their websites or limited shopping cart functionality on their Facebook page.

J.C. Penny, the Plano, Texas based retailing giant took a great stride in this direction by moving their entire product catalog to Facebook, meaning one can buy all their products from their Facebook page just as on their website (for more, see this and this). Imagine number of clicks or free publicity this is likely to generate through Facebook sharing. I expect other retailers to follow J.C. Penny’s example in this direction.

Retailing industry as a whole has suffered over the past few years because of global recession. One of the ways retailers can improve their performance and make up for lost opportunity is to start using technology in innovative ways leveraging full potential of social media, location based tools, smart phones with high speed internet access and social gaming. Only those retailers who are successful in this will see their sales and margin grow at the cost of retailers who are slow to adopt new technological tools. In other words, success of retailers will be determined by their effectiveness in using new tech tools such as Social Networking.

I want to end this post by sharing this CNN video from National Retail Federation’s annual event, the NRF 100th Annual Convention & Expo that concluded earlier today in New York. Note the emphasis on Social Media in this year’s event.

Enjoy the video and do share your thoughts and comments:

In a study titled The New Sharing Economy by Latitude Research and Shareable Magazine, it was found that:

(For more, see this excellent article titled The New Sharing Economy by Neal Gorenflo and pdf version of full report is available here).

Rachel Botsman, co-author of the book What’s Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption, spoke on the subject recently at TEDxSydney (please see following video):

Social Media is ‘enabling’ trust between strangers and this helps remove middle-man in exchange process. As a result, Collaborative Consumption will disrupt traditional business models.

To thrive in this brave new world, companies will have to reinvent themselves leveraging collaborative technology to connect with their customers and giving them “access” to products or services, rather than “selling” them products or services. This will radically change the way products (or services) are created, distributed, priced, accessed (not owned) and consumed. We live in exciting time indeed!

What do you think? Please do share your thoughts on the subject:

Royal Dutch Airlines KLM had launched a pilot program called KLM Surprise. For customers checking in using Foursquare at one of KLM’s venues at Amsterdam Schipol Airport, KLM employees collected information from their Social Media accounts like Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare, selected an individual gift for the customers, located him or her in the airport terminal, delivered the surprise gift to them and shared this information on KLM’s Facebook page and Twitter account (for more, read my earlier post titled KLM Surprise: Is it Social CRM?)

You may ask what is the connection between Social CRM ROI and KLM Surprise? Watch the following video of KLM Surprise in action and observe the surprise and smile on customers’ face. Now think about KLM’s investment in this pilot project and resultant business benefits, not only in terms of loyalty, but customer advocacy and buzz this has generated on Social Media channels. Isn’t this a priceless proof of Social CRM ROI?

It is important to remember that Social CRM is the business strategy of engaging customers through Social Media with goal of building trust and brand loyalty (for more on Social CRM definition, see this).

Strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. Social CRM is a plan of action to build Trust and Loyalty. Social CRM is not a “technology”, “system” or “processes”. While executing Social CRM (strategy), Social Media technology (tools) will be used to achieve the goal (building trust and loyalty), but tools are different from plan. It is very important to remember this distinction between strategy, tools and goals.

Social CRM (strategy) ROI depends on how well Social Media technology (tools) is used for achieving the goal (building trust or loyalty). Return on Investment (ROI) is associated with how well the goal has been achieved and resultant business benefits given the investments and not with tools Per se.

In other words, we need to define measurable Social CRM goals and a clear plan of action for achieving them before embarking upon any Social CRM initiative. And remember, ROI is not associated with Social Media as they are the technological tools used to achieve the goal of building trust and loyalty.

In order to measure Social CRM ROI, first step is to define measurable Social CRM goals, then workout an action plan for achieving these goals, execute the plan and quantify the business benefits arising out it. And this forms the basis for calculating Social CRM ROI (and remember, not Social Media ROI).

What do you think? Please do share your comments and feedback:

In this article, Brian makes few excellent points about why and how CEOs should engage customers and employees on social media channels such as Twitter.

Some of the points worth emulating by other CEOs and senior executives are:

(see this link for complete article on Businessweek website)

Hope other CEOs and senior executives will emulate Brian Dunn and start Listening, Learning and Engaging customers and employees on Social Media channels.

For customers checking in using Foursquare at one of KLM’s venues at Amsterdam Schipol Airport, KLM employees collect information from their Social Media accounts like Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare, select an individual gift for select customers, locate them in the airport terminal and deliver surprise gift to them and share this information on KLM’s Facebook page and Twitter account (for more, read this).

One can only imagine feeling of pleasant surprise on the face of customers receiving the gift. Well, you don’t have to imagine it – check out photos on KLM Surprise Facebook page and see for yourself.

KLM Surprise team not only “listens” to Social Media channels like Foursquare for check-ins and “learns” about checked-in customers from their Social Media profiles, but “engages” select customers by giving them “individual” gifts and shares this information on social media channels.

In one of my earlier posts, I have defined Social CRM as “the business strategy of engaging customers through Social Media with goal of building trust and brand loyalty“. KLM Surprise team is engaging customers through Social Media for building trust and loyalty and as a result, KLM Surprise is a Social CRM program in my opinion.

What do you think? Is KLM Surprise Social CRM? Please share your thoughts and opinions:

Step 1: Collecting Social Media Profiles:

First step in tracking outbound WOM on Social Networking sites is to obtain Social Media profiles or IDs (like Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare or LinkedIn ID) from customers and prospects. This is easier said than done given reluctance of customers in sharing their Social Media profiles with business because of privacy concerns. In order to motivate customers to do so, marketers can award points or offer other rewards like discount on products/services. Once marketers have Social Media profiles or IDs of customers, it is important to store this information with other Customer Profile data like email ID and phone number in the CRM system. Last but not the least, enough care should in taken in handling this info and customers’ privacy should always be respected.

Step 2: Monitoring Social Media Feed:

Once marketers have Social Media profiles of their customers/prospects, next step is to monitor Social Media feed (like Twitter or Facebook feed) for any mention of brands or key words the marketer is interested in monitoring. For example, if there are any tweets or Facebook postings that mention brands or key words that marketer is interested in, those tweets or Facebook postings should be identified and imported/stored in Social Media Monitoring or the CRM system clearly identifying name of the customer, Social Media ID that was used by customer and how influential that customer is on Social Media channels (like number of Twitter Followers or Facebook Friends).  

Step 3: Calculate Rewards or Points:

Marketers should reward customer or prospects for each mention of brand on Social Media channels by awarding points/reward for each mention. This can be tailored specific to each Social Media channel like Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare or LinkedIn and should take into consideration how influential a customer is i.e. more points should be awarded if customer is more influential.

Points so earned should be shared on that Customer’s social network in real-time. Meaning if a customer earns 100 points by checking into a Foursquare location, Social Media monitoring or CRM system used to track social media channels should share this with friends or followers of that customer using his/her Social Media profile like Twitter or Facebook ID.

One can argue that this sounds easy in theory but what about practice? Are there any real life case studies of a business or brand having successfully implemented such a solution?

Answer is yes and you’ll be surprised to learn name of that brand. It is Tasti D Lite, a frozen dessert chain (and my favourite when I was living in New York city). TastiRewards is a program that rewards customers for associating their Twitter and Foursquare accounts with their Tasti D-Lite membership cards and for sharing their experience with friends and followers (for more, read this Mashable.com post titled Twitter and Foursquare Become the New Loyalty Program at Tasti D-Lite).

In one of my earlier posts, I have defined and explained Social CRM as the business strategy of engaging customers through Social Media with goal of building trust and brand loyalty. A great customer advocacy program will not only engage customers through Social Media channels, but reward them for their advocacy on Social Networks. Tasti D Lite is a great case study worth emulating by other brands and business.

What do you think about Social CRM and Customer Advocacy Programs? Please do share your thoughts and comments:

But given recent growth in Social Networking on the internet and our ability to precisely track outbound Word of Mouth (WOM) and its impact on customer behavior, it is time for business to look beyond Loyalty Programs that reward repurchase and consider having Customer Advocacy Program instead. In a recent research study titled Effects of Word-of-Mouth Versus Traditional Marketing: Findings from an Internet Social Networking Site, findings of which were published in Journal of Marketing (September 2009), it was found that “Word of Mouth (WOM) referrals have a strong impact on new customer acquisition. The long-term elasticity for WOM referrals is approximately 2.5 times higher than the average advertising elasticity reported in the literature. Part of the reason for the high long-term effect of WOM relative to traditional marketing is that it has a much longer carryover period.”

Given the impact of Word of Mouth (WOM) on purchase decisions and our ability to track outbound WOM on Social Networking sites, Marketing Managers should design programs to track and reward Customer Advocacy behaviors such as WOM on Social Networking sites. This will not only help marketing managers in promoting their products or brands on Social Media channels, but will also help in building trust and loyalty among target audience.

What do you think? Do you agree that Loyalty Programs are Passé and companies need to have Customer Advocacy Programs instead? Please do share your thoughts:

Reason No. 1: Numbers Stupid!

According to a recent research study by The Nielsen Company, “Americans spend nearly a quarter of their time online on social networking sites and blogs, up from 15.8 percent just a year ago” – a whopping 43% increase in the last one year (for more, please see this link). And if % time spent on Social Networking sites continues to grow at its current rate, soon it will account for more than 50% of time spent online – meaning Social Networks will become the dominant force “online” and Social Networking will become synonymous with the internet.

Reason No. 2: It is Social!!

Many People equate Social Networking with communicating via Chat or Email. Well, they cannot be farther from truth. It is important to note “Social” in Social Networking and that it is not just networking. Conversations on Social Media channels are public – visible to all. And customers and potential customers are discussing about problems or issues with products and brands on Social Media channels whether the marketer is participating in the discussion or not.

It is important for marketers to participate in the discussion and provide Customer Support on Social Media channels as unlike email or chat, interaction on Social Media channels is not just limited to customer and the marketer, but is visible to all other customers and prospects, and they can participate in the discussion as well and benefit from it. Any favorable resolution of an issue is visible to all and can contribute to building of brand equity and loyalty.

Reason No. 3: It can dramatically reduce cost of customer support!!!

It is common knowledge in the industry that cost of providing customer support is highest in face-to-face transactions, followed by cost of providing support over phone. After the internet revolution in ’90s, many companies started offering online “self-service” customer support where customers can log an issue and search FAQ or solution database for resolving their problem. This helped reduce cost of providing support drastically.

Customer Support over Social Media channels can help companies further reduce cost of providing support as on Social Networks, brand advocates/loyal customers help other customers out by answering their questions or suggesting solution, rather than company Reps trying to answer all the question. Role of marketer is to provide necessary platforms and tools for support and moderate the online discussion where ever required. But majority of “support” is provided by brand advocates and loyal customers.

Think of it as support center outsourced to other customers! This can dramatically reduce cost of providing customer support.

What do you think? Should companies provide Customer Support on Social Media channels?

To answer some of these questions, here’s a short list of my blog posts on the subject published in last one year. Hope this helps in answering some of the frequently asked questions regarding Social CRM. If not, please do leave a comment and will respond to it. Happy reading!

• 2010: Year of Social CRM (published on January 2nd, 2010)
• What is Social CRM and why it is important
• Why NOW is the time to invest in Social CRM
• How Customer Engagement will determine winning brands in Social Era
• CRM Paradigm Shift
• Definition of Social CRM – Explained!
• 5 Lessons Social CRM can Learn from CRM
• Social Media: The New Front End of CRM System
• Social CRM: Thinking Outside the “Call Center” Box
• Enable, Empower, Engage: Key to Social CRM Success

Even retailing giant Walmart seems to be taking note of Groupon’s success and has launched a Facebook deals app called CrowdSaver, which unlocks a discount once enough consumers opt in (for more, read this AdAge article titled Walmart Takes a Page From Groupon in Facebook Promotion). I think this is a step in the right direction for Walmart and other retailers should (and will) follow suit.

Traditional retailing involves buying in bulk from the manufacturer (or distributor) and selling one piece at a time for a mark-up. This model has served both the manufacturer and retailer well – so far. This is about to change, thanks to Social Media.

Customers are increasingly going to leverage power of Social Networks to connect with other like minded customers who want to buy a particular product or service. Collectively, this group of customers is a force to reckon with and manufacturers (or distributors) can directly sell to them breaking the hegemony of major retail chain stores. To counter this, retailers can leverage the power of Social Networks and offer deeply discounted prices to customers if a certain volume of sales is achieved – what Walmart seems to have done.

Whichever way you look at it, Social Media will disrupt the “traditional” retailing model for good. And customers are going to be winner as they can exercise group buying power and buy products/services at lower prices or at better terms. If retailers don’t innovate and leverage Social Networks, their margins will be under increasing pressure and they will lose customers to those who leverage the effectiveness of Social Networks and offer great deals.

What do you think? Do you agree that Social Media will disrupt the traditional “Retailing” Model? Please do share your thoughts:

They are Enable, Empower, and Engage – what I call 3Es and they play a very critical role in Social CRM success. Let me elaborate on the 3Es.  

1) Enable:

Enable refers to enabling free access to Social Media tools and technology among all the employees (not just select few) and allowing employees to use Social Media freely within well defined Social Media usage guidelines. (for more, refer to my earlier post titled Should Companies restrict Employees’ Social Media use?

2) Empower:

Mere enabling is not enough. You must empower your employees, especially those in customer facing roles to engage customers and prospects on Social media channels. And employees should feed “empowered” to do so. For more on employee empowerment, see these excellent articles titled Empowered and Empowered Customers Need Empowered Employees Need Empowered IT.

3) Engage:

Lastly but not the least, Enabling and Empowering is of no use if your employees don’t engage customers and prospects on Social Media channels, as engaging customers via Social Media for building trust and loyalty towards the brand will determine winning brands in Social Age (for more, refer to my earlier post titled How Customer Engagement will determine winning brands in Social Era).

It is critical for organizations to Enable and Empower their employees and Engage their customers and prospects for success in Social CRM.

What do you think? Do you agree that 3Es are key to Social CRM success? Please do share your thoughts:

When we talk about Social Media Marketing and Social CRM, we are often referring to large corporations with big marketing budgets for advertising and brand promotion. Case in point is the recent YouTube campaign by P&G for one of its brand, Old Spice (for more on it, see my post titled Old Spice: The best Social CRM campaign till date).

It is important to note that Social Media channels such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter provide great platform for engaging customers, fans or patrons for not only big business, but  artists, non-profit and small business organizations too by leveling the playing field. All that matters on Social media channel is the power of idea. If the idea is good, it can quickly go viral and provide publicity worth millions of dollar almost instantly. And best part is Social Media channels are free to use and Social Media content or campaign can be created cost-effectively to fit budget of any size.

Here’s an example of Social Media engagement of fans by famous Colombian singer, songwriter and musician, Shakira. Please note that this interview with Shakira was “completely powered by YouTube users” as questions were submitted by YouTube users from around the world and were selected based on number of votes each question received.

Watch this excellent YouTube interview with Shakira and do share your thoughts and comments on how Social Media can effectively be used by artists, non-profit and small business organizations:

Something similar is happening with respect to Social Networking technology today when it comes to Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Instead of modifying and re-engineering their CRM business processes to take advantage of unique characteristics of Social Networks, companies are fitting “Social” engine to their existing CRM carriage and are expecting great results from it.

Just ask any executive or consultant who is involved in implementing a Social Media marketing or Social CRM solution about how to engage thousands of customers (Scale) on Social Media channels and their Call Center “in the box” thinking becomes evident, what I call fitting “Social” engine to their existing CRM processes (Carriage).

Instead, we need fresh outside the box thinking to take advantage of unique characteristics of Social Media and Social Networks. For example, instead of trying to respond to each and every tweet or Facebook posting by customers, something not practical for a medium or large business, the emphasis should be on creating advocacy and building trust among customers, keeping in mind the “Social Context” of the medium. No where this is more evident than in support communities, where brand advocates/loyal customers help other customers out by answering their questions or suggesting solution, rather than company Reps trying to answer all the question.

Similarly, companies must leverage unique characteristics of Social Networks and re-engineer their CRM business processes to derive full benefits from it, rather than trying to fit “Social” engine to their existing CRM carriage, calling it “Social CRM” and  expecting great results from it.

What do you think? Look forward to your comments:

This presents an excellent opportunity for business to tap into Cognitive Surplus, world’s spare brain power so to speak, and leverage it in a way that it is beneficial to all concerned (see this link for an excellent visualization of the size of Cognitive Surplus and refer to my earlier post titled Cognitive Surplus: Implications for Social CRM for more on the subject).

Quirky, a Social product development company is a very good example of not only collaborative work, but also of how influencers can be rewarded for their contribution (see the last column of any product’s page on Quirky’s online store for share of each influencer in total price of the product).

Watch the following videos to learn more about how Quirky taps into Cognitive Surplus of Influencers and rewards them for their contribution, a win-win strategy indeed.

Well, we may get as many different answers as the number of Social Media gurus and Advertising pundits out there, which by the way is not a small number!

Watch this excellent panel discussion and listen to what four real experts have to say on this subject. The experts are:

• Mark Pincus, Founder & CEO, Zynga
• Jeff Weiner, CEO LinkedIn
• Irwin Gotlieb, Global CEO, GroupM
• Dick Costolo, COO, Twitter

I like what Irwin Gotlieb says: “Nature of commercial message is not going to look like a display ad, it’s going to provide functionality and a different kind of interface for the user to act on something. People in Social context don’t want to be interrupted, instead want continue to be engaged and want  functionality that eases a task they are about to engage in.”

Enjoy the video and do share your thoughts on what advertising will look like in Social Age.

Old Spice Social Media campaign that has generated tremendous buzz, not only in Social Media but in traditional media channels as well, is a great example of Social CRM campaign where Procter & Gamble, the company that owns the brand, has very effectively engaged customers (and prospects) through Social Media with goal of building trust and brand loyalty. Watch this excellent CNN video on the subject:

But before settling down to Business As Usual model of pre-recession days, IT services companies should look at changing tech landscape and “Clouds” on tech horizon – Cloud Computing that is! In the words of Irving Wladawsky-Berger, “IT is undergoing its biggest changes since the advent of client/server computing in the 1980s.  These changes are being driven by many factors, chief amongst them the emergence of a different model of computing – cloud computing.  We are entering the Age of the Cloud.” (for more, read his excellent blog post titled IT in the Age of the Cloud)

In his post, Irving Wladawsky-Berger has quoted findings of study on The Future of Corporate IT by The Corporate Executive Board. After interviewing and surveying hundreds of IT and business leaders, this study concluded that “The IT function of 2015 will bear little resemblance to its current state. Many activities will devolve to business units, be consolidated with other central functions such as HR and Finance, or be externally sourced. Fewer than 25% of employees currently within IT will remain, while CIOs face the choice of expanding to lead a business shared service group, or seeing their position shrink to managing technology delivery.”

The Corporate Executive Board study has further identified five emerging shifts in IT value and role. These are:

• Shift 1: Information Over Process
• Shift 2: IT Embedded in Business Services
• Shift 3: Externalized Service Delivery
• Shift 4: Greater Business Partner Responsibility
• Shift 5: Diminished Standalone IT Role

IT Services companies need to prepare for these emerging shifts and incredible opportunity they present by expanding their “Cloud” service offerings.

Unlike product companies, one of the issues many IT service providers (and especially those that operate in the lower end of price spectrum) face is that their revenue is directly linked to “billable” headcount. And to grow their revenue beyond certain point, these companies need to have a “product” or “license” based revenue model rather than “headcount” based model. Cloud computing offers an excellent opportunity for IT services companies to develop service offerings that can be offered to client under Software as a Service (SaaS) model.

Talking specifically about CRM and Social CRM, IT Services companies should extend their CRM and BPO service offering to cloud based services in following areas:

• Development of Engagement Platforms and Communities
• Integration of “On-premise” CRM apps with “Cloud based” Social CRM apps for 360 degree “view of customer”
• Cloud based Social Media Monitoring, Reporting and Analytics
• Cloud based Social Media and Network Analytics solution

Affiliated Computer Services, a leading service provider recently launched “Community as a Strategy” – a suite of social CRM services that captures customer insights from social media sites to improve service and responsiveness of organizations. Other IT and BPO Service Providers should take notice of this development and follow ACS’ lead in this direction.

What do you think? How IT and BPO Service Providers can can Thrive in the Age of Cloud? Please do share your thoughts and opinion:

Listen to to his inspiring TED@State talk about how cellphones, Twitter and Facebook can make history and his talk at TED@Cannes on how cognitive surplus will change the world. Thinkers and practitioner of Social CRM can learn many valuable lessons from these two TED Talks.

Enjoy the videos and share your thoughts and comments on how we can leverage Cognitive Surplus in business, especially marketing.

Social Media channels can generate tremendous amount of information and customers decide the format and content of information. It is no longer enough just to have a database as in traditional CRM systems since companies don’t control content and format of information. We need Knowledge-base to effectively learn from customers and engage them on Social Media channel. Social Media monitoring is not enough and companies need to invest in Knowledge Management tools to continuously learn and evolve. Knowledge Management comprises of ‘a range of strategies and practices used to identify, create, represent, distribute and enable adoption of insights and experiences’.

Knowledge Management tools are critical in learning from customers and adapting to change. And unless companies learn and adapt on the basis of inputs received from their customers, it is very difficult to engage them and build trust and brand loyalty, the essence of Social CRM. Only companies that learn and evolve continuously, and engage and respond to their customers’ needs will thrive in Social Age.

What do you think? Do you agree that Knowledge Management is critical in Social CRM? Or you think that is not the case. Please do share your thoughts. Look forward to hearing from you:

But in spite of this technological transformation and progress in system architecture, all CRM systems essentially record transactional information using pre-determined fields on the screen (front-end) to capture information in the database, and company is in total control of conversation (should I say interrogation) with customer at every stage.

Thanks to rapid expansion of reach and effectiveness of Social Media channels, this is about to change. Social Media has empowered customers like never before as they can discuss about brands/products on Social Media channels and companies have no control over what customers are saying about their brands/products. This discussion is visible to all including other customers, potential customers and competitors.

The best any marketer can do is to Listen and Learn from what customers are saying and Engage them in meaningful conversations. In other words, treat Social Media channels as the front-end of CRM system, capture all relevant information from Social Media channels in the database and use Predictive Analytics and Knowledge Management tools to derive insights and help in decision making.

What is important to note here is that “Social” is not a middle-ware or another layer in the architecture of CRM systems, but is the front-end of CRM system, where customers decide the format and content of information.

It is responsibility of the company to record and store all relevant information from Social Media channels and derive value from it by using Predictive Analytics and Knowledge Management tools for effectively engaging customers.

What do you think? Do you agree that Social Media is the new front-end of the CRM system? Or is it middle-ware? Please do share your thoughts:

• Social Media
• Smart Phones/Portable Devices
• Cloud Computing/SaaS
• Predictive Analytics

All these four independent trends are now converging to bring about a Paradigm Shift in CRM.

“Managing” customer relationships till now involved recording “transactions” between company and the customer over phone, email and web-site besides “snail” mail and face-to-face exchanges and using the “historical” or “past” information to better serve the customers. Company was in total control of this conversation with customer at every stage. Information was recorded using pre-determined fields in the database, by company employees (or by contractors trained by the company) using script in CRM application controlled by the company. Thanks to the convergence of cloud computing, social media, predictive analytics and smart phones, this comfortable existence of marketers (and CIOs, CTOs as well) is about to come to an end.

Social Media has empowered customers like never before and they can discuss about brands/products on Social Media channels. This discussion is visible to all including other customers, potential customers and competitors.

Smart Phones/Portable devices with high speed internet access, geo-location tools and camera have ensured that customers can use information gained from Social Networks and Internet to maximum advantage. For example, scanning product bar codes to ascertain the lowest price of a product in geographical vicinity.

Software as a Service (SaaS) has made “on-demand” full functionality CRM application possible, with no large scale investments requirement upfront. CRM system’s integration with multiple other systems was one of the biggest challenges, requiring substantial investment in terms of time and cost. No more, thanks to Cloud computing/SaaS model. It is possible to integrate SaaS and cloud applications with enterprise apps in days, what used to take weeks or even months earlier. This has further lowered entry barriers and made available complex, full featured CRM applications to small and medium sized firms – what so far was available to only companies with large IT/Marketing budgets, empowering smaller firms to compete with their larger rivals on equal footing.

And last but not least, predictive analytics has made it possible not only to analyse past customer behavior, but predict future behavior too based on statistical models. When combined with real-time Social Network data feed, it is THE killer app for next gen CRM system. Predictive analytics can help in identifying minor issues and help in taking corrective action before they become a crisis. For example, if a customer (or a group of customers) tweet about their dissatisfaction with a product or service, predictive analytics can help in identifying who among them are most likely to defect so that company can take corrective action before it is too late. Better still, if they happen to be customer(s) of a competitor, company can make an attractive offer and win them over. And thanks to SaaS model, this level of analytics functionality is available to small and medium sized companies with no large scale investments requirement upfront.

Given this CRM Paradigm Shift, how well your organization is prepared? Will it effectively engage “empowered” Social Customer? Will it compete against competitors who use low-cost “SaaS” model? Is your CRM system smart enough to predict customer behavior and help in taking corrective action before minor issues become crisis? Would love to hear from you on this Paradigm Shift.

To answer some of the questions, here is a list of eight must read blog posts on Social CRM. Happy Reading!

• 2010: Year of Social CRM
• Definition of Social CRM – Explained!
• Definition of Social CRM – Questions & Answers
• How Customer Engagement Will Determine Winning Brands in Social Era
• Social CRM: Take the Leap of Faith
• Brand Crisis and Social Media
• Social CRM: Don’t wait for Social Media “Oil Slick”
• 5 Lessons Social CRM can Learn from CRM

Given this extensive hands-on experience as program and project manager implementing CRM solutions for some of the largest corporations in the world and having witnessed the CRM revolution from close quarters, right from its inception as eCRM, through growth and maturity phases and the rise of Social CRM now, what lessons can I think of that we learn to avoid some of the common pitfalls associated with CRM?

We can learn five important lessons before we start implementing Social CRM solutions:

Lesson 1: Social CRM is a Strategy

Social CRM is a business strategy, it is not technology, tools or platform. Social CRM can be defined as the business strategy of engaging customers through Social Media with goal of building trust and brand loyalty.

CRM too started out as a business strategy, but once software vendors came out with application to address CRM requirement and called it “CRM Application”, CRM became more of a tool than strategy. As a result, limitations and failures of tools became that of CRM – earning CRM its bad name.

So the first lesson is that Social CRM is a business strategy. Strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. Social CRM is a plan of action to build Trust and Loyalty. Calling Social CRM “technology”, “system” and “processes” is a misnomer. While executing Social CRM (strategy), technological tools will be used to achieve the goal – but tools are different from plan. It is very important to remember this distinction between Strategy (plan) and Tools (technology, systems). For more, see this and this.

It is important to have clearly defined and objective goals before selecting tools and technology. Not other way around, else limitation of tools will become limitation of your goals and strategy.

Lesson 2: Optimize Business Processes

Reason why many of the CRM implementations failed over the last decade is that the underlying CRM related business processes were not re-engineered or optimized for the CRM system.

As a result, CRM systems became more of a drag on the employees using it. And to force them to use it, many of the companies resorted to “carrot and stick” policy to force employees to enter information in the CRM system. Naturally, the word “CRM” quickly became unpopular. This could have been avoided had the underlying business processes been re-engineered or optimized before implementing CRM solution.

Lesson 3: Data Quality is Very, Very (and Very) Important

Any information system is only as good as data in it. We have all heard of the phrase “Garbage in, Garbage out” and this aptly describes why some of the CRM implementations failed. Not enough care was taken to ensure data quality.

Quality is critically important for both, transactional and non-transactional data. This is especially true for Social CRM as the volume of data emanating from Social Networks can be huge and as people use multiple accounts & profiles on Social Media channels. It is very important to have data governance framework and best practices in place before implementing a Social CRM solution.

Lesson 4: Leverage Analytics

Another key lesson we can learn is to leverage analytics. Thanks to their CRM systems, organizations were able to collect vast amount of data and have 360 degree view of their customers, but the same data could have been used much more effectively by applying Predictive Analytics.

Before implementing Social CRM solution, we should have a clear idea of how we are going to use the information collected and how we can apply advanced analytics not only to analyze the past, but also predict the future consumer behavior and fix problems before they become crisis.

Lesson 5: Project Ownership and Leadership

While discussing about project ownership and execution of CRM projects, I am reminded of this maxim: “a camel is a horse designed by committee”. In any large and complex project with multiple stake-holders, it is very important to have a clearly identified “owner” and an effective “leader” who will be responsible for the success of the project.

Absence of “clear” ownership and “effective” leadership is a recipe for disaster. This may sound common-sense, but you will be surprised to learn how many organizations attempt implementing CRM solution without first having in place a project owner and/or effective leader. This is all the more important for Social CRM as multiple stake-holders like Marketing, PR, IT, Legal are involved. It is very important to clearly highlight roles and responsibilities, procedure and protocols for each involved department/person before implementing a Social CRM solution.

What do you think? Would love to hear your views on common pitfalls associated with (Social) CRM implementation. I look forward to your comments:

First step is to understand how customers of clients are using various Social Media channels (like Facebook or Twitter). And since this varies by the industry, IT services companies will need to come up with industry specific Social CRM approach and solution. Domain experts in each industry segment (called Verticals) need to evaluate ways their clients can:

• integrate social media channels into websites
• integrate the new channels into their Sales, Marketing & Support processes and systems
• include social media metrics in performance dashboards and SLAs

Next step for IT services companies is to develop delivery capability to address Social CRM requirements of their clients. They should partner with leading vendors in key areas of Social CRM, namely:

• Social Media Measurement & Monitoring
• Customer Community Platforms
• Social Media and Network Analytics

And finally, once the team has good understanding of the requirements (step 1) and tools (step 2), they should execute prototype or pilot projects with reference to each industry segment (or Vertical) that will demonstrate their capability in the area.

Given the buzz about Social CRM in the industry, I expect demand for “Social CRM” tools and services to pick up substantially in the near future. Those IT services companies who demonstrate thought leadership and build their delivery capability in this area “Proactively” will emerge as winners. Moreover, Social CRM offers a great opportunity for smaller IT services companies to “leap-frog” their larger rivals in this area who might be slow in responding to this opportunity.

What do you think? How should IT Services Companies prepare for Social CRM opportunity?

Real game changer will be acquisition by Enterprise Solutions major like Oracle or SAP of vendors offering Community Platforms, Social Media Monitoring and Social Network Analytics functionality to extend their Enterprise Solutions capability in this area.

As I predicted in my first post of this year published on January 2nd, 2010 is surely turning out to be the Year of Social CRM.

What do you think? Who’s next in this M&A spree?

Negative publicity on Social Media channels like Twitter or Facebook, whether spontaneous or organized, is like “Oil Spill”. Looking at the potential for harm to brand image or reputation, one hopes it never happens and prevention is the best strategy. And if there is a brand crisis on Social Media channels, it is best contained as early as possible just like the infamous “Oil Spill”. Two famous case studies of Social Media brand crisis that come to mind are United Breaks Guitars and Nestlé. In both cases, company’s response was little slow and situation quickly turned ugly. This underscores the importance Social CRM.

Social CRM is defined as the business strategy of engaging customers through Social Media with goal of building trust and brand loyalty. It is important for a company or brand manager to engage customers and prospects on Social Media and build trust in the brand or company BEFORE any Social Media Brand crisis, as it will not only help in preventing a crisis in the first place but even if there is a crisis, company will have “trusted” and “recognized” representation on Social Media channels for communicating company’s side of the story, possibly preventing a “blow out”.

It is also very important to have a Social Media Crisis Management Plan. It should clearly highlight roles and responsibilities, procedure and protocols to be followed in the event of a brand crisis. Because the first step in solving any crisis is to identify and respond to it, and respond FAST when it comes to Social Media.

So here is a question for you. Will you wait for a Social Media “Oil Slick” before adopting Social CRM? And Do you have a Social Media Crisis Management Plan for your organization? If there is a crisis, will you handle it effectively or be caught napping and search for excuses? The choice is yours!

According to a recent survey by Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) among its members, it was found that:

• Only 17% of members have integrated social media channels into the corporate website. Accessing an online community requires a different log-on and password, and uses a different UI than the corporate website.
• Only 8% of members have integrated the new channels into their CRM/incident management system. After a decade of trying to build the “360 degree view of the customer,” none of the social media interactions are being tracked.
• Only 8% of members include social media channels in performance dashboards. So if you suddenly start neglecting a social media channel, no alarms or notifications exist.
• Only 3% of members address social media channels in SLAs. If you aren’t setting customer expectations for service levels, achieving high customer satisfaction will be challenging as traffic via these channels increases.

Also refer to the following presentation titled Effectively Leveraging Social Media as a Support Channel by John Ragsdale. Some note-worthy stats in this presentation are:

• Slide #12 Low usage of Social Media channels for providing Customer Service & Support
• Slide #22 By 2011, a significant % of customer issues will be resolved using Social Media and Communities as compared to Self-service, Web-chat, Email and Phone.

IT Service Providers can capitalize on this opportunity by:

• Development and Maintenance of Engagement Platforms and Communities
• Integration of “Traditional” CRM apps with Social CRM functionality for 360 degree “view of customer”
• Master Data Management – A major issue in CRM projects, more so in Social CRM

BPO and KPO Service Providers can leverage this opportunities by providing:

• Social Media based Customer Support in addition to traditional channels such as Phone, Web and Email
• Social Media Monitoring, Reporting and Analytics
• Creation of brand specific Social Media Content
• Social Network Analysis

Social media are bringing about a dramatic shift in Marketing and Customer Support processes. Those IT and BPO service providers who build competency to address this change and offer services to their clients will benefit. And first movers will benefit the most from it!

What do you think? How should IT and BPO service providers should leverage this opportunity? Please do share your thoughts:

And as companies start spending their marketing and IT budgets on Social CRM initiatives, not only large CRM and Analytics software companies such as Oracle, SAP, SAS, but many mid & small sized software vendors are gearing up for what promises to be the next phase of CRM “evolution” – though looking at the speed with which this change is coming about, some may choose to describe it as Social CRM “revolution”.

Thanks to this Social CRM (R)Evolution, IT and BPO Service providers too have an incredible opportunity. They should extend their CRM and BPO service offering to include following key areas to capitalize on this emerging opportunity:

• Development of Engagement Platforms and Communities
• Integration of “Traditional” CRM apps with Social CRM functionality for 360 degree “view of customer”
• Master Data Management – A major issue in CRM projects, more so in Social CRM
• Social Media Monitoring, Reporting and Analytics
• Creation of brand specific Social Media Content
• Social Network Analysis

Sooner companies realize the untapped potential of Social CRM opportunity and act on it by building their competency, better for them.

For IT & BPO service providers who operate on lower end of price spectrum, this is a unique opportunity for offering value-added services and moving up the price spectrum, improving their revenue and margins.

Affiliated Computer Services, a leading service provider recently launched “Community as a Strategy” – a suite of social CRM services that captures customer insights from social media sites to improve service and responsiveness of organizations. For ACS, this is a step in the right direction. Hope other IT and BPO Service Providers take notice of this development and follow ACS’ lead in this direction.

What do you think? How IT and BPO Service Providers can profit from emerging Social CRM opportunity? Please do share your thoughts and opinion.

To begin with let me reiterate the definition of Social CRM:

Social CRM is the business strategy of engaging customers through Social Media with goal of building trust and brand loyalty.

Loyalty is defined as attitude towards a brand that inclines a customer to repurchase it and/or recommend it to others. Social CRM and Social Media are more about building trust and managing loyalty with customers than about managing relationships or transactions, which are focus areas of “traditional” CRM.

Now on to the questions:

Q: Why this definition refers to Social CRM as a business strategy and not calling it technology, system, processes etc.. etc..?

A: Strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. Social CRM is a plan of action to build Trust and Loyalty. Calling Social CRM “technology”, “system” and “processes” is a misnomer. While executing Social CRM (strategy), technological tools will be used to achieve the goal – but tools are different from plan. It is very important to remember this distinction between Strategy (plan) and Tools (technology, systems).

Q: If Social CRM is a strategy, why mention Social Media in the definition?

A: It is very important to mention Social Media in the definition because Social Media has introduced the “trust” dimension to marketing equation. Before the Social Media age, Trust in marketing relationship was limited to face-to-face interactions (like friendly neighborhood coffee shop or grocery shop). What Social Media has done is to make it possible for any one to have the same sort of one-to-one relationship irrespective of geography. This kind of one-to-one relationships based on mutual “trust” are not possible through “traditional” CRM channels like phone, mail or emails. Moreover, interactions via Social Media are not only “public”, but are indexed and displayed by most search engines in “real time”, thereby having the potential to influence consumer behavior on a massive scale. Effective use of Social Media channels and tools are critical to successful execution of Social CRM strategy, hence I have included Social Media in my definition.

Q: sCRM helps companies make sense of and act on data that they collect from social customer interactions. This can be via phone, email, feedback forms, or anything else. Companies don’t have to use Social Media to do this.

A: Social CRM strategy can help companies “make sense of and act on data that they collect from social customer interactions”. But that is only part of the equation (Listen and Learn). Social Media is much more powerful than being just a medium for listening and learning. It provides a platform for engaging customers in a meaningful conversation for building Trust and Loyalty, and that is what Social CRM is about. Not just for “recording” or “managing transactions” of Customers’ Social Interactions.

Q: What is in it for the consumer?

A: Loyalty, Trust and Engagement. Company has to “earn” trust and loyalty of its Customers through Engagement. And to earn that trust and loyalty – a company has to consistently delight/exceed expectation of customers. This is the big deal for customers. Company doing all it can to earn that Loyalty (providing great product, service at competitive prices – Value for money). This is what is in there for the Customers. Customer is the King (or Queen) in Social Age!

Q: Why your definition is company and business centric?

A: Social CRM is for companies as companies are going to engage customers – not other way around. You have to view customer engagement from stand point of the company not customer.

Hope this post answers many common questions relating to Social CRM. Would love to hear from you, so please share your thoughts and opinion on what is Social CRM.

Social CRM is the business strategy of engaging customers through Social Media with goal of building trust and brand loyalty. Loyalty is defined as attitude towards a brand that inclines a customer to repurchase it and/or recommend it to others. Social CRM and Social Media are more about building trust and managing loyalty with customers than about managing relationships or transactions, which are focus areas of “traditional” CRM.

I received a lot of great feedback on this definition and want to elaborate further on it to answer some of the questions raised by readers of this blog.

Let’s break-down the definition to its individual components:

1) Social CRM is the business strategy: It is not technology, tools or platform. Fundamentally, Social CRM is a business strategy. It is widely accepted by Social CRM practitioners and SMEs that Social CRM is a business strategy.

2) Engaging Customers through Social Media: Engagement through Social Media is the most important aspect of my definition. Any CRM related activity through existing channels like the telephone, email, snail mail etc.. will continue to be part of “traditional” CRM and will not be replaced by Social CRM (unless the Customer prefers to use Social Media instead of “traditional” channels).

Thus, Social CRM will augment “traditional” CRM, but will not replace it. And for some industries like health care or financial services, emphasis will continue to be more on “traditional” channels and not on Social ones for privacy related issues (who would want to tweet about their bank account or health condition). Traditional CRM channels will offer more private communication as compared to “public” Social CRM channels.

Having said Social CRM will augment traditional CRM and not replace it – let me add that Social CRM will be well integrated into overall CRM platform and systems with a 360 degree view of the Customer with feeds from all major Social channels. Customer will have a choice on what channels to use and organizations will reach out to the Customer based on that choice.

3) with goal of building trust and brand loyalty: Ultimate goal of Customer Engagement through Social Media is to build (a) Trust and (b) Brand Loyalty. I have used the word “Trust” before “Loyalty” for a reason because Social Media has introduced the “trust” dimension to marketing equation.

Before the Social Media age, Trust in marketing relationship was limited to face-to-face interactions (like friendly neighbourhood coffee shop or grocery shop). What Social Media has done is to make it possible for any one to have the same sort of one-to-one relationship irrespective of geography. This kind of one-to-one relationships based on mutual “trust” are not possible through “traditional” CRM channels like phone, mail or emails.

While “traditional” CRM helped manage Customer Relationships on a massive scale, it did not help in building mutual trust between buyers and sellers as it is impossible to build “trust” with thousands of customers over phone or mail. For building Trust, you need to know your partner well and not just be limited to mere “transactions” as was the case with “traditional” CRM. Social Media provides the opportunity to marketers to become “personal”, interact with thousands of customers spread across geography on one-to-one basis so that marketer and the customer get to know each other so well as to trust each other – the essence of a true relationship.

Second most important goal of Social CRM is to build Customer Loyalty – the ultimate goal of any business! Some have interpreted my definition as not being “customer focused” or “customer centric” or being “Social Media Centric”. This is not correct. The very fact that goal of Social CRM in my definition is to build Customer Loyalty implies that it is “Customer Centric” – as you cannot build loyalty without having a customer focus.

Hope this clarifies many questions that were raised regarding my definition of Social CRM. Would love to hear your thoughts and feedback.

I think the biggest argument in favor of Social Media is that it provides great tools for “engaging” the customer. Unlike traditional media channels where the information flow is one way, one to many – where consumer or target audience group is “passive”, Social media communication is not only two-way, one-to-one, but consumer is active participant and “owns” the conversation.

Moreover, conversations over Social Media channels are public – visible to all. And customers and potential customers are discussing about products and brands on Social Media channels whether the marketer is participating in the discussion or not.This is why it is utmost important for marketer to have a Social CRM strategy and invest in Social Media tools for effectively engaging customers and prospects. Gone are the days of one way “passive” advertising, thanks to Social Media (for definition of Social CRM, see my earlier post titled What is Social CRM?)

Level of customer engagement will determine mind-share and market-share for a brand. Those marketers who effectively engage their customers and prospects will emerge as winners and those who are not good in customer engagement will lose market share. If any one wants proof of importance of Social Media engagement to performance, here it is!

Engagementdb has published a study that shows strong evidence that Social Media Engagement correlates to Financial Performance (see report on The world’s most valuable brands. Who’s most engaged?)

According to this study “”Engagement via social media IS important — and we CAN quantify it. There is statistically significant correlation between social media engagement and the two most meaningful financial performance metrics – revenue and profit”. This study further states that:

• It pays to engage meaningfully in social media. Emphasize quality, not just quantity.

• Engagement is more than just setting up a blog or Facebook profile and letting viewers post comments,  it’s keeping your content fresh and replying to comments; it’s building your friends network and updating your profile status.

• To scale engagement, make social media part of everyone’s job. You must do something, else risk falling far behind other brands, not only in your industry, but across your customers’ general online experience.

• Engagement can’t be skin-deep, nor is it a campaign that can be turned on and off. True engagement means full engagement in the channels where you choose to invest.

This clearly illustrates the importance of engaging customers via Social Media for building trust and loyalty towards the brand – the essence of Social CRM (for more see What is Social CRM and why it is important and Dear CMOs, Wake up to Social Media challenge).

What do you think? Are you convinced that customer engagement will determine winning brands in Social Era? Please share your comments:

There are three important reasons for the phenomenal growth and popularity of Foursquare as compared to rivals such as Gowalla or Yelp.

• Technology: Although just one year old, Foursquare has stayed on top of technological aspects and made sure that its app is user friendly and efficient in leveraging location based info from mobile devices. Its latest release, Ver. 1.7 features many enhancements such a new design, faster check-ins besides an easy way to view check-in history.

• Ease of Use: Foursquare is very intuitive, easy to use and the latest release is a big step in this direction. (see this CNN video on how easy it is to use Foursquare)

• Creative Design and Promotion Strategy: Foursquare has been very creative in its design – badges for example and the way you earn them. Also important is how Foursquare (and participating establishments) have promoted the service. For example, Starbucks recently teamed up with Foursquare to offer customer rewards (for more, see this link). And when other companies have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on marketing to reach target audience, Foursquare has relied on buzz generated by creative promotion strategy. At the  South by South West (SXSW), 2010 taking place in Austin, Texas, Foursquare had people lined up to play this game of four square with one of its founders, Dennis Crowley, outside SXSW venue, with people walking by and talking about it. This is great buzz for Foursquare, with total investment of around $5.99 for a box of sidewalk chalk, that other companies paid tens of thousands of dollars to generate inside the venue! Isn’t that cool? (watch the following video)

To summarize, Foursquare is the hottest Social Network on the web because it is technically efficient, easy to use and creatively brilliant in design and promotion.

What do you think are the reasons for Foursquare’s success?