Starting out when Digital was called 'New Media' and Social Media didn't exist, Rachael Pollard has had a varied and fascinating 15 years to date. Working across multiple verticals, including Banking, Parenting, Book selling, VFX & take-away, Rachael's experience has proven that the fundamentals of good Digital Marketing can drive results no matter the business size or model.

Currently working as Head of Digital & CRM at JUST EAT, Rachael oversees their wide ranging activity across PPC, Display, CRM, Mobile, DRTV, SEO, Social Media and Affiliates.

Ahead of Rachael's session at the Digital Marketing Show, we had a chat about the path to Social CRM enlightenment! 

1. How would you summarise Social Customer Relationship Management? and how does it differ to traditional CRM?

SCRM is the inevitable evolution of CRM. It's core remains true to it's former self (i.e. building more engaging relationships with customers &, ultimately, leading to higher LTV) but it's focus has shifted from talking 'at' customers through channels such as Email, SMS and DM, to participating in customer-led conversations, in real-time, across multiple platforms.

With customer expectations at an all time high, and continuing to rise, brand's must work harder to remain top-of-mind and deliver value to customers at all touch-points. Value, in this sense, can take many forms, such as a well-timed & executed tweet that entertains followers and has them sharing in their droves, or a highly targeted 'Surprise & Delight' gift delivered to their door (e.g. At JUST EAT we had a customer tweet us that they'd had to delete our App as they'd run out of memory on their phone. So, we sent them a £15 iTunes gift card and asked them to put our App back on. And they did!).

2. How important has social media been to customer relationship management?

Social media has established itself in our everyday lives. We use it to interact with friends, family and brands, and if things go wrong, it's often one of the first places we go to vent our frustration. Just as in our personal lives, relationships can often grow stronger by working through the hard times. Brand's must be ready to pick up any negative messages and answer adequately in order to attempt to turnaround a poor experience.

Equally, if a customer's had a great experience, why not pick that up too and turn a 'good customer' into an ambassador.

3. How important is CRM to retaining customers?

Extremely. Acquiring a new customer is only the start of the journey. Ensuring that same customer has great experiences across all further interactions with your brand requires a well-managed and sufficiently resourced CRM team, a robust network of CRM systems and a rigorous test, learn and evolve culture.

4. What is your biggest ‘no no’ in social CRM?

Talking without listening. It can be easy for a brand to become too removed from its customers, and start talking 'at' them. Without understanding your customers' interests, such as the hashtags they use, people they follow, or TV shows they watch, you can't hope to take part in a more meaningful conversation with them.

Invest time in listening to your customers, using this knowledge to interact in a much more genuine and natural way.

5. When turning to social platforms for your CRM strategy, is it better to focus on one or two, or have a presence across all of the major platforms?

This depends on your user base. You need to be where your customers/prospects are, when they are. It's vital to have a clear strategy for each platform, though, coupled with a strong focus on content.

If a company is just starting out, I'd recommend Twitter and Facebook as the initial platforms to launch on. Use Twitter to test what works (Followers will have a much higher tolerance for when you don't hit the mark!) and use this to inform your Facebook content strategy (only the best should make it). If the brand has a more creative focus, Instagram & Vine, in particular, can prove extremely useful platforms in building a following and strong brand identity.

6. What are your three biggest tips for social CRM enlightenment?

LISTENING & LEARNING: Set aside a substantial amount of time to listen to your users and understand what makes them tick. Then use this knowledge to deliver genuine value.

RESOURCING: Having the right systems and people in place is vital. SCRM is a 24/7 strategy, with a core aim of delivering increasingly targeted interactions based on the data, both explicit & implicit, gathered about a customer. Listening, learning and having a plan for what to do with this knowledge are all extremely important, but impossible without the tools and team in place.

TEAMWORK: SCRM isn't something that should only sit with one department. Whilst much of the strategy should be driven by Marketing, to be successful it's values must sit at the heart of the business. Full support from all departments, such as Customer Care, Business Intelligence, Web and Tech, is crucial.

7. Can B2B businesses employ social CRM strategies?

Definitely. Whilst B2B customers make more rational purchase decisions, they are still swayed by emotional responses. Conversing with them across social channels, providing value by way of free whitepapers or directly answering their questions on Twitter or LinkedIN, will undoubtedly build stronger relationships (which come in handy when it comes to renewal time :) )

8. Is it more important to have a timely response to customers on social media, or is it more important that the content of the message is on brand and appropriate?

I hate to say this, but BOTH! In order to achieve this, the social response team must be well-trained and sufficiently resourced. The days of leaving social media to the office junior are well and truly over.

9. How can businesses prepare for great, unforeseen opportunities to engage with customers?

By listening and enabling the social team to make quick decisions to take advantage of opportunities. So, ensuring they have social listening and management tools in place, such as Spredfast, together with the authority, brand backing and budget to take action quickly.

10. Should you have a strategy for your social CRM - and how do you ensure and measure how effective it is?

Yes, absolutely. CRM can't be effective without a clear strategy and set of objectives, as well as a unified approach across departments. KPIs will depend on the business, but often include Average LTV, Social Engagement Score, Referrals from Social/CRM channels, Net Promoter Score, Share of Voice and Repeat Orders.

 

If you'd like to hear more from Rachael Pollard, book your free place at the Digital Marketing Show on the 19th and 20th November 2014! 

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