Was Meta's CRM Mission Always Doomed to Fail?

For instance, in 2018, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) stated that Meta disregarded a previous order, dating back to 2012, in regard to user privacy. As such, the agency gave the company a record-breaking $5BN fine.

That same year, news of the Cambridge Analytica scandal broke, where Meta improperly obtained data from more than seven million users. Some reports have since suggested that swayed the 2016 US elections.

More recently came "The Facebook Papers," which whistle-blower Francis Hougen shared with the US Congress. These papers included Meta commissioned research outlining how its Facebook platform may harm specific groups of users.

In sharing the documents, Hougen said Meta "put astronomical profits before people."

Since, Meta has swatted away many more anti-trust lawsuits, which keep rolling in.

Consider the core premise of Kustomer’s CRM. It’s a solution that stores insights into every customer journey. This includes copious amounts of personal data. As such, businesses must work with vendors they trust.

The absence of this trust factor likely stopped Meta from building any momentum in the space, as did the long legal battle to secure approval for the deal in the first instance.

Indeed, the deal took longer than a year to go through, which may have only served to raise customer apprehensions further.

A Match Not Made In Heaven

Meta likely saw an opportunity with its Kustomer acquisition to harness superior data, funnel that into its social networking services, and sell more goods.

Moreover, as Michael Fauscette, Founder, CEO & Chief Analyst at Arion Research, told CX Today:

Meta is very focused on its public messaging apps and how they connect. They must have thought that this would be an on-ramp for that, but that hasn’t worked out.

With the fall of internet cookies, this may have seemed a promising strategy once upon a time.

Yet, as Kustomer has begun to "burn cash," it seems that – ultimately - businesses gave the strategy an almighty thumbs down.

However, hopefully, there is light at the end of the tunnel for Kustomer. Indeed, The Wall Street Journal indicates that its founders, Brad Birnbaum and Jeremy Suriel, are attempting to buy Meta out – already contacting venture firms to raise funds.

The move may help Kustomer to reengage with many of its clients. Yet, only time will tell.