Move over email marketing. Social media has now taken over as the 21st century’s preferred marketing campaign. Studies show that people visit their various social media accounts at least 15 times a day! So, it’s no wonder why many small businesses are embracing social media as a method of customer service and marketing.
But …. as vigorous as your social media efforts are, they can fizzle without access to an equally vigorous gathering of client information. Enter an effective CRM, which can complement your social media marketing efforts. Here are some strategy suggestions:
Why make a phone call when you can use Facebook Messenger?
A recent development, especially among the younger generation, shows that customers prefer to avoid calling a potential client directly. People are more comfortable with emailing and messaging. So, a company with a CRM in place and using social media for marketing, allows anyone in contact with customers via a chat bot or email to have immediate access to a customer’s complete file and a record of all earlier communications. The customer walks away thoroughly impressed with the speed and precision of his information, while at the same time, you easily gather more information to integrate into your CRM.
Attract and capture potential clients.
Some customers who typically ignore email marketing are more likely to respond to the lively and colorful pictures and videos of social media marketing. But it’s also important to get your message out at the right time and to create campaigns that are customized for particular segments of customers. This is where the CRM comes into play – it allows you to create relative parts of your customers to understand what motivates them. Also, a CRM gives you an accurate picture of each customer’s point in the sales sequence, so your social media campaign effort will be timed just right.
For potentially new leads, a CRM can help with crafting social campaigns to attract potential buyers. For example, offering a free consultation is one way to capture potential customer information to be integrated into your CRM.
Empower your representatives.
Bad customer service experiences can certainly give customers ill-feelings about calling a company again. Often, a customer feels that the representative on the line has no authority to make decisions, which explains why many customers prefer to avoid phone calls, where they’re sometimes put on hold for long periods of time while answers are tracked down.
A small business CRM can avoid all of that. When customers can reach you via social media, the boundaries between sales, service, and support are purposefully distorted. When all employees have instant access to customer data and history, the first person they contact can, in many cases, be all that a customer needs. And the customer will leave with a pleasant experience!
It’s simple. The more you know about your customers and leads, the better you can serve them and boost conversions, marketing ROI, and profits. Integrating a CRM into your social media strategies will allow you to gain that knowledge and to use it to its fullest extent.
If you would like to know more, please contact us.
