Social CRM and Women

So,we officially have a new term! "Social CRM" which refers to how we (businesses) integrate customers into the conversation. Paul Greenberg wrote a great blog post on Social CRM on ZDNet that talks about how we address and include consumers in the 'retail' strategy.

So taking this theory one step further, let's contemplate how it is that women amplify the social factor in their shopping and purchasing behaviour? If you buy the fact that the consumer holds significant power and can hurt or help your cause and that you need to incorporate the consumer into your strategy as it relates to product development, marketing and sales, then what specifically do you want to focus on with women?

Paul talks about loyalty vs. ambassadors and I agree. Where it used to be that we looked for loyalty and longtime customer value, we need to be thinking in terms of ambassadors and looking at customer referral value (CRV). Women are 10X the referral source than men. We all know this. So, as businesses, how can we incent and encourage women authentically to represent and refer? And, how can we AVOID creating any customer relations damage (or missed opportunities to connect) that could unearth irrepairable damage?

Social media, marketers and consumers

Going through my stack of Marketing Magazine's to catch up on, I was leafing through the August issue and came across the interview with Grant McCraken on Circle of Brands. Matt Semansky, staff writer for Marketing Magazine posed a great question in this interview asking "how can marketers gain the trust of consumers in the social media space?". Although I am not sure it was exactly answered by Grant, the proposition is extremely insightful. In a world of co-creation and UGC, consumers are designers, developers and producers for marketers. As it should be. Both marketers and consumers now have skin in the game which begs a greater need for an exchange of trust.

Some time ago when we first launched the www.defineyourself.ca community for women to discuss how they feel about aging, we were criticized by a well known journalist for 'using' women and their views as research for the marketer. At the time it struct me as a highly antiquated observation but I chalked it up to inexperience with social communities as consumer pipelines for co-creation, feedback and ideation. The notion of getting closer to the consumer is just smart business and good for everyone. The formation of a win-win value exchange model opens up new possibilities for an emerging marketplace that levels buyers and sellers on common ground.