Geolocation Ups the Ante for Real-Time CRM
Posted by dna 13 on Tue, Mar 16, 2010
The rate at which social technologies emerge and rise to ubiquity is more akin to a full-force fire hose than a gentle ebb and flow. Suffice it to say, tracking the development of new tools on a granular level is all but impossible. However, every so often, a new technology's trajectory from introduction to widespread adoption is so steep, it commands the full attention of everyone who's tuned into the digital landscape.
This has been the case for location-based social networking services like Foursquare and Gowalla, whose meteoric rise in popularity has piqued the interest of everything from corporations and media brands to established social media powerhouses.
The advantages for organizations across the board are compelling: these social services allow users to customize their interactions based on their location and their personal activities. By checking into specific venues-a coffee shop, airport, hotel, retail outlet, etc.-they are communicating with their network of friends, establishing their influence over a specific brand ("superusers" are awarded elite status based on the number of times they check in) and collecting rewards, from badges to coupons and freebies. These services present huge opportunities for marketers to identify, reach and reward their most influential consumers in the most tangible way possible: in real time, on their mobile phones, when they are at the point of purchase.
Now, based on how enthusiastically location-based services have been embraced by consumers, other digital behemoths are following suit. Case in point: Last week, Twitter activated geolocation capabilities within its platform to enable users to pull up location-based information from individual tweets. Likewise, according to reports, Facebook is expected to launch a location service in the very near future. Not only would this give users a way to share their physical location through status updates, but it would also give developers the ability to activate the service in their own applications by making the necessary APIs available.
What does this mean for the evolution of social CRM and everything that goes along with it, from monitoring conversations to managing customer service? It has enormous potential to change the game (yet again): Imagine expressing dissatisfaction with a product while engaging with it in a store and then having an employee approach you moments later to address the issue directly.
Is this the future of customer service?