How to Use Social Media for Customer Service

 

67% of consumers use brand’s social media accounts for customer service, according to a recent J.D. Powers & Associates study. Today’s customers are constantly perusing their social media accounts and engaging with their friends/followers. If you’re not monitoring social media and using your accounts for customer service, you could be missing a tremendous opportunity to turn negative experiences into positive ones.

 

 

Here are a few ways you can use social media to maximize your customer service levels and retain your loyal customers.

 

 

The majority of customers expect a response from a brand they’ve engaged on social media within a few days. Some expect a response within 24 hours, and many expect a reply within the hour. That’s according to the findings of a survey done by Edison Research.

 

Not replying to social media requests is not an option. Replying quickly will show your customers you care and meet their expectations for a hasty response from your brand.

 

 

To ensure you offer a fast reply to a customer request, it’s important that you schedule someone to monitor and engage on social media. Without assigning the responsibility to a member, or a few members, of your staff, you cannot expect your team to take initiative and reply.

 

Designate a few trustworthy people on your team who you know will respond appropriately to customer concerns. Then, make sure you always have one person at the social media helm ready to react to feedback.

 

 

Don’t have the manpower to provide 24 hour customer service requests? Don’t worry.

 

If you’re limited in how many hours a day you can provide service through social media, make it clear to your customers when you’re signing on and off. That’ll set the tone and set reasonable expectations so that you never leave your customers in the dark.

 

 

If you receive a higher volume of customer service requests through your social media platform, consider creating a separate account devoted exclusively to customer service. This will make it easier for you to separate customer concerns from your regular marketing efforts. It’ll also help you know what requests need to be replied to faster.

 

 

Customer service is about keeping your customers happy with your brand. To do that, you need to go to where the conversation is happening. With social media being used as a customer service tool, you can repair any damaged relationships faster and easier than before, keeping your customers more loyal to your business.