You’ve been paying attention – right? So you’ve gotten our message that the most effective social media programs are systematic about reaching out and listening to people, tracking results, and making adjustments based on those results while being realistic and not drinking Kool-Aid. And you’ve probably at least entertained the notion of social media as a conversation that can help you start to build stronger relationships with potential supporters.
But do you think of your social media program in terms of increasing what you know about individual supporters, and making good use of that information? In March, Socialfish released “Social CRM for Associations,” a white paper that helps organizations start thinking along these lines.
As the title suggests, Socialfish’s approach breaks down the principles of CRM (Constituent Relationship Management) and Social CRM. They suggest some applications of Social CRM for membership organizations, and offer a roadmap that will help you to increase your impact by knowing more about your members as individuals, and engaging with them more effectively.
Authors Lindy Dreyer and Maddie Grant make a compelling case that Social CRM can help you look at and use information about your members in deeper ways, for instance:
- Building better profiles of members, including their relationships to other members (they say this can be a key indication of a member’s “stickyness”).
- Comparing your follower lists and member lists to design campaigns that convert followers into members.
- Tailoring your conversations to different groups based on topics that are trending with them.
- Locating your members in the social space who may not be connecting with you there, and inviting them join the conversation.
But most importantly, rather than sending you out to load up on the latest tools and gadgets (though they do make some helpful suggestions), Socialfish emphasizes that Social CRM is really about adding a social element to your organization’s existing business process, and adapting that process as necessary to be more effective socially. It’s a commitment to working organization-wide, systematically empowering your staff, volunteers, and members to interact, follow up, develop relationships, and engage.
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