Before the invention of the internet, the quickest and most reliable way for individuals to contact businesses for assistance was by phone. Phone conversations were already faster than mail for providing assistance to customers. They named it snail mail for a purpose, indeed.
Email then arrived, replacing the internet as the go-to place for speedy customer service. You could argue that email replaced the need for making telephone calls, but then social media superseded the need for email. Once we became accustomed to using email, the way we interacted through social media was transformed.
You can use social media to instantly communicate with anyone at the present moment. That’s the new wave in forward thinking customer service! Customer service through social media capitalizes on the capacity to both receive immediate feedback and provide assistance with photos, videos, or other forms of media on established social media websites.
Furthermore, social media is a familiar atmosphere that individuals often employ for various other tasks, such as interacting with companies they admire. It is reasonable for them to utilize the platform to express their issues and pursue resolutions from businesses.
These stats show why social media customer care is so critical:
- 1 in 3 social media users would rather have social media customer care services than telephone or email.
- 75% of people will likely post something positive about your brand if you make meaningful social media connections.
- If you give a positive social media customer service experience, 71% of your consumers will likely recommend your brand to others.
- Customers will spend 20-40% more if you engage and respond to them through social media.
- About 67% of consumers are seeking resolutions for issues through Twitter, Facebook and other social media networks.
What is Social Media Customer Service?
Offering customer assistance via social networks is an organized approach to providing customer service. It is a crucial and expanding way of communication used for customer service, which works alongside the traditional method of call-based customer service. It covers support services before, during and after purchase.
It incorporates tasks such as addressing grievances, offering input, responding to queries, or providing compensations. In the end, the main aim is to offer patrons a comfortable and pleasing experience, which will help keep and develop your business. A support team solely focused on social media or the call center personnel could be responsible for providing social customer service.
Firms take advantage of particular training, processes and programs to answer customer queries adeptly when it comes to successful social customer service. Large social media networks are also used to provide customer service operations.
Many customers prefer this method for resolving problems, so providing competent customer service should satisfy their requirements and even help your business stay ahead of the competition. Nevertheless, you must be familiar with the exclusive intricacies of this aid pathway, containing administrative questions about distributing personal information, guaranteeing your brand status in public connection and realizing the highest outcomes possible.
Why Should Businesses Provide Social Customer Care?
Handling customer service isn’t easy. The greater number of communication platforms your enterprise adopts, the more challenging it becomes for customer service agents to monitor all discussions and render excellent customer service. It is imperative for businesses to offer social customer care if they wish to succeed.
Here are three main reasons to provide social customer care:
- Boost customer satisfaction: During the customer journey, people may have questions about your product or services. Since it’s convenient for people to ask questions on platforms they interact with your brand, it’s more likely that you get customer requests on social media. When you answer customer requests, people feel satisfied and more connected to your company.
- Increase customer retention: Acquiring new customers is five times more expensive than retaining existing ones. To give your customers a solid reason to deal with your business again, it’s important to pay attention to their needs and wants as it’s one of the most effective customer retention strategies. This means the importance of answering their questions on communication channels they use more often.
- Keep up with current customer service trends: The days when customers used phones for customer support are long gone. With the rise of messaging, when people expect companies to send emails or messages as a reply to their requests, social customer care is one of the most important customer service trends. Keeping up with trends means standing ahead of your competitors.
If you remain uncertain if your firm ought to invest resources in giving social customer service, check out the graph below to perceive that demand is on the rise.
Which Social Media Channels to Use for Social Customer Care?
Organizations should supply customer service via social media platforms that their clientele utilize most regularly.
It is essential to be prepared to address customer inquiries across all social media outlets by maintaining a presence on multiple channels. If you are unable to deliver social customer service across all the social media accounts you use for business advertising, it would be best to concentrate on the most popular and regularly used platforms.
The Social Media Marketing Report shows that Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter remain the most prevalent social networks.
It would be beneficial for you to use the appropriate social media networks for providing social customer service, since your clientele has a strong possibility of contacting the company through these sources. But don’t forget about safety. Your password must be unique and complex. In this instance, a password generator will be incredibly beneficial to you.
Find out below for practical advice on providing customer services on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Tip #1: Tell Followers How to Get in Touch With Your Business
The majority of people nowadays look for solutions to their problems via social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. When individuals contact your company via social media, they expect their queries to be brought to the attention of your customer service personnel. Therefore, it is essential to show your followers how to contact your business.
The best course of action is to include your customer service contact information in the biography section so that people who are viewing your profile can get in touch with your business quickly and without difficulty.
Tip #2: Reduce Server Response Time
If customers have to wait days or weeks to receive a response from a company, they are likely to become unenthusiastic about making a purchase. Over the last few years, people have come to expect a faster response on social media. Approximately four out of every ten social media users anticipate a response within sixty minutes.
In order to make customers who utilize social media to address customer service requests satisfied, it is important to minimize the time it takes for the server to respond. The most efficient manner to accomplish this is to make a FAQ video and post it on your commercial page, as individuals can find solutions to their inquiries without having to communicate with a customer service agent.
Tip #3: Dedicate a Separate Social Media Profile to Customer Inquiries
Giving followers fantastic assistance through social media means responding to their questions promptly. Having a competent social media group is imperative; in addition, customer service representatives should be deployed to answer customer questions and oversee their inquiries on different platforms of social media.
Case in point:
If you have multiple customer inquiries for products you are selling on social media, it can be overwhelming to respond to them quickly and keep track of them all. It is essential to establish a distinct social media account for customer service in order to assist your customer support staff with customer inquiries.
Tip #4: Keep Track of All Conversations about Your Business
When individuals pose inquiries regarding your item or post their client encounter on online media, they are utilizing diverse approaches to convey. Some people offer opinions in response to posts on social media or send private messages, while others share stories about their experience with your brand, tagging your profile in the process.
In other words, people can initiate conversation with your brand without having to inquire about how you prefer to communicate. In order to show your customers that you care, it is important to stay up to date with communications about your business, such as monitoring mentions of your brand, responding to direct messages, and observing customer feedback.
If your customers mention your profile, you will get a notification which will allow your customer service department to handle customer service inquiries rapidly.
Tip #5: Use Private Channels for Critical Support Conversations
It’s not a pleasant reality, but it is accurate that people are more liable to get the message out on social media about unfortunate customer ordeals so that other customers can make an informed decision.
We’re in the digital age, where most consumers consult online reviews prior to choosing a company. A detrimental outcome of this is that adverse reviews can dissuade people from patronizing a company, damaging the company’s reputation. The significance of addressing crucial support conversations is clear.
Additionally, utilizing exclusive avenues for disgruntled customers will assist them in keeping away from cyber intrusions when conveying personal details and ward off any unfavorable buzz concerning your company.
Tip #6: Provide Proactive Customer Care
Great social customer care should be proactive. You can figure out and solve customer queries before they become difficult. Interacting with those who follow you and those who patronize your business on social media is an effective way to provide front-line service. In addition, there are numerous methods to promote proactive customer service.
Tip #7: Be Transparent
It may be expected of you to be quick in replying, but that doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to resolve all customer inquiries swiftly. Rather than making empty pledges, you should honestly inform customers how much time it will take to take care of their problems—even if that means acknowledging that you aren’t certain how long it will take. Your customers will be much more dissatisfied if you make a guarantee that you can’t keep, as opposed to having to be patient. They will actually appreciate your honesty. Explain to customers why it may take more time to resolve their concerns, and provide a brief overview of the steps you’re taking to help.
Think about noting that you will submit a complaint to the product team or take the problem to someone with a higher rank. Giving customers more visibility into the process will guarantee that they know you are dedicated to helping them solve their problems.
Tip #8: Avoid the Streisand Effect.
The Streisand effect is when attempting to suppress, delete or censor critiques of oneself leads to amplified awareness and wider dissemination of the information.
To avoid this, don’t argue with customers online. Instruct your help staff to not get revenge, but try to come to agreeable solutions. They should regard themselves as umpires rather than adversaries. It is paramount to refrain from intimidating your online clients even if they produce negative reviews that you think are unfounded.
Social Customer Care Trends
1. Chatbots and AI are essential.
AI should not be the only part of a plan; however, it can be beneficial in augmenting your group’s abilities. Chatbots are now aiding customers with tasks such as purchasing pizza, locating eateries, and arranging flights. Bots can only keep improving, so they become completely compatible with performing difficult human duties, leaving people to focus on problem-solving and engagement when it’s necessary.
2. Driving traffic to social media from traditional customer service channels.
More and more people are drawn to the simplicity, practicality, and speed of social media networks. Additionally, companies discover that using social media service channels is more cost effective than contacting them through phone or email. Thus, the pattern of shifting clients from classic customer platforms to social media tools will carry on.
3. Companies using customer experience to gain a competitive advantage.
The majority (62%) of firms feel they can have a competitive advantage through their contact centers by providing a great customer experience. Consequently, increased firms will dedicate to consumer service via a social media profile and also other methods. It fosters customer interaction, retention, and loyalty.
4. Use of messaging as a go-to service channel.
At least one messaging app will be present on the smartphones of 3.6 billion individuals. The widespread utilization of messaging apps will make it the preferred customer service channel. Some of the methods of communication consist of Messenger, text messaging, and Direct Messages on Twitter.
5. More customer service reps working from home.
A lot of people are doing their job from a distance, among them are customer service representatives. Employees can effectively manage the job from anywhere. It is less expensive for businesses to employ freelancers than employees on a permanent basis.
In the past ten years, there has been a heightened need for social customer service. Given the amount of time people invest in social media, it is not surprising that these mediums are employed for customer service inquiries. Furthermore, people expect a great deal, so companies should be prepared to provide exceptional customer service through social media in order to gain an edge over their rivals and maintain the approval of their demographic.
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