CRM 2.0?

Well - it's been a while, hasn't it! My 2010 resolutions to post regularly disappeared in smoke. Let's see if I can improve in 2011!

As a result of some discussions online today, I started thinking about the things I'm interested in : the next stage of serving consumers information versus requesting information.

There've been quite a few fads, next big things and new hopes within marketing over the years. Customer contact has been the consistent focus, and we’re into the third decade of the internet now. But so far, nothing has really revolutionised the way that customers and retailers interact. It’s a two way process, sure, but it’s always been call-and-respond.

Indeed, going way back, we started with serving up print advertising and TV advertising, with retailers seeing the opportunity to get into people’s homes through new technologies. Then the customer took control (to a certain extent) by responding; using vouchers or cut-outs to redeem a service or request information. From there we moved into cold calls, and blanket mailings, to more advanced profiling for targeted direct marketing. The customer then had the power to manage contact (preference service registering), use the info as research, or disregard. Driving customers into stores, the advent of the Internet and online shopping gave way to a “library” approach to high street retail – browsing in store and securing deals online. In turn, personalised emails became a norm. This seemed to continue the cycle into the 21st century; service providers exploiting new technologies to gain more and more presence in front of their (increasingly) unwilling targets.

However, we’re now in a situation such that a new technology has developed with the people serving information, the advertisers, marketers and service providers, playing catch-up for the first time. Social media is the buzzword, and will quite possibly go on to define the last five years, and the next five. But because of the nature of its development, it is full of potential but fraught with danger.

I’d like to think that the biggest challenges we have to negotiate are general sensitivities to privacy and the “focus group” nature of the medium. Because of social media, we’ve got a fantastic opportunity to communicate with customers / interested parties directly, and immediately. However, we need to make sure that we don’t cross the spamming line once again, and instead engage in a two way conversation that provides genuine value and engagement. This approach has always been the gold standard of which 99% of businesses have fallen short. Just because it could be easier than ever to speak to customers doesn’t mean that we need to repeat the intrusive, bullish attitude that could often be the end product of dependence on constant outbound comms. Balancing ease of access with the simplicity and appropriateness of the message could come to define success or failure in the next 5 years.