Category: Social CRM

Categories: Social CRM Posted on

Milestone: Social CRM Pioneer Group Crosses 1000 Members #SCRM

On March 5th, Ray Wang and I announced the SCRM report, along with that, we launched a community to allow practitioners and those who serve them to connect to each other.  The goal of this group was to extend the discussion further in this very early market, hence we coined it a “Pioneers” group and dubbed the theme around exploration, going “west” as we explored various trails as a collective.   A few days ago, the Social CRM Pioneers Group (you can join too) crossed over 1000 members and the discussions in this new industry continue to spill over. This labor of love continues to impress me as members connect, share, and foster new relationships that spill over to real … Continue readingMilestone: Social CRM Pioneer Group Crosses 1000 Members #SCRM

Categories: Social CRM, Social Media Posted on

Research Note: Integrate Social Networks with your Corporate Website with ‘Social Sign On’

Trend:  Corporate Websites and Social Networks Begin Integration For over three years, it’s been argued that corporate websites were irrelevant since they were separate from consumers who were making decisions with each other on social networks.  Since then, we’ve discussed a vision of how corporate websites and social networks would integrate (roadmap: see these 8 stages of integration) and today, the tools and technologies are finally here to make that happen. There are at least a few points of entry to integrate your corporate website: 1) Extending your corporate websites to social networks, 2) Allowing for customers voices through reviews and ratings, 3) Aggregating the discussion back on your own website.  Yet, despite the options, I’d like to discuss an … Continue readingResearch Note: Integrate Social Networks with your Corporate Website with ‘Social Sign On’

Categories: Social CRM, Video Posted on

Video: State of Social CRM

I find that Paul Greenberg (follow him on Twitter @pgreenbe), one of the early adopter who mapped out the CRM space gives a succinct overview of what’s happening in the Social CRM space. He points out the two converging forces ‘social’ and ‘CRM’ spaces that are coming together, yet the third force, ‘companies’ themselves aren’t yet ready for the internal changes that are coming. He raises a good point that social media empowers everyone in the organization to now have a customer touchpoint in this flattening tools. Yet this means that customers will need a consistent experience regardless of who they talk to in sales, marketing, support, or in-person. As a result, this is creating some unique cultural changes inside … Continue readingVideo: State of Social CRM

Categories: Matrix, Social Analytics, Social CRM, Social Insights, Social Media Posted on

Matrix: Brand Monitoring, Social Analytics, Social Insights

Social CRM Needed To Make Sense of Consumer Data. Social data is overwhelming.   More customers, buyers, and consumers are creating content everywhere they go.  Companies cannot scale to match this in a 1:1 basis, and most companies are in early phases of the 8 Stages of Listening.   Earlier this year, I made clear investments in researching the Social CRM space and Mobile+Social space (report forthcoming), it’s clear that Social CRM is starting to get wind under it’s wings, and mobile/social is certainly happening at consumer level.  So what do I see happening next?  Two trends, social analytics intelligence, and social business value networks, which I’ll discuss at a later time. The above graphic lists the Social CRM Use Cases … Continue readingMatrix: Brand Monitoring, Social Analytics, Social Insights

Categories: Social CRM, Social Media Posted on

How Insurance Companies Will Influence Rates Based On Your Tweets: Social Insurance Rates

Expect insurance and wellness companies to monitor social data, then reward –and penalize member actions. Companies Want Accurate Customer Data and Social Data Promises a Gold Mine In our recent research report on Social CRM, we studied how companies will use social data to amend existing customer databases. We mapped out which use cases are ready now, and which ones we expect to see in the future. We expect in the future that companies will give customers an improved customer experience, or improve innovation of products and services by using customer data. (SCRM use cases: CX1, 2 and I1). Just as companies use previous purchasing behavior, demographics, psychographics and other studies, we expect companies to take advantage of the social … Continue readingHow Insurance Companies Will Influence Rates Based On Your Tweets: Social Insurance Rates

Categories: Social CRM, Social Media Posted on

Trend: Social CRM Consolidation

Social Software Is In the “Cambrian Explosion” Era Last weekend, I visited New York’s Museum of Natural History and Sciences.  I’m always fascinated by the dawn of life, and often draw a lot of parallels from the era of many new organisms and how many evolved and many who didn’t adapt to their environment.   In fact, the metaphor works very well in the fast moving social software space, as we’re currently in the Cambrian Explosion, where many new species are appearing (I’ve mapped over 100 community platform vendors, and E&Y has found over 125 social monitoring firms).  The barriers are so low for entry, and with a recession in place, we’re seeing an explosion of new firms.  Those that … Continue readingTrend: Social CRM Consolidation

Categories: Social Commerce, Social CRM, Supply Chain Management Posted on

Social Commerce Breakdown: How Levi’s and Facebook Prompt Your Friends To Improve Your Buying Experience

In the future, the difference between social networks and corporate websites will be hard to distinguish. [With social recommendations, consumers can auto-populate a ‘shopping cart’ to their friends –even before they’ve logged into the retailer’s website] HP’s social strategist Tony Frosty Welch gestured for me to check out Levi’s recent social moves, his instincts were right, this is unique. Two weeks ago, Facebook announced a crusade in social colonization to spread Facebook across the web, and we’re starting to see Levi’s take advantage of it.  While most brands are only at level 1 of social integration, Levi’s has jumped to level 6 and 7. Screenshot Breakdown: How Facebook Enables Levi’s Social Shopping Awareness (Above Screenshot): Levi’s homepage indicates that it … Continue readingSocial Commerce Breakdown: How Levi’s and Facebook Prompt Your Friends To Improve Your Buying Experience

Categories: Altimeter, Social CRM, Webinar Posted on

Social CRM Webinar Part 1: The 5Ms and Marketing Use Cases (Slides and Recording)

The Market Took to the Social CRM Use Cases The Social CRM report by the Altimeter Group is a hit.  Within 30 days it has received over 30,000 views, been touted as the “Most Viral BtoB Report,” and brands and SCRM vendors are aligning their roadmaps with the use cases. There were over 800 registrants for the webinar, and we had nearly 300 attendees, over 135 of the registrants said they wanted to be contacted by a SCRM vendor. All of these numbers indicate that there’s interest in this new market, and we’re glad to help illuminate the pathway. (Update: If you want to give a primer to your CMO, send them my latest Forbes column on the topic) Watch … Continue readingSocial CRM Webinar Part 1: The 5Ms and Marketing Use Cases (Slides and Recording)

Categories: Altimeter, Social CRM Posted on

Altimeter Report: The 18 Use Cases of Social CRM, The New Rules of Relationship Management

18 Use Cases That Show Business How To Finally Put Customers First Social and CRM: How Companies Will Manage Their Social Relationships Over the last six months, I’ve been working closely with Ray Wang who is well known in the CRM space as an expert.  Coupled with my focus on social technologies we did a deep dive on how our worlds are colliding into the trend to Social CRM.  In our opening webinar when we announced our joining of the firm, we made it clear we’re looking at the holistic business, across multiple business departments –not silos or roles. Companies are unable to scale to keep up with the social phenomenon We know that customers are using these social technologies … Continue readingAltimeter Report: The 18 Use Cases of Social CRM, The New Rules of Relationship Management

Categories: Influence, Matrix, Social CRM, Social Media Posted on

Matrix: Companies Should Factor ‘Social Influence’ Into Total Customer Value

Case Study: An Influential Mom Blogger Caused Mainstream Crises Popular blogger, Heather Armstrong (@dooce) was dissatisfied with her non-working Maytag appliance.  Following protocol, she called their support number, yet her issue was not solved.  Stonewalled, she argued/warned the support staff that she was on Twitter, yet didn’t receive special assistance.  Escalating further, she then flexed a muscle and told them she had over 1,000,000 Twitter followers –yet the support rep did not budge.  Finally, she blogged and Tweeted against Maytag, initiating a boycott by her followers, “DO NOT BUY MAYTAG” and continues to chronicle her experience on her blog.  While critics suggest she wielded her power with irresponsibility, the point is moot, what matters is her social influence was not … Continue readingMatrix: Companies Should Factor ‘Social Influence’ Into Total Customer Value