ocial media is looking likely to be the future of customer service.
More and more people are turning towards Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat to speak directly to you as a company. Your consumers can now connect with your brand in a variety of ways, and no matter which channel they have chosen to do so they expect to receive a reply almost instantly.
Yet despite this established consumer expectation, many businesses still do not take social media as a customer service tool seriously. Some still don’t use social media at all!
The team of experts at Website Builder are here to tell you everything you need to know about the rise of customer care on social media, and how it is changing the way companies are interacting with their clients.
Check out the tips below to learn how you can make the most of the popular social media platforms.
Don’t be a robot
Although your clients and customers are using electronic devices to get in contact with you, they do not want an automated or basic response.
What they want is a response that is as personalized as possible. Your team in charge of social media customer care should act human and respond just as they would if they were talking to someone directly, face-to-face.
If a response is auto-populated, it is very likely that the response will be wrong, which could upset the already unsatisfied consumer more.
While using an automated response system may make your company’s life easier and cheaper, it’s important that a response is tailored to the individual reaching out so that the consumer feels valued and heard.
Reply quickly
Everything about social media screams speed.
People can see your posts instantly, get notified of any interactions, search for information and send a message with just a few clicks.
Research suggests that when people post a complaint to a company on social media, they expect a response in 30 to 60 minutes. In reality, this is no more time than they would have to wait if they had called you with a complaint.
Even if you cannot provide a resolution right away, you should at least acknowledge that you have received the message and are working on fixing the problem.
Be Interactive
Customer care on social media doesn’t mean just helping out a customer when they reach out with a question or complaint.
Customer care can be as simple as providing lots of information, pointing out when there are new products or sales, and just being generally engaging to show that you are there for your consumers.
Companies like Tesco and FitBit do a great job of this. They engage their social media followers in conversation on platforms like Twitter, using comedy and encouragement to engage the audience and build relationships.
Pay attention
The trouble with being human is that we often make mistakes, therefore customers and potential customers may mistake when trying to get in contact with a company, such as spelling your company name wrong.
Therefore, you should be on top of things and try to catch as many opportunities to interact as possible.
Before you go
Take a look at the infographic below to learn more about the importance of strong customer care plan on social media.
