Social CRM has become a buzzword. But don’t believe the hype. Social CRM is very early in its evolution from a big idea to a practical tool for marketers. According to Paul Greenberg, “Social CRM is a philosophy and a business strategy supported by a technology platform, business rules, workflow processes and social characteristics, designed to engage the customer in a collaborative conversation in order to provide mutually beneficial value in a trusted and transparent business environment. It’s the company’s response to the customer’s ownership of the conversation.” Everybody suspects that brands can interact meaningfully one-on-one with consumers through social networks. There is a yet-to-be-found nexus between traditional CRM and social networking that will yield more robust data profiles leading to more meaningful relationships between brands and their followers. Combining an explicit expression of interest (an email opt-in) with the more casual attention (a like) or inferred interest (a social profile), potentially identifies different consumers needing different persuasive approaches or offers. Ideally, combining social activity with demographic and behavioral data will give marketers a nuanced and segmented view of customers with which to craft more potent messages, offers and cadences. Getting a 360-degree view of customers and understanding who is Read more…