Thursday, July 26, 2012
When leveraged properly, social media can prove to be an incredible resource for companies. It opens up a number of new ways to communicate with potential and existing clients for promotion, customer support and many other functions. Many organizations, eager to leverage these media, utilize social customer relationship management (CRM) tools, which can drastically improve their effectiveness.
As the Guardian contributor Mark Osman recently highlighted, however, it is crucial that organizations thoroughly plan out their strategies before moving to social media. Failing to do so can have serious repercussions.
For example, Osman noted that a company that did not adequately plan its adoption may discover it does not have enough support agents. As a result, the company's response times to social media requests and questions will likely suffer. Users of social media tend to expect immediate answers, and a company that stretches itself too thin simply will not be able to provide them.
As Midsize Insider recently highlighted, it is also critical that organizations consider why they are moving to social media. Is it to gain customers? Or to provide another channel for support? By answering this question, the company can develop an appropriate strategy to achieve success with these channels.
