How to provide great customer service through social media marketing

How to provide great customer service through social media marketing

Several major social media sites have over time evolved to become ideal platforms for sharing, marketing and advertising. Increasingly, customers are also using social media to raise questions, express misgivings, report satisfaction or lodge complaints.

Social media can be a useful tool for your customer service and for instantly addressing/solving customer complaints. The good news is that once mastered; social media has the potential to be more cost-effective in rendering customer service than traditional methods. Customer service through social media can positively impact sales and increase customer loyalty.

Because the customers are social beings, they wield enormous power on social media, and the bottom line is that the neglecting engagement with customers on sites like Facebook and Twitter can have far-reaching adverse consequences.

Try to learn some of the best practices for providing prompt customer service optimally using social media. Do some research and become part of the social media platforms where your customers/prospects proliferate. This is essential because it is purposelessly on too many social media platforms without being active on any.

Decide on the social site where most of your customers/prospects are, and that’s where you need to focus your time and resources. For most startup businesses, the right platforms will be Facebook and Twitter, but some customers/prospects also frequent Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, or other social sites.

In the fast-paced world of social media, speedy response to customer complaints is critical. It is said that social media exists in a grey area between “live help” (phone or chat) and indirect (email support).

An instantaneous response may not realistic for a small or mid-sized business, but research shows that the majority of customers expect a response over social media within the same day.

As a best practice, always respond to customer queries/complaints with a sense of immediacy. If you can’t quickly solve the problem in the space of a day, then let the customer know you’ve seen their comment and that you’re working on a resolution.

Continuously monitor the social media to track all mentions of your brand/products. Your ability to respond and keep track of social queries may be made easier and faster if you integrate social media with your other customer support channels (phone, email, chat). Please ensure that responses are quick, consistent, more straightforward to follow and shareable.

The success of your social care efforts will depend, on the quality of care you provide. Also remember that providing good customer service over social media will require extra special handling. In general, all features of excellent customer service apply to social media as well.