are usually seasonal or around key dates for our business .
“ As we ’ re dealing with such a young target audience , social , SMS and email all form part of our regular communications . Last year we had customers from over 130 different countries , and channels can vary across markets . For instance , in China there ’ s a huge opportunity for CRM activity through WeChat – a multipurpose social app that almost every one of our customers in China use . We need to be present and responsive on this platform if we want to continue to be successful in this region .”
As with all digital business , Sadhra has a focus on adapting the strategy to encompass the opportunities presented by emergent technology . “ Over the last year or so , a growing number of companies have ramped up their CRM activities to make the most of artificial intelligence ( AI ) and personalise at a deeper level than ever before . I ’ ve been most impressed by brands – Adidas is a great example , using automation and AI to optimise funnels as much as possible . Emergent technology allows businesses to become more relevant to their audiences , from automating email communications and social ads based on customer insights to allowing customers to amend orders through chat bots .”
What are the key outcomes defined by the changes in CRM strategy , and is Student . com reaping the rewards ? “ At present , our business objectives for CRM are very much around boosting conversion and driving more of our acquired traffic successfully through the booking journey . Within that , we have by-products such as increasing our volume of repeat customers and referrals . All of this maps further up to a broader objective for the business : bookings via our platform and revenue .”
Sadhra acknowledges that businesses like Student . com will see their relationships with CRM evolve : “ The world of CRM is always changing . I ’ m confident that there will be a stark contrast between the next five years and the subsequent five . The most important area to look at is people - CRM and marketing specialists . The more businesses invest in automation and AI , the easier it ’ ll become to scale back on human resources . CRM specialists need to learn to optimise and add
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