The question is no longer “should a company have an online presence?” but rather “what kind of sites should a business be on?” As organizations look to prioritize their Internet performance, they have discovered most customers spend their time online engaging with social media pages.
EMarketer stated 70 percent of U.S. Internet users frequent social media sites and over half the American population visits a social page at least once a month. Businesses want to follow consumers and expect their software solutions to keep up.
Recent buying trends indicate companies prioritize CRM solutions with social capabilities. Businesses want to use centralized software that coordinates marketing, manages consistent customer service and provides insight into consumer groups through social pages.
Social media marketing encourages conversations
First of all, a business will use social media to ensure the company’s advertising material reaches an audience. Marketers must publish content on a platform frequented by the desired consumer group and promote engagement with the business.
Entrepreneur recently said social media is fast becoming a preferred medium for business marketing. Not only does social media offer a platform for promotions that encourage participation, but customers like to talk to companies on social platforms when they have questions about content or want to learn more about a deal. A social page creates a personal perception of a company because it has a profile just like individual users. Social media is also cost-efficient and timely. Marketers can post materials as soon as there is an online trend or news story that somehow involves a business’s products or services.
CRM solutions with social capabilities is necessary for marketers who prepare materials for social media sharing. If an employee rushes to take advantage of a specific event, they want to build content based on a convenient company data source. Plugging social media marketing into a business software system ensures all advertising materials are consistent and scheduled for routine delivery, but not so often as to annoy customers.
CRM-assisted social support is a public event
The social aspects of new media have encouraged customers to go online for support. The Harvard Business Review found the number of consumers engaging brands on Twitter grew 250 percent between 2013 and 2015. It’s not just the modern generation, however; 17 percent of people over the age of 55 would rather receive customer support through social media than telephone.
People like to talk to businesses on social platforms because they are convenient. Forbes contributor Jayson DeMers said consumers turn to social pages for fast responses from companies. People also like that social conversations can take place in a public forum. When a service agent communicates with a customer on social media, it appears as though the employee speaks directly for the business.
CRM software can create a customer profile for every person who interacts with a company. No matter what channel a consumer uses, the care agent has access to the customer’s complete history. Detailed information allows employees to deliver personalized support. Positive interactions on public forums are also great public relations opportunities. A satisfied customer might even share service interactions with their contacts if they are really impressed.
Microsoft Dynamics offers the best features for social listening
Employees have to store the details of every consumer interaction in CRM software to provide better insight into customer performance. Information from existing clients can inform companies on how to appeal to similar audiences.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM has additional features that allow businesses to learn about specific customer groups. Tools like Microsoft Social Engagements let users scan social media pages looking for any content that mentions a business. Companies can collect data from social media performance like comments, shares and likes and turn them into charts and other visual display materials. Turning casual interactions into hard data lets a company see how marketing content or other social media strategies perform.
The CRM Software Blog said Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers better social media performance than similar programs. The software can collect relevant data from a variety of different sites written in various languages. The information stored in the software is beneficial to marketing, sales and support employees. Social media is a rich source for customer behavior analytics to guide future company materials and strategies.
