Social CRM in SMEs: A Systematic Literature Review

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the prime movers of economic progress. The pace of digital disruption enables SMEs to innovate and flourish by strategically combining social media use with customer engagement activities. In recent academic literature, this innovation phenomenon has been acknowledged as social customer relationship management, namely social CRM. Thus, given the importance of SMEs in the world economy and capability of social media to create business value, this paper aims to determine the status quo of research on social CRM adoption in SMEs and reveal any interpretable trends and patterns. This study contributes to theory and practice by systematically reviewing 22 articles published between 1 January 2014 and 30 April 2020. Using a CRM system life-cycle model proposed by Bibiano and Pastor [1], articles are classified according to the CRM life-cycle phases: adoption decision, acquisition, implementation, use and maintenance, evolution, and retirement. (C) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.