• by Kathleen Stockham , April 17, 2012

If you’ve been following the trends recently in Social Media you are no doubt watching a new revolution taking hold; brands and retailers creating customer tools using SCRAM and reaping the benefits of the data it provides.

What is SCRAM? Social Customer Relationship Application Management; the SocMe version of a web form where users “connect” with your app on Facebook, mobile phone or other platform, transition data and other preferences and then use the application your company has created. The applications range from games to collection of points, POS commerce and even coupons. These applications contain a wealth of information on your customers and give a whole new light to the more traditional means of managing and data mining your audience.

In the old days, users had to fill out a web form, give up a lot of personal info and then watch it get sent to a black hole in the online space where it was up to you to decipher and filter what data went where. With SocMe applications, users simply click “I Accept” on the permissions applet and they have agreed to let you access their profile (certain conditions always apply, naturally) and they are off and running. With these applications you have users in active participation of your brand.

Victoria’s Secret has a great application for brand VSX where Facebook users use the app to upload photos, motivational statements and share with other users their fitness journey while wearing VSX work-out clothing. The brand, in turn uses those stories and posts as part of their marketing efforts. Likewise, Victoria’s Secret can glean a great deal of information about their users based upon their participation in the app such as age, location, fitness level and even “devotion” of their fandom based upon their active participation.

Likewise for WalMart and American Express, users can hook in via permissions and use cool tools and applications in how they interact with you and receive all that you have to offer. Instead of waiting for users to visit your site, pick up the phone or walk into a store, the “idle scroller” who is on mobile and killing time between meetings or the school carpool line can interact, comment, purchase and be “present” for your brand and your message.

Not convinced? Considering that Facebook allows you to self-select OGV (open graph verbs) to track unique behavior and “actions” using certain adjectives and action verbs (think: Orville Redenbacher fans can be “popping” each time they used the app and that’s what shows up to as activity in the right hand scroll to other users) you have multiple ways to see what fans are doing. You will know in real-time what is going on, no data-base firing needed. In addition, the viral quality of Facebook and Twitter itself (not to mention Pinterest) means your application and subsequent reaction by others could possibly create an even more broad reach than any web form acquisition strategy could do.

And…you still get email. Part of the permissions for Facebook could involve acceptance to obtain the user’s email address. (You can also add in an opt-in box in the application as well) And that satisfies more than a few checkboxes of good CRM best practice not to mention a nifty way to create acquisition, retention and data mining with one click of “I Accept.”

You want in on the next big CRM wave in the industry? Are you ready to have your customers SCRAM into your database and marketing efforts this year?

There’s an app for that.