Last Updated on September 1, 2023 by David
Article by Kristin Floridia
There was a time when social media was mainly used by businesses as a means to create brand awareness. Today, however, social media has become a place for consumers to interact with brands regarding their questions, concerns, or issues, making it a powerful tool for any business when leveraged correctly.
When it comes to brand loyalty in America 66% of 18–24 year-old show more loyalty to brands they follow on social media, (for ages 24–34 and 35–44 it’s 60% and 53% respectively). This means more than half of your following can be turned into loyal consumers if your business uses social media correctly. Don’t make the mistake of underestimating the impact social media has on your business and the importance of utilizing social media as a customer service channel.
Optimizing Social Media With Positive Customer Interactions
Let’s say you sell gourmet chocolates both online and in a brick and mortar store. You post an image of your newest product on Instagram which prompts a new customer to make a purchase. She loves the product so much that she comments on the photo saying how much she loved it and how she can’t wait to try other products.
As the owner of this business, you can either do nothing, like their comment, or respond. If you choose to do nothing, the outcome will be neutral, your other followers will see that you received a compliment and it may entice others to check out this product (especially if the commenter is a friend), but for the most part, the comment won’t have a major effect on your business.
However, if you choose to like, or better yet respond to the customer’s compliment you will create an interaction to build upon. Remember — social media is meant to be social. People love getting likes from friends on their latest Instagram photo, and customers love it when brands respond to their interactions online.
Something as simple as:
“We’re so happy you loved the chocolate!”
can go a long way in terms of customer loyalty. In fact, customers who have a positive customer service experience with a brand are 3.5 times more likely to make a repeat purchase. These small interactions are often impactful enough to turn a one-time customer into a lifelong one.
Consider social media interactions the equivalent to a brick and mortar store owner getting to know their customer’s names and asking them about their day. With more customers shopping online, businesses have fewer opportunities to provide customer service, which means you need to take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself.
Optimizing Social Media with Negative Customer Interactions
When it comes to providing customer service on social media, you also need to consider how you will handle negative comments and complaints.
This time let’s say you are an online clothing retailer selling custom t-shirts. A customer makes a sizable online purchase for an upcoming office event but upon delivery finds that they are missing a few t-shirts.
The customer tries to reach out to your customer service department via email, but the event is in two days and they haven’t heard back as quickly as they’d like, so instead, they leave a comment on your Facebook page describing the issue.
You need to respond to the complaint, but how?
Your response is incredibly important, because now instead of speaking with a dissatisfied customer one on one, you are under the magnifying glass with all of your page fans watching to see how you handle the situation.
First things, first. You check on your end and notice that the customer placed an order for 50 hats and 50 t-shirts, yet they are claiming they only received 45 shirts. You quickly realize it’s an error on your end. Here’s an example of a quality customer service response on social media:
“Hi XXX. We apologize for the error with your order, We’ve located your email to our customer service department and will be reaching out to you immediately to overnight the missing shirts to you.”
This response shows your customer that you care about them and their issue. You are acknowledging the problem, clearly stating how you will resolve it, and indicating that you are going to be contacting them. In the event you don’t have a contact number for the client, you should also request they private message you with their contact information.
It may be tempting to simply ask the customer to contact you directly to discuss the issue, but this would be a mistake since the customer has already tried to reach out to you and stated as much. Instead, you’ll risk making the customer more upset.
What If It’s Actually the Customer’s Fault?
Remember, if a customer is making a complaint on social media, it is likely because they have already tried to resolve the issue over the phone or via email. In most cases, social media is a secondary approach to reach out to your customer service team. Which means as a business owner, or representative of a brand, you need to tread carefully.
But what happens, if a customer is complaining on social media, is wrong?
Let’s go back to the example about the missing t-shirts. This time when you check on your end you notice that the customer placed an order for 50 hats, but only 45 t-shirts, which means it was likely an oversight on their part.
You might be tempted to simply respond that they made the mistake. While it’s okay to say it was their error, how you say it is of vital importance. If the tone of your response comes off aggressive or rude that’s all the customer and everyone watching this interaction will remember.
Here’s an example of a good response:
“Hello XXX, we looked into your order and see that only 45 shirts were ordered. However, we realize your event is rapidly approaching so if you contact us at (555) 555–5555 we’ll be happy to expedite an order of 5 shirts to you!”
This response acknowledges the issue and points to them a solution. Should you encounter an issue that you cannot resolve immediately, clearly state this in your response indicating that you are actively pursuing a solution on their behalf.
Tools For Optimizing Social Media Customer Service
Consolidating customer service messages from your social media accounts like Facebook, Instagram, and/or Twitter is crucial in your optimization process. The goal is to:
- Make sure no customer messages originating from a social media platform go missing
- Make sure you can prioritize social media customer messages against your other customer communications such as email or live chat requests
- Make sure you can create necessary automation as needed for your social media channels in order to get back to customers about particular issues more efficiently
Helpdesk and customer service platforms like Re:amaze for example, will allow business owners to classify support messages from social media channels and set up a training algorithm in order to automatically respond to similar types of messages in the future, offering a significant advantage in
Helpdesk tools like Re:amaze with social media integration capabilities can also help with social media monitoring in a team-based environment, allowing your team to share the responsibility of helping customer across various social media channels using tools like private notes, automated assignments, reminders, tags, and integrated customer data.
Better Customer Service Equals More Customer Loyalty
When it comes to social media as a customer service outlet the bottom line is the better you treat them, the more likely you’ll keep them. It’s also important to remember that when you are providing customer service on social media you are being watched by everyone who accesses your social media accounts.
Social media has given customers a way to interact with brands positively and negatively, which means every customer interaction is an opportunity for brands to keep an existing customer and gain news ones — even if that interaction began with a complaint.
About Re:amaze
Re:amaze is a modern helpdesk and customer messaging platform designed to help eCommerce businesses boost customer happiness and revenue. Re:amaze allows all customer-oriented teams to work together in a shared inbox through email, social, SMS, voice, and live chat. Re:amaze also comes packaged with automated messaging and chatbots so eCommerce brands can succeed at the front lines of conversational commerce.