Introduction 

Vtiger Social is a social media management module built within Vtiger CRM. Currently, you can add and manage two channels - Facebook and Google My Business - using Social.

This article talks about using Vtiger Social for Google My Business. To learn about Facebook, click here.

What is Google My Business or GMB?

Google My Business is a tool that helps businesses manage their online presence across Google platforms like Search and Maps.

In the Social module, you can add multiple GMB accounts depending on your business location. For example, Vtiger CRM could have two GMB accounts as the company is located in two different regions.

Feature Availability and Limits

Using Google My Business 

Logging in

Let us find out how you connect your GMB account and start using it!

Follow these below steps to log in to your GMB account on Social:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to Essentials > Conversations.
4. Select Social. You will land on the Social module.
5. Select Google.
6. Enter your Google credentials in the login window and click Log In.
7. Click Continue at the bottom-right corner.

You’re now ready to use GMB with Social!

Social dashboard 

After you set up your GMB account, you will see the following sections on the Social dashboard:

• All Posts - Lists all the posts you have done on your GMB page. It also shows the posts done by other people. 
• Scheduled - Lists all the scheduled posts.

Now, let’s check out all the functionalities in detail. 

Composing a post

Writing a post is a simple process. But the best part is, you can see the preview while you’re creating a post. This helps you present your content just the way you like! While you enter the information on the left, the preview is available on the right side.

Follow these steps to compose a post:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to Essentials > Conversations.
4. Select Social. You will land on the Social module.
5. Click Google under Posts on the left-hand side.
6. Click the Compose Post icon.
7. Enter the following information:
   • Post to - Select the GMB account where you want to post.
   • Message - Enter the content to post (up to 1500 characters including emojis).
   • Upload media - Click Browse to select a media file from your local computer to post them. GMB supports only one file.
     • You cannot upload video files.
     • Only PNG photos with a minimum size of 720px and a maximum of 3000px are allowed.
   • Call to action - Insert a Call-To-Action or CTA button into your post by specifying a URL. Users will land on the URL when they click the button. You have the following options for CTA:
     • Book
     • Order
     • Learn More
     • Sign Up
     • Shop 
8. Click Post.

Scheduling a post

Scheduling a post is a little bit from composing that we discussed in the previous section.

Follow these steps to schedule a post:

1. Perform Steps 1-7 under Composing a post.
2. Click Schedule Post.
   1. Click the Calendar icon.
   2. Pick a date.
   3. Click the Clock icon.
   4. Enter the appropriate time.
   5. Click Schedule Post.

Rescheduling a post

Follow these steps to reschedule a post:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to Essentials > Conversations.
4. Select Social. You will land on the Social module.
5. Click Google under Posts on the left-hand side.
6. Select a post under the Scheduled section.
7. Click the Actions icon (three dots).
8. Select Reschedule.
9. Click the Calendar icon.
10. Select a date.
11. Click the Clock icon.
12. Enter the time.
13. Click Save.

Deleting a scheduled post

Follow these steps to delete a scheduled post:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to Essentials > Conversations.
4. Select Social. You will land on the Social module.
5. Click Google under Posts on the left-hand side.
6. Select a post under the Scheduled section.
7. Click the Actions icon (three dots).
8. Select Delete.
9. Click OK.

Editing a post

Did you know you can edit the content that’s already posted? This lets you correct typos and other mistakes on your posts.

Follow these steps to edit a post:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to Essentials > Conversations.
4. Select Social. You will land on the Social module.
5. Click Google under Posts on the left-hand side.
6. Choose a post from the All Posts section and click the Actions icon (three dots).
7. Click the Edit icon.
8. Make changes to the content in the text box.
9. Click Post.

Adding or linking records

You can create contact, lead, case, and deal records from the Social module’s All Posts and Reviews sections.

In what situations will you create records?

• When a user leaves a post, writes a review, or shares an answer, you can create contact records out of the user details. 
• You can also link the users to existing contacts in the CRM. By doing this, you can identify whether the user is already in your contacts or leads stored in the CRM.
• You can tell apart existing leads or contacts from new ones in case they have the same names by using the CRM lead or contact records.

Let us see how.

Follow these steps to add or link records:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to Essentials > Conversations.
4. Select Social. You will land on the Social module.
5. Click Google under Posts or Reviews on the left-hand side.
6. Select a post and click the Actions icon (three dots).
7. Linking an existing contact or lead:
   1. Click Select Contact or Select Lead.
   2. Select a contact/lead record by clicking on it.
8. Adding a contact or lead:
   1. Click Add Contact or Add Lead.
   2. Enter the desired contact/lead information. Make sure to fill in all the mandatory fields.
      • The user’s name is automatically copied to the Last Name field.
      • The post or review content is automatically copied to the Description field.
   3. Click Save.
      • You will find the contact or lead that you create in the Contacts or Leads module.
9. Adding a case:
   1. Click Add Case.
   2. Enter the desired case information. The fields below are auto-filled:
      • Case Title is picked from the user profile name.
      • Summary is picked from the comment or post text.
   3. Click Save.
10. Adding a deal:
    1. Click Add Deal.
    2. Fill out all the mandatory details.
       • The user’s name is automatically copied to the Deal Name field.
       • The post or review content is automatically copied to the Description field.
    3. Click Save.

Managing reviews

Filtering reviews 

You can filter reviews by account and star rating.

Follow these steps to filter reviews:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to Essentials > Conversations.
4. Select Social. You will land on the Social module.
5. Click Google under Reviews on the left-hand side.
   • By star rating
     1. Click the Filter icon on the top-right.
     2. Choose a rating.
     3. Click Apply.
   • By account
     1. Click the drop-down beside the Filter icon.
     2. Click on an account (based on the location).

Replying to a review

When someone leaves a review, you can reply to it from Vtiger Social’s Reviews section.

Follow these steps to reply to a review:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to Essentials > Conversations.
4. Select Social. You will land on the Social module.
5. Click Google under Reviews on the left-hand side.
6. Click the Reply button under a review.
7. Type your reply.
8. Click Post.

Your reply is shown under the user review. Once posted, you cannot edit it.

Managing questions

Filtering questions

Follow these steps to filter questions:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to Essentials > Conversations.
4. Select Social. You will land on the Social module.
5. Click Questions on the left-hand side. You can see all the questions.
6. Click the drop-down on the top-right corner.
7. Select an account to filter.

You will see the reviews related only to the account you select. You can also see the Likes associated with a question. 

Replying to questions

Follow these steps to reply to a question:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to Essentials > Conversations.
4. Select Social. You will land on the Social module.
5. Click Questions on the left-hand side. You can see all the questions.
6. Click the Answer button under a post.
7. Type your answer. You can also add emojis to your answer.
8. Click Post.

Adding FAQ

You can even add Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) along with the answers to resolve users’ queries.

Follow these steps to add FAQ:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to Essentials > Conversations.
4. Select Social. You will land on the Social module.
5. Click the + icon left-hand side (beside Questions).
6. Select your account under the Select a Location drop-down.
7. Enter the question in the Question textbox.
8. Enter the answer in the Answer textbox.
9. Click Save.

Your FAQ also appears under the Questions section.

Deleting a post

You can delete a post from the All Posts or Comments section on your Social dashboard.

Follow these steps to delete a post:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to Essentials > Conversations.
4. Select Social. You will land on the Social module.
5. Click Google under Posts on the left-hand side.
6. Click the Actions icon (three dots).
7. Click the Delete icon.
8. Click OK.

Social Inbox

The Social Inbox has an Activity Timeline that displays all the activities on every channel (Facebook and Google My Business) that you have configured. Activities include posts, comments, questions, and reviews.

Additionally, 

• You can hover over the right corner of an activity update to see the Actions icon. Click it to find the options to edit, delete, or reply to posts, add or link leads, contacts, and records.
• You can filter to view the activities by channel.
• Question updates are shown by location. For example, “John Doe posted a question on location”. You can click the location to view the business’ profile details like description and address. 

Follow these steps to filter activities:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to Essentials > Conversations.
4. Select Social. You will land on the Social module.
5. Click Social Inbox on the top-left-hand side. 
6. Click Filters on the top-right of the Activity Timeline.
7. Click the Channel drop-down.
8. Select a channel.
9. Click Apply.

Social Settings

The comprehensive settings options let you manage your Social accounts and create automation rules to perform different activities. 

Let’s look at each of them.

Adding an account

You can add multiple accounts if your business is established at multiple locations.

Follow these steps to add an account to the Social module:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to Essentials > Conversations.
4. Select Social. You will land on the Social module.
5. Click Manage Accounts on the left-hand side. You will land on the Social Settings window.
6. Click +Add Account.
7. Select Google.
8. Enter your login credentials.
9. Click Log In.

Disconnecting an account

Follow these steps to disconnect an account from the Social module:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to Essentials > Conversations.
4. Select Social. You will land on the Social module.
5. Click Manage Accounts on the left-hand side. You will land on the Social Settings window.
6. Click the Actions icon on the account you want to disconnect.
7. Click Disconnect.
8. Click OK. 

Removing an account

Follow these steps to remove an account from the Social module:

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to Essentials > Conversations.
4. Select Social. You will land on the Social module.
5. Click Manage Accounts on the left-hand side. You will land on the Social Settings window.
6. Click the Actions icon on the account you want to remove.
7. Click Remove.
8. Click OK. 

Automation 

With automation rules, you can automatically create case records in the CRM. You can trigger the creation of cases when a user leaves a comment, review, question, or answer on your GMB account. 

How?

For instance, if you receive a comment that says, “How do I buy this product?”, you can create a case and help them buy your product.

Additionally, you can specify tags or keywords that must be present in the comment, review, question, or answer. For example, if the user writes, “The product quality is bad”, you can create a case, follow up with them, and resolve the issue.

Follow these steps to add a rule: 

1. Log in to your CRM account.
2. Click the Main Menu.
3. Go to Essentials > Conversations.
4. Select Social. You will land on the Social module.
5. Click Manage Accounts on the left-hand side. You will land on the Social Settings window.
6. Click Google under Automation on the left-hand side.
7. Click on +Add Rule.
8. Enter the following information:
   1. Name - Provide a title for the rule.
   2. Select trigger - Choose when the record must be created (upon receiving a comment, review, question, or answer).
   3. Select tags - Enter the keywords that must be present in the user’s text. 
   4. Choose action - Choose Cases. 
9. Click Save.