2014
IIM KOZHIKODE
PRASHANT YADAV
PGP/16/218
[SOCIAL NETWORKING AND CRM]
Introduction
Social networking sites are exploding and the hype with interest is also growing. Among them Facebook stands topper with 200 million users in 2009. Still the data doesn’t represent the correct facts as it is still a challenge to sort out fact from the data available. At high levels, social networking is described as the convergence of technologies which enable it to communicate it easily among individuals and share information. But today the question is not regarding social networking, but is about its usage in business. Businesses are trying to capitalize on social media as they search for unique strategies and tactics to extract value from it. Gartner Research shows that a large increment in investment in social networking by businesses (Metz, 2008). If used effectively, social networking sites can really enable our salespeople, marketing professionals, and customer service agents to develop and grow meaningful relationships with customers. Social networking sites true value can’t be achieved in isolation. Rather, there is a need that organizations take stock of their customer management and core business processes initiatives and then identifies and ponders upon the task of enhancing the value and extends those initiatives. The paper discusses about the tangible ways in which current organizations can extract business value from social networking after leveraging it with Customer Relationship Management (CRM).
The importance of social networking for business
Social networking sites provide the users the ability to communicate with each other. Also, they enable users to find like-minded individuals. After they discover each other...
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...indisputable. Yet many of the current business organizations still struggle to translate it into real benefits of business. By acquiring tools which can enable them manage their social networking activities alongside traditional marketing, sales, and service activities, organizations will take advantage of the social networking without getting distracted from their core business. Ultimately, success will become easy for those businesses that will succeed integrating with social networking which provides them a wealth of customer data, unfiltered feedback, and informal conversations and convert them into insights. Microsoft helps our customers achieve this goal through the Social Networking Accelerator for Microsoft Dynamics CRM. This provides organizations the capabilities to better understand, listen, analyze, respond, and formulate the social network activities.
If businesses expect to thrive in today’s world of connectivity, then they must accept that their most important asset is reaching and retaining customers. Expectations are higher than ever, and communities can provide the perfect outlet for customers to share their thoughts, opinions and needs. According to IBM’s research as many as 85 percent of users, say that social network sites influence them when making a purchase. By facilitating meaningful interaction between the companies and their customers, communities can supply another level of intelligence, improve customer satisfaction and therefore drive sales. Consequently, the allocation of resource, amongst each possible marketing channel, should be carefully considered in order to maximise marketing results.
Corporate identity is among the top priorities, no matter whether the business is a small scale or lists in the elite echelon. Having profile pages on different platforms including Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter helps the businesses to stay connected with the existing customers. The best aspect of social media is that it gives an opportunity of direct engagement with the clients. With Facebook having around 1.2 billion members and Twitter having 250 million active users monthly, it is obviously the best channel for startups to raise awareness about their products, create connection and engaging with customers to drive revenues (Benwell, 2014).
Before social media, people accessed the internet mainly to check their e-mails; they were physically social by meeting other people personally to communicate. Businesses were focused on using traditional mediums, such as TV, print, etc. to advertise their product and services. Nowadays, people have become virtually social; social media have made it easy for more meetings to be conducted through social networking rather than just meeting face-to-face. More and more businesses are investing a considerable amount of time and money to understand the use of social media and how it can benefit them.
With the invention and development of the Internet, communication has changed in to a revolutionized platform. The Internet has evolved from a means to facilitate data, to a stage of public communication through the use of social media. Social media has affected every aspect of interaction from personal lives to the business world. The business world however, has been especially impacted by the application of social media. Social media has opened up a plethora of opportunities for businesses to advertise, promote and market themselves to consumers. Social media “is one of the fastest growing and most promising strategies a business can employ to boost sales and conversions” (Adobe). As social media continues to grow as a marketing tool, more and more companies have incorporated social media into their daily business activity for brand awareness, target market reach, business expansion and customer interaction.
has become much easier for companies given the new technologies available. However, the wider the span of audience a company tries to reach, the higher the cost of resources. Social media websites offer numerous tools and applications that could greatly increase the growth of small businesses and non-profit organizations and can be much more cost-effective [30]. Social sites can be used to network with organizations to help potential employees find employment and give corporate ...
Social media proves time and time again that it can be a very successful tool for helping to grow and expand a business, when used correctly. However, there are many limitations to using social media that need to be taken into consideration. One of the limitations is that companies struggle to determine how their social media platforms are generating sales and profits based on their likes and followers. The ability for a company to identify a concrete methodology to evaluate the success of their social media programs is difficult for most companies and even though who had invested time and resources into assessing this key performance indicator still understand that the methodology used is not necessarily providing them with concrete impact (Sandilands, n.d.). Due to the fact that it takes time for the likes and followers to grow and form a substantial
Integrating the social media data and data from the existing CRM tools like Siebel enables the brand to truly listen to customer than ever before. Social networks are changing the expectation of the customer, they don’t want to be acquired, they don’t want to be managed, they want to be delighted and empowered. Identifying customers, understanding their concerns and reaching up to their expectations is possible using social media in CRM.
Among the billions of social media users, there is a percentage dedicated to businesses who use social media as part of their marketing strategy. The sheer number of people who use services like Facebook and Instagram on a daily
How can the problem of social media be fixed? Maybe the most difficult but effective method would be to get rid of your social media accounts. “30 days ago, I made the decision to give up social media for a month. Well, here I am, reporting that I’m still alive and that the past month has been life changing- the most successful month of my existence. Not knowing what your friends are doing every second is liberating. It’s amazing how much you have to talk about when you don’t have a constant plug into their life. I built stronger friendships and forged a couple of new ones, including a relationship” (Corona, 2014). Steve Corona decide to give up social media for a month and the results were outstanding. Without being social media he had no
The use of social networking has both its advantages and disadvantages. One advantage is “an Internet social network can help you connect with other people who share your interest, and find resources to ga...
Social media is pertinent in use of communication throughout today’s organizations. There are many social media platforms that allow organizations to convey communication to potential consumers, stakeholders and the public. “It is essential for leaders to integrate these technologies and seek the best way to use social media and networks to the advantage of the business” (Billington, 2012, p.1). Business owners find that keeping up with current technology trends is essential in having a competitive advantage in the market place and having a strict set of standards and strategy is important in quickly adapting to social media trends.
Second, with the development of the network, social networking sites are very convenient to access, which is an important reason for their popularity. The number of Internet users has increased with improved Internet technology, which is beneficial for promotin...
Since the introduction of internet in the 1990’s, its importance worldwide has always grown tremendously. From the first email send to the domination of Facebook and other social media websites, it has changed the way people communicate. The use of social media is increasingly becoming the preferred way people share their daily activities, ideas and knowledge and that is why it’s the most talked about and used platform. Many companies are encouraging their employees to use various social media platforms and engage online for office productivity, posting opinions and presenting their thoughts. Corporations realize that Social Media tools such as blogs, forums, podcasts and social networking websites makes internal communications faster, more convenient and effective. Social media is a low-cost, high-impact tool that can also complement and reinforce your existing communications efforts. It gives a new dimension to internal communications in many ways: building relationship with employees, leads to diverse thinking and innovation, and reduce costs and Increase Productivity. Social media has impacted positively in the business world, but its downside has impacted teens in high school, with issues such as cyber bullying, and people using Facebook and twitter to get over their boredom and research proving that the more they use social networking websites the more envious they feel.
Social networking has been around for more than just a few years. In fact, it has been around since before the 1970s. According to nethistory.info, the first email was sent in 1965. Social networking has grown from a simple email, to a larger scale, including internet searches, communities that decide how to define things, Facebook and Twitter. Social networking has turned from a simple form of communications to a tool that is used to share the most intimate parts of people's lives.
Social Networking is a modern and the easiest way to Communicate Online. It has revolutionized the way we communicate over large distances. We can get into contact immediately with Family, Friends, and other people from around the globe using any of the modern Communication mediums such as a Mobile Device or a Computer. There are many possible ways of Social Networking. You can use Social Networking Websites, Blogging, IMs (Instant Messengers), Chatrooms, and Dating Sites to get connected to people.