Integrating social media into customer relationship management (CRM) is the next challenge for businesses looking to get closer to their customers. The importance of social media has grown significantly over the past decade. As of March 2013, Facebook had 1.11 billion users [1], followed by Twitter with over 554.75 million users as of June 2013 [2]. This explosion in social media use has led to a shift in the traditional relationship between business and customers, with control of that relationship shifting to the customer, who has the power to influence others on their social network. With most customers communicating on social media, it has become absolutely necessary for businesses to follow this trend and follow their customers on new channels. Bad news spreads very quickly on social media. What started as an innocent complaint about a company's product or service can escalate into wild discussions overnight. For example, although HSBC was criticized on several Facebook groups for introducing new student banking fees, HSBC did not respond until it was featured in the national media [3]. This poses a huge threat to a company's public relations. So, if an organization doesn't monitor the flow of information on Facebook, Twitter and other virtual communities, it can easily find itself in trouble without even realizing it. We further discuss how businesses can integrate social channels into specific CRM processes: information collection, customer targeting, customer engagement and customer services. Collecting information about customersCompanies seek to understand their customers, to know them better. Therefore, they collect as much information about customers as possible in order to approach them with appropriate incentives. ...... middle of paper ...... Accessed December 12, 2013].[15] Lithium.com. Customer service response on social media - Lithium. [Online] Available at: http://www.lithium.com/products/socialweb/respond [Accessed December 12, 2013].[16] Newretailblog.com. Social Media Case Study – Best Buy Twelpforce | New Retail Blog. [Online] Available at: http://www.newretailblog.com/social-media-case-study-best-buys-twelpforce/ [Accessed December 12, 2013].[17] Acker O, Grone F, Yazbek R, Akkad F. Social CRM How Businesses Can Connect to the Consumer Social Web. [PDF] booz&co.; 2010. Available at: http://www.booz.com/media/uploads/BoozCo-Social-CRM.pdf.[18] Bizjournals.com. Best Buy drops Twelpforce, shifts Twitter support to Geek Squad - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal. [Online] Available at: http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2013/05/07/best-buy-scraps-its-twelpforce.html [Accessed December 12 2013].