Digital and social customer relationship management

Digital and social customer relationship management

Defining digital and social CRM

Social customer relationship management (SCRM) is the incorporation of social media platforms into customer relationship management (CRM) channels (Arora, & Sharma, 2018). Progressively, the CRM platforms offer support to the social media alongside the traditional channels so that the customers can interact with the business through their preferred channels. It means more exceptional branding and marketing and enhanced customer experience. According to Kotler (2015), companies no longer possess a sole voice or the most influential voice in motivating and shaping the consumer brands. In the digital era, a more comprehensive role is played by platforms such as Facebook. LinkedIn, Twitter and google that enable information sharing. In this case, companies need to drive resources into the new “digital tsunami” for sustainability. Besides, Greenberg (2010) establishes that social media is based on the capability of companies to meet consumer needs, while similarly meeting the objectives of a company. It is aimed at enhancing customer engagement rather than customer management. Furthermore, Kaufman and Horton (2015) posit that SCRM revolves around forestalling, listening and effectively responding to the customer needs. In this case, the businesses can primarily enhance their experiences. To achieve SCRM, companies should engage the customer more closely and interactively by making brands a critical part of the conversation (Armstrong 2015: Yawised & O’Donohue, 2019).

Comparing digital and social CRM with traditional CRM

Traditional CRM is a business model that uses several applications. The used software ensures data management, oversees customer behaviour and automates marketing. Its core is majorly expressed in standardized performances using input data from processes (Kale, 2017). On the other hand, SCRM is a more innovative technique of achieving the activities of business processes and creating a trustworthy relationship with existing and potential customers (Buttle & Maklan 2019). The unique feature of this CRM lies in the modification of contents to an extensive, meaningful conversation. Therefore, dynamic engagement with prospects and leads, instead of unwanted messages is a significant difference (Maslowska, Malthouse & Collinger, 2017). Social CRM has complemented traditional CRM through available social media platforms (Tuten, & Solomon 2017). It is important to note that these strategies have far more different characteristics.  The table below illustrates some of the differences.

Benefits and challenges of SCRM to businesses

80% of companies have plans to utilize social media to deliver customer services (Sarmah, Kamboj & Kandampully, 2018). However, there are challenges within the social media platforms, especially Facebook such as limited empowerment (Bruns, 2019). Customer empowerment is the means of increasing customer values by offering more access, education, contents and commerce to the locations of the customers (Turnquist, 2004: Rajabion et al. 2019).

The Primary objectives of companies is to generate maximum profitability. The aim is achieved through active customer engagement to create an outstanding customer experience (Grewal et al. 2017). Therefore, the implementation of SCRM is the perfect avenue to address this. It principally aims in the relationship that exists between the organization and customers (Buttle & Maklan 2019). The model assists in the gathering, examining and management of consumer information. The growth of an organization is attributed to the effective use of SCRM. These benefits encompass a broad spectrum of discoveries, increased organization, potential business expansion and sufficient connection with the customers (Doorey, Wilcox & Eastin, 2017).

Despite the benefits, SCRM is affected with some challenges. To begin with, Implementation of the system can be difficult. It requires the use of appropriate information technology to drive sales, marketing activities and customer experiences (Buttle & Maklan 2019). However, poor adaptation or inappropriate choice can lead to ineffective business outcomes SCRM assist in optimizing efficiency and simplifying business processes (Helmreich, & Merritt, 2019). However, poor adaptation or inappropriate choice can lead to ineffective business outcomes.

Benefits and challenges of SCRM to customer

The implementation of SCRM by companies is majorly designed for the customer. Firms often need to stimulate unique customer experiences and produce goods and services that meet consumer expectations (Kibitok, 2018). Through the implementation of SCRM, businesses are able to interact and collaborate with consumers effectively. Besides, customers can easily give their feedback on the quality of goods and services hence informing the organization on the best business production processes (Soler-Labajos & Jiménez-Zarco, 2016).

Despite the benefits, sales and marketing through social media can risk the confidentiality and privacy of the customer. Business management can access customer information without their knowledge, which may affect the desired consumer experience (Chaffey & Ellis-Chadwick 2019).

Content Marketing Strategy

Digital and social media platforms are the most efficient channels for engaging and connecting with customers in the era of digital and social technologies. It allows the business to demonstrate customer relationship techniques, address customer concerns quickly and prove expertise in the marketing. Social media can be a key to new business leads (Felix, Rauschnabel & Hinsch, 2017). Development of social media strategies allows the business to convert leads into customers and advance business objectives. To effective develop a digital and social media CRM strategy, it is essential to determine the customer experiences. Customer-related database is the foundation for the establishment and implementation of SCRM strategies. In this regard, the capability of acquiring, storing, examining and distribution of consumer-related information and data is vital for SCRM activities (Nam, Lee & Lee 2019).

As customer attempts to find new means of shutting out and avoiding traditional advertising messages. Besides, companies need to develop communication strategies that can adequately support inbound messages (Wang et al. 2019) and therefore create values for consumers beyond just advertising (Halligan, Shah  & Runne, 2018).  The companies utilize these strategies to gather appropriate data on consumer and then establish better management mechanisms.  One of the emerging forms of marketing is content creation. Most customers visit websites to look for information that will aid in the purchase of a particular product. Content may be developed by an employee of the company in the form of white paper, blog and documentation, and the company must oversee such creations. There are research that revolve around the concept of creating an engaging content and co-creation of the contents with employee and customers.  For instance, Manosevitch and Tenenboim (2017) discourses journalistic approaches and strategies for the creation of engaging content. Other studies discuss how management responses on third-party online content may influence consumer satisfaction. Furthermore, Kim, Wang and Malthouse (2013) discuss the strategies that can be used by the management to respond to negative word of mouth.

Data and information technology

Data and insights derived from content creation are the building blocks for SCRM. The recently developed world economic forum established data to be a class of several financial assets (World Economic Forum, 2012), and marketing experts are familiar with such a concept. Data collection, analysis and presentation form the basis for SCRM activities. In particular, the vast array of data made available and collected by social media necessitates the processes of identifying customers and the production of goods and services.

McAfee and Brynjolfsson (2012) argued that data enable companies to make decisions based on evidence that can be substantiated rather than mere perceptions. To do so, however, senior marketing executives must learn to ask the correct question and use the answer to make appropriate decisions. Even before the significant data era, companies attempted to collect as much information as possible concerning their customers. From cards to clinch streams, numerous strategies have been adopted in SCRM (Lieb & Szymanski, 2017). Currently, with the onset of social media and digital platforms, companies can access a wide range of information regarding their customers and other related people. It may offer companies empowerment that may drive resources towards data capture.  However, concepts such as data warehousing and data mining come along with the development of social media information technology and the constant creation strategy. Data mining uses predictive and descriptive analytics to a broad set of data to inform decisions on sales and marketing (Hofmann & Klinkenberg 2016). Content creation will involve both direct and indirect data mining concepts.

On the other hand, data warehousing is the construction and use of a data warehouse. The warehouse is made from multiple sources that inform reporting and decision making. The rational database will use a structured data technique in this approach (Ram, Rao & Sujana 2017). They consist of raw and columns that effectively store the data.  It is a structure table where data can be accessed in many different forms without the need for reorganization. The use and application interfaces of the rational database is the structure query language. It will sufficiently offer a warehouse for the content creation strategy.

Bibliographies

Armstrong, G., 2015. Cited in. Kaufman, I. and Horton, C., 2015. Digital transformation: leveraging digital technology with core values to achieve sustainable business goals. Eur. Financ. Rev.(December–January), pp.63-67.

Arora, L. and Sharma, B.K., 2018. Social Customer Relationship Management: A. A Literature.

Bruns, A., 2019. After the ‘APIcalypse’: social media platforms and their fight against critical scholarly research. Information, Communication & Society, 22(11), pp.1544-1566.

Buttle, F. and Maklan, S., 2019. Customer relationship management: concepts and technologies. Routledge.

Chaffey, D. and Ellis-Chadwick, F., 2019. Digital marketing. Pearson UK.

Doorey, A.M., Wilcox, G.B. and Eastin, M.S., 2017. Consumer privacy and the new mobile commerce. In The Dark Side of Social Media (pp. 203-224). Routledge.

Felix, R., Rauschnabel, P.A. and Hinsch, C., 2017. Elements of strategic social media marketing: A holistic framework. Journal of Business Research, 70, pp.118-126.

Greenberg, P,. 2010. CRM at the speed of light. (Fourth edition).

Grewal, D., Roggeveen, A.L., Sisodia, R. and Nordfält, J., 2017. Enhancing customer engagement through consciousness. Journal of Retailing, 93(1), pp.55-64.

Halligan, B., Shah, D. and Runne, D., 2018. Inbound Marketing: Wie Sie Kunden online anziehen, abholen und begeistern. John Wiley & Sons.

Helmreich, R.L. and Merritt, A.C., 2019. Culture at work in aviation and medicine: National, organizational and professional influences. Routledge.

Hofmann, M. and Klinkenberg, R. eds., 2016. RapidMiner: Data mining use cases and business analytics applications. CRC Press.

Kaufman, I. and Horton, C., 2015. Digital transformation: leveraging digital technology with core values to achieve sustainable business goals. Eur. Financ. Rev.(December–January), pp.63-67.

Kibitok, W., 2018. Customer service and relationship management.

Kale, V., 2017. Agile network businesses: collaboration, coordination, and competitive advantage. CRC Press.

Kotler, P., 2015. Cited in. Kaufman, I. and Horton, C., 2015. Digital transformation: leveraging digital technology with core values to achieve sustainable business goals. Eur. Financ. Rev.(December–January), pp.63-67.

Kim, S.J., Wang, R.J.H., Maslowska, E. and Malthouse, E.C., 2016. “Understanding a fury in your words”: The effects of posting and viewing electronic negative word-of-mouth on purchase behaviors. Computers in Human Behavior, 54, pp.511-521.

Lieb, R. and Szymanski, J., 2017. Content-the atomic particle of marketing: the definitive guide to content marketing strategy. Kogan Page Publishers.

Manosevitch, I. and Tenenboim, O., 2017. The multifaceted role of user-generated content in news websites: An analytical framework. Digital journalism, 5(6), pp.731-752.

Maslowska, E., Malthouse, E.C. and Collinger, T., 2017. How Customers Engage with Brands: A New Framework. In Advances in Advertising Research (Vol. VII) (pp. 231-243). Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden.

McAfee, A. and Brynjolfsson, E., 2017. Machine, platform, crowd: Harnessing our digital future. WW Norton & Company.

Nam, D., Lee, J. and Lee, H., 2019. Business analytics use in CRM: A nomological net from IT competence to CRM performance. International Journal of Information Management, 45, pp.233-245.

Rajabion, L., Khorraminia, M., Andjomshoaa, A., Ghafouri-Azar, M. and Molavi, H., 2019. A new model for assessing the impact of the urban intelligent transportation system, farmers’ knowledge and business processes on the success of green supply chain management system for urban distribution of agricultural products. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 50, pp.154-162.

Ram, M.K., Rao, M.V. and Sujana, C., 2017. An overview on multimedia data mining and its relevance today. Int. J. Comput. Sci. Trends Technol, 5(3), pp.108-113.

Sarmah, B., Kamboj, S. and Kandampully, J., 2018. Social media and co-creative service innovation: an empirical study. Online Information Review.

Soler-Labajos, N. and Jiménez-Zarco, A.I., 2016. Social CRM: the role of social media in managing customer relations. In Managing Public Relations and Brand Image through Social Media (pp. 134-159). IGI Global.

Tuten, T.L. and Solomon, M.R., 2017. Social media marketing. Sage.

Wang, W.L., Malthouse, E.C., Calder, B. and Uzunoglu, E., 2019. B2B content marketing for professional services: In-person versus digital contacts. Industrial marketing management, 81, pp.160-168.

Yawised, K. and O’Donohue, W., 2019. Social Customer Relationship Management in Small and Medium Enterprises: Overcoming Barriers to Success. In Management Science (pp. 157-181). Springer, Cham.