Social media – a threat to traditional feedback management solutions?

While speaking with a journalist the other day, I was presented with the question which inspired me to write this blog post. “To which extent does the use of social media affect QuestBack’s business?  Is it reasonable to assume that the dialogue and feedback through these channels will be perceived as “adequate” and that this development could (negatively) affect the demand for more formal surveys?”

To be honest I was surprised to get this question. It struck me that a lot of people don’t know what feedback management really can do for a company. It told me that our mission is to develop knowledge to an even greater extent than we do today. This applies for both “traditional” feedback management (enterprise feedback management, EFM) and not to mention Social CRM which is a key theme in this blog post.

What is Social CRM? Is it a threat or a possibility?

More and more companies and businesses are using social media to communicate with customers and target groups, and to exploit the dialogue through social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Social CRM is the use of social media channels, techniques and technology to enable organisations to engage with their customers. Social media monitoring is when organisations monitor services like Facebook and Twitter for relevant mentions of their product and brand to pick up on feedback and reactions. However, this is too narrow an interpretation, as Social CRM also includes dialogue and customer communities managed by the organisations themselves (Wikipedia).

World analysts have singled out Social CRM as one of the key growth areas in the years to come, and Gartner has recognised QuestBack as a Niche Player for Social CRM. With QuestBack’s recent acquisition of Globalpark, our social media and Social CRM offering has been strengthened, which certainly will benefit customers directly through the ability to capture the social customer’s voice in tandem with our existing EFM offerings.

Let’s go back to the question I got, and look at some of the possible threats of social media related to EFM:

• People might think that feedback from social media is sufficient
• Knowledge about EFM and what it can do for you is rather low
• Social media is more likely to be used today among certain target groups
• People might believe that social media is cheaper and easier to use

A more interesting aspect is how social media can affect feedback management in a positive way:

• Social media enables you to get relevant feedback from different target groups right where they are
• You can reach people without having much information about them (they just have to be fans/followers)
• Online surveys and responses can easily be shared
• Social media makes it more likely to achieve the positive effect of viral marketing
• Social media contains customer feedback that you cannot solicit in surveys

EFM & social media – a mutually reinforcing effect?

Feedback through social media can give you valuable information as an add-on to traditional feedback systems. Online surveys and more complex functionality within a good EFM solution can actually be integrated into social media. In this way social media & EFM have a mutually reinforcing effect. All feedback processes can again be integrated with the company’s CRM-system, which lowers possibility for human error and also saves you time and money. Read more about system integration here.

To optimize your feedback management initiatives you should make a cross channel strategy related to your company’s needs and objectives which includes social media.

Here are some overall advice for you:

• Use different channels for different purposes, target groups and surveys
• Use complementary channels
• Secure that the data gathering and reporting possibilities are good and easy
• Be sure that your company has a good plan for follow-up of feedback in all channels
• Integrate social media initiatives into your EFM system if possible

To conduct valuable surveys whether it’s through social media or other channels, you should possess the knowledge about EFM yourself or have access to the knowledge necessary to conduct a good survey. In addition, I recommend that you have a feedback service which has the functionality to design quality surveys, and offers the reporting capabilities fit for your objectives and needs.

In conclusion, social media are, as I see it, not a threat to traditional feedback management systems. Social media alone don’t necessarily provide your company with sufficient and qualified information needed to influence strategic important decisions. But, as one of more relevant feedback channels social media could play an important role, especially when integrated with traditional EFM systems.