Social Media Influencers Can Boost Customer Service’s Image

Such work is difficult for a few reasons. Companies must track a massive volume of social media data. The Sprinklr system, for example, tracks 11 messaging systems, 23 social media platforms, and 500 million blogs, according to Sprinklr’s Conn, but there are certainly more out there than that.

Collecting the information is only a first step. Businesses also need to interpret social media information and understand what makes influencers tick, Fiorella advises.

Then they need to unify the social media and CRM data, a challenging endeavor. “Most CRM systems focus on efficiency and have [key performance indicators] top of mind. They want to reduce the number of calls, deflect voice calls to other channels, and reduce handle times,” Minkara says.

And then CRM system managers need to extend their outlooks beyond the traditional bailiwicks. IT departments and other parts of the company need to revamp internal business processes.

In sum, firms must not only identify the key influencers but also bridge gaps between business units, like customer service and marketing. Linking CRM and social influencer solutions requires a significant technical and organizational integration effort because they have antithetical designs, goals, and business processes.

Some companies have even created a chief customer experience officer’s role to focus on that work, Minkara says.

DETERMINE THE INFLUENCER’S ROLE

To be successful, companies must identify the right influencers. Common methods center on the number of their followers on Twitter and/or Instagram; the number of subscribers to their YouTube channels; and their account activity, such as the number of posts, views, likes, and retweets.

But such metrics can be misleading. In many cases, customer advocates’ reach is small but powerful. They develop very loyal followings, so their opinions carry a lot of weight. New terms, such as microinfluencers and nanoinfluencers, describe these individuals. Typically, they have relatively modest social media profiles, with fewer than 25,000 followers, but they often drive more effective engagement than individuals with larger audiences. “Microinfluencers are effective because they have a lot of authenticity,” says Jay Wilson, a vice president of research at Gartner.

After identifying such individuals, companies need to build relationships with them. Influencers are passionate in their beliefs and, in many cases, carve out growing businesses based on their personal interests. Companies need to understand what motivates them and then reach out to them in effective ways. The process usually starts with following them—perhaps liking and retweeting their posts—and sometimes grows into a formal business relationship.

Companies also need to connect their influencers’ activities to business performance. They must determine which role specific influencers will play in their marketing, sales, and support functions. Will they boost brand awareness? Can they build interest around a new product or service? Can they develop a new target audience?

After aligning the influencer’s role with specific goals, they then need to deploy metrics and data analytics to track what happens. Possible metrics include engagements per post, conversions per post, and conversions per campaign. Only with such metrics in place can they understand their return on influencer spending.

A WORK IN PROGRESS

Social media influencer marketing is still early in development, so effective measurements are evolving. Making a purchase is a multistep process where many factors influence a final decision. Trying to separate them and gauge how much each played is challenging because the data is complex and dynamic. It involves a variety of information (positive and negative feedback, solicited and unsolicited, across multiple brands and product lines) that come in different structured and unstructured formats.

The volumes and possible correlations are so vast that artificial intelligence is the only way to coordinate and correlate social media influencer information, according to Conn.

While such tools can be helpful, they are not flawless. “A company does need to put some quantifiable method in place to track the impact an influencer program has on the business,” Minkara argues. “Usually, the metric is about 80 percent science and 20 percent art.”

What is measured can also vary. Typically, businesses think in terms of sales, but influencers might impact the company in other ways. “Being associated with quality content may boost a brand’s image,” Gartner’s Wilson says.