• by Ryan Deutsch , August 5, 2010

Social CRM, like many recent trends in marketing strategy, has been defined and positioned in a number of different ways by a number of different analysis, consultants and self-proclaimed experts.  Yesterday, I read a great piece on social CRM from Gartner titled: "First Steps for Social CRM: The Gartner CRM Team's Perspective." 

In essence, social CRM boils down to combining data from multiple customer interactions across multiple channels (social, email, offline, etc.) to create a conversation among the brand, its customers and the community as a whole. In addition to explaining social CRM in a clear and concise way, the document made a few recommendations about social CRM strategy.  As an email marketer, you'll find that Gartner's recommendations for social CRM execution will read like the best practices whitepapers you have been publishing within your organization for the past year.  This is not because Gartner's insights are old or lack insight; it is simply because email marketers have been executing a version of social CRM for quite a while now. 

Let's have a look at the three Gartner recommendations below and consider why email marketers should be social CRM "experts" in no time:

1. "Put the customer at the center of your thinking."This is a critical element of social CRM.  The interactivity offered by the social Web has taken brand perception management away from the marketing and PR departments and placed it squarely in the hands of your most vocal customers.  Great customer experiences result in brand advocates, while poor customer experiences deliver brand detractors. 

As email marketers, we have employed preference and subscription management for years.  We clearly understand that a consumer needs to be able to set interaction preferences within a brand's communication strategy.  The flexibility of the email channel allows brands to quickly customize everything from content to frequency based on explicit customer direction or implied interests based on behavioral targeting.  The point here is that relevance and rich customer experiences are at the center of social CRM, just as they are at the heart of email marketing programs. 

So how can the email marketer take this experience and help move social CRM forward?  Take a look at some of your most customer-centric communications and consider how the data driving these programs could inform other communication channels (Facebook, Twitter, online communities, etc.)  Remember, do not simply transition a program from one channel to the other; the goal is to use the unique capabilities of social channels to enhance the customer experience. 

2. "Ensure there is clarity on the business objectives that the company is trying to reach and that all necessary departments are onboard." This is where so many social marketing efforts run aground.  The hype around social media marketing drives investments in programs that lack any tie-in to corporate objectives.  Programs grow Facebook "likes" with no real strategy to engage those new Facebook "subscribers" once recruited.  Worse yet, since social CRM is so new, the metrics and key performance indicators we rely on so heavily for email program management are absent. 

I think the real opportunity here is for social CRM to embrace two layers of metric management.  The first relates to engagement, and the second converts engagement data into value for a brand.  At my company, we see this as a trend towards "participatory marketing" and feel it sits at the heart of social CRM.   As email marketers, we track and optimize a number of metrics that mean little to anyone outside of our small community: click-throughs, opens, delivered, bounces, complaints, etc.  Over the years, the most successful email marketers have been able to roll these metrics up and show how they impact business goals like growing market share, increasing top-line revenue or reducing customer support costs.  This same discipline needs to be applied to social CRM through participatory marketing tracking. 

Participatory marketing looks at the level of participation or engagement a consumer has with a brand.  It goes beyond traditional RFM and other value formulas and considers all engagement points between a consumer and a brand:  Email interaction, site searches, product reviews, survey responses, customer referrals, community updates, Facebook posts and tweets are just a few examples of measures that can be applied to a consumer's participation with a brand.  The trick is (as we have done in email) to roll this picture of participation up and look at how it impacts marketing, sales and customer service in terms that track back to corporate goals.  This will result in social CRM offering more than a simple view into customer engagement -- but rather specific insight into a more accurate lifetime customer value.

3. "Companies should identify decision points along a buying process, and determine how a community could help with each of these decisions." This is my favorite!  Email marketers have become extremely proficient in customer touch point analysis.  In particular, online retailers, travel/hospitality and financial service firms are excellent at accessing customer touch points and optimizing opportunities for communication strategies that move a customer from research to purchase. 

Consider the level of sophistication of shopping cart abandonment programs that are "table stakes" for many email marketing managers.  Email marketers have spent countless hours looking at how the email channel can add value to the customer experience, from welcoming new customers to confirming purchases to re-engaging those members of the database that have gone "dark."  Each triggered email marketing communication should serve as a guidepost for a corresponding effort in social channels. 

Again, we should not replicate the content delivered in email; we should do exactly the opposite.  At each stage of the decision process, we should provide additional, exclusive content on the social Web to reinforce the value of engagement within those channels.  Even more relevant, brands should use email marketing communications to inform consumers of the valuable content, insight or offers that are available in communities or social networks and are immediately relevant to them.  After all, in many companies email is already integrated into the CRM process and can (should) be used to drive consumers to new channels that enhance their overall customer experience.

At the end of the day, email marketers have been practicing social CRM for years.   Be sure to track down those working on the initiative within your business and share how your programs and practices can help scale social CRM in an immediate and accountable way!