Innovation abounds in today’s technology industry. New releases, product updates, and software versions are making our smart devices smarter, sleeker, and easier to use than ever before. Yet, in our business environments, such ingenuity is useful only to the extent that it strengthens and deepens our customer relationships and brand identity. To this end, the most valuable tools are those that allow employees visibility into key audience metrics, such as purchase history and shopping trends, so they can gather the data they need to ensure they’re not only responding to clients in the short-term, but are fully prepared to stay one step ahead of them throughout the customer journey, always attuned to what’s next on their radar.
Leveraging CRM to create accessible and actionable data is a substantial step in the right direction. By providing one centralized portal for all employees, from marketing to service, to save, store, and share key customer insights and project updates, CRM creates more powerful and personal connections and more tailored campaigns that lead to stronger brand identity and loyalty. In fact, Bluewolf discovered that 53% of Salesforce users who responded to the State of Salesforce report are currently investing in customer engagement programs.
Below are a few ways you can capture this functionality within your system:
Make the Shift to Personalized Messaging
Marketing today requires more than just mailers. Omni-channel communication, from mobile push notifications to wearable device notifications, is here to stay, and successful companies are able to craft messages translatable across a variety of media. With built-in sales and outreach capabilities, CRM software enables such uniformity, so teams can broaden their impact in a variety of settings and time frames, crafting unique messages tailored to customer activity. Two tools that enable this capability include Salesforce’s Social.com, a leading self-service social advertising application that lets users create and automate social advertising campaigns, then distribute them across social media in real-time, and Active Audiences, a component of the Salesforce ExactTarget Marketing Cloud, that provides a single view of audience activity and metric updates at a glance.
Craft Lifelong Journeys Across Both Physical and Digital Spheres
Even though the Internet of Things (IoT) is booming, focusing all your efforts solely on virtual collaboration may leave your company missing out on vital in-store or in-person interaction. Customers now shop and buy across both the physical and digital environment, and using CRM to maximize influence across every step of the customer journey is a critical underpinning to omni-channel success. Tools such as Salesforce Journey Builder allow employees to plan and personalize every touch-point, from initial prospect contact to project maintenance, customized to the individual preferences of each customer.
Enable Effective and Meaningful Follow-Up
While it might be easier to strategize marketing and customer communication tactics for the onset, it can be a little more challenging to come up with a plan to keep customers engaged, happy, returning to, and sharing about your product and/or service. Salesforce Social Studio is an example of a tool that allows users to stay in constant client contact—providing a centralized place for users to listen to, analyze, engage, and communicate with core audiences, so you hear what they’re saying, and are equipped to respond.
We have more technology at our fingertips now than ever before—applying these features to boost customer satisfaction, increase repeat business, and maximize brand loyalty requires looking for new ways to retain and use the data-rich interactions enabled by CRM. We’ve got the tools—now let’s go to work.
Sources:
Pendleton, Erin, “3 Leading Tactics To Drive Customer Intimacy: Insights From Connections 2015,” Bluewolf, June 26, 2015, http://www.bluewolf.com/blog/3-leading-tactics-drive-customer-intimacy-insights-connections-2015.
“CRM In 2015: Time To Invest In A Customer Engagement Programme?,” Bluewolf News, http://www.bluewolf.com/in-the-news/crm-2015-time-invest-customer-engagement-programme.
NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT
