Key Elements to use Social Media for Efficient Customer Service
A satisfied customer is not only an asset but also acts as the ambassador of your brand.
4.20 Billion People across the globe use social media. Of these, 76% prefer purchasing a product upon viewing it in a social media post.
Along with purchases; queries, confusion, and problems are bound to arise in the viewer's mind! Brands have started to open customer care channels on social media platforms to satiate such queries.
In contrast to the traditional methods of customer care, using social media for customer service offers plenty of benefits. Utilizing social media for customer service allows customers to reach out to you on the same platform where they already are!
Here are a few robust stats that show the benefits of customer service on social media:
Source: https://adespresso.com/blog/importance-responding-quickly-customers-social-media/
Over 1 billion messages are exchanged every month between businesses and customers on Facebook Messenger.
Currently, 64% of people prefer messages over calls.
69% of Facebook users that message businesses on Facebook believe that it helps develop trust & confidence about the brand.
1 in 3 social media users would prefer social media customer care rather than a call or an email.
75% of people are most likely to post something amazing like an authentic and positive review about your brand if you make a meaningful social media connection with them.
Customers are likely to spend 20-40% more if you create a connection with them on social media channels.
71% of customers are likely to recommend your brand if you provide efficient social media customer service.
This blog covers:
Key elements to leverage social media as a customer support channel
Tools that you can use for robust management of social media for customer service.
And much more….
What is Social Media Customer Service?
It is an organized way of using social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. to provide efficient customer service. The main goal of Social Media for customer service is to give clients an easy and enjoyable customer experience to ensure business growth & development.
Many brands, in addition to their social channels, have a separate customer support channel to tackle client queries, feedback, and complaints.
So, wondering how you can optimize your social media customer service! Here’s how.
Best Practices for Social Media Customer Service
Social media isn't just about reels, memes, and chat. If done right, it's a place that can really put the limelight on your brand. So, channel these practices to provide the best social media Customer care:
Be quick to respond to each query
The best & easiest social media customer care strategy is to respond to every query as soon as possible.
It's not just plain theory. Numbers back this up! Here's why you must respond to every query promptly:
42% of audiences expect a reply within the first 60 minutes of the query.
Facebook displays your company's response time on your FB page.
72% of Twitter users expect a response to a query within the first hour.
Poor response time can cause people to use other channels to satiate their concern, buy less from your company in the future, and cause bad publicity about your brand to others.
Prompt response to customer queries will not just create a positive impression on the customers, but will also help boost your sales. Follow these basic principles to provide robust social media customer support:
Listen
Appreciate
Respond
Resolve
Be smart to know whether to respond in private or public comments
You can not please everyone
You can try your best to provide 100% customer satisfaction, but at times negative comments and complaints are bound to arrive. So, greet those with a welcoming sight!
Be smart about the place you decide to resolve the query. For example, if the query requires the revelation of a customer's personal information, it's better to handle it in private.
However, if the query is as small as, When will my order arrive you can answer in the public comments.
https://www.wixanswers.com/post/examples-social-media-customer-service
Here's how you can devise a friendly social media customer service response:
Begin with a friendly opening line.
Provide concise direction as to what the customer needs to do to resolve the query.
Embed a link, if needed.
Using this link, especially on Twitter will save the customer time to open the message box.
Reply to every comment on all social media channels
Leaving any query unanswered will leave a negative impression in the customer's mind. This might make them spam their query, report your business, or leave a negative comment.
Consider it like this: More than 58% of customers make sure to never deal with a brand providing poor customer service. If you donate responds to even one query, you might not get a second chance of doing so!
Thus, your social media management company or executive must positively respond to every query regularly. Whether it’s comments on the post, personal DM's, story mentions, or much more; ensure that everything is monitored and answered.
Be transparent, be professional
Make sure to be as transparent with your customers as much as possible. Making false promises will only disappoint or frustrate the customer and they might decide to opt-out of purchasing your brand's products & services.
You need to realize that not every query can be resolved within a day or two. A peaceful way of conveying the delay to the customers is to explain to them the process that answers their query.
If it's a product replacement, return, or cash back on a product, mention the various steps to let them self-analyze the amount of time the process might take to complete successfully.
Your social media customer care executive can also tell the customers that they would escalate the query and commit to resolving it as soon as possible.
Don't sound too scripted- Personalized.
Sounding too scripted or robotic might create a rift between your business and customers.
Try using the customer's first name & personalize the response as to each client's needs. This shows your care for your customers and will leave a positive impact on their minds.
If possible, ask your social media customer care executives to sign off with their names. This humanizes the conversation as much as possible.
https://www.wixanswers.com/post/examples-social-media-customer-service
The above image is an example of personalized customer support!
The aim is to create a significant bond with your customers by making them feel special. Robotic or scripted conversations won’t help you achieve that!
Respond positively
https://freshsparks.com/using-social-media-for-customer-service/
If a customer is already frustrated or angry about the product, a negative response from your side will further aggravate the frustration.
Try keeping your responses as light, informative, and fulfilling as possible.
However, don't use a similar tone with every customer. Try replicating the tone based on the consumer's behavior.
If the customer uses a humorous tone, try answering in the same way. If a customer uses formal language, it would be better to respond similarly.
Solutions & Tools for efficient Social Media Handling of Customer Care
Following are the best tools that you can use for efficient social media management of customer care:
Sprout Social
This application is an all-in-one platform for effective social media handling as well as customer care management. It's an easy-to-use tool that can be linked effortlessly with major social platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Use this tool to create meaningful relationships with your customers easily.
Respond
Respond, previously reckoned as Respondly is a robust social media customer service tool. It is best used for managing & monitoring Twitter DMs, mentions, & even keyword research.
Hootsuite
Undoubtedly, Hootsuite is one of the best social media management tools that lets you analyze engagement, analytics, and manage campaigns of 25+ social media channels within a single user interface.
This tool can be used to respond to all customer queries, messages, mentions, doubts, etc. to lead your business to success.
Lastly, if you want you can go with Uniworld Studios SMM services. Uniworld is one of the best social media marketing agency providing reliable social media services. From effective