Michael Green of Forrester Research explains, “Social marketing is great for building more intimate relationships with your clients and prospects. However, Chris Chariton (VP at GlobalSpec) vehemently exclaims, “Don’t look at social media as a stand-alone marketing tool. It is just one tool in your online marketing toolkit, so whatever steps a company take in social media, they must be taken hand-in-hand with other marketing efforts.” B2C and B2B companies are planning to spend $54 million by 2014 on interactive marketing. They will increase expenditure on website development (70.7%), e-mail marketing (68.6%), search marketing (62.3%), and social media marketing (60.3%). The most effective interactive tool is live website chat support.
Live chat support for website is an online CRM application which creates a two-way dialogue on the company’s website. According to information graphic, “B2B: Social Media on the Rise” 32% of B2B and 52% of B2C companies engage customers daily. This leaves an overwhelming number of customers whose questions aren’t being answered. Unlike social media platforms which limit engagement potential, Live Chat Support for Website interacts with customers from the moment they enter the website. Customer service representatives (CSRs) take customer support to a new level by tracking user activity as it happens. They use web analytics feature to gauge the referral URL, keyword strokes, and webpage duration. Once CSRs discover help is required, they proactively engage customers in a meaningful discussion to listen to and tackle obstacles they face when deciding whether to do business with company or not.