While most companies understand that they need to have a social media presence for marketing, sales and contact center purposes, too few companies have gone beyond the basics, such as creating a Facebook page and checking on it periodically or posting relevant company news. Sales teams are using LinkedIn (News - Alert) more and more, but generally only in a one-off way that doesn’t share the valuable information LinkedIn contains about the organization as a whole.

These companies are missing out on the dynamic process known as “social CRM” (customer relationship management). According to a recent article by Andy Lombard on Marketing Land, a smart and sophisticated social CRM strategy can “inspire brand evangelism, collect user data and proactively shape the public conversation about your business.”

“The basic data provided on the surface of social media profiles are helpful in starting your CRM efforts — and whether you’re B2B or B2C, pulling deeper data to import into your CRM program can help you turn those anonymous profiles into buyers,” writes Lombard. “Failing to do so is to miss out on a rich marketing opportunity that’s only going to continue to gain momentum.”

Smart companies use social CRM by mixing social media, CRM, sales management, marketing and even the contact center into one large interactive knowledge base that can help companies understand their customers better and reach out to them more proactively with more targeted messages. It’s particularly critical to identify your “promoters,” or fans of your company who will leverage their own influence in social media on your behalf.

One way to achieve social CRM, says Lombard, is by utilizing (or purchasing, if you don’t yet own) your marketing automation software, which can help you collect more and better data, allowing sales and marketing to segment customers and build more relevant campaigns to target them.

The result is that companies are able to change the way they do business: instead of launching one-time marketing campaigns that shoot for only short-term results, companies can carry out ongoing, long-term campaigns that keep customers engaged. They can also survey customers for feedback when required, provide customers with a reliable new channel through which to engage, and give the sales team a centralized, ready-made pool of leads.

In the end, if your CRM isn’t social today, it’s not going to be much good for your company going forward.