Improving Customer Relationship Management Through Social Listening: A Case Study of an American Academic Library

Introduction

Social media is changing the relationship between organizations and customers. As a result, social media platforms present unique opportunities for customer relationship management (CRM) and are becoming increasingly popular channels to deliver CRM. The dynamic nature of social media makes it difficult to establish guidelines and best practices for social media CRM. In this book chapter, an original case study presents how an American academic library uses social media for CRM practices, and emphasizes the role of social listening with the library’s social media strategy. The Thomas G. Carpenter Library at the University of North Florida (UNF) in Jacksonville initiated its social media presence in 2009, and is committed to strategically developing an effective social media strategy to best engage with all university stakeholders. This book chapter presents a detailed case study examining the library’s use of social media focusing on how social listening strategically contributes to CRM. This case study discusses the findings in consideration to two overarching questions: (1) How does an American academic library utilize social listening toward CRM strategy? (2) How does an American academic library engage in CRM using social media? Upon addressing these questions given the practices and social media of the UNF academic library, opportunities and suggestions for future research regarding social listening as a social media CRM strategy are posed.