Social media has become an integral part of our everyday lives. We use it to communicate with friends, keep up with current events, and shop. It’s not surprising then that social media is also playing an increasingly important role in customer service. Using social media as a customer service company is numerous and can help create a more positive relationship between brands and their customers.
creating stronger relationships
Social media helps create stronger relationships between companies and customers. Companies have the ability to communicate quickly with their customers. This is particularly important in situations where you need to reassure your customers that you are dealing with their complaints.
The ability to communicate quickly through social media also means that you can help solve problems. Especially it helps to act before they become major issues for your customers. For example, if a customer tweets about a technical problem with their product or service, it will be quicker for them to get a response from you via social media. It will be quicker than calling your company’s phone lines. When you respond quickly to concerns like these, it reassures your customer that you are listening and taking care of them. This can go a long way toward preventing cancellations, bad reviews, and negative word of mouth.
Social media offers you the opportunity to present your company as a more human brand. The channels encourage lively conversations, give you the chance to empathize with your customers, and show that you care about your customers’ opinions. All of these things will make your customers feel less like they are just another consumer for you and more like an important member of your community.
Customer Service
Helps to improve services
Social media can also help companies better understand their customers’ needs. So, that they can improve their products or services. For example, research shows that taking time to listen to customers through social media is valuable, whether you are reading tweets or “liking” Facebook posts. Customers who have a voice on social media engage with brands in ways that traditional methods of customer service do not.
Social media offers benefits for brands in the form of a better understanding of their customers. For example, You can run promotions and send out promotions via Facebook or Twitter. Then you will be able to see which product your customers respond well to or have no interest in. This information can help you improve your product line by removing ineffective products and bringing on new ones that your customers actually want to use.
Many brands are already successfully using social media to provide excellent customer service. These brands understand the importance of attentiveness to their customers and engage them through socialmedia. The top 4 brands that exemplify the benefits of using socialmedia to provide excellent customer service are Coca-Cola, Subway, Hilton, and American Greetings.
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Coca-Cola:
Coca-Cola began using Facebook Live in February 2016. This was to connect with customers and answer questions about all aspects of their business. By doing so, they have built a loyal following. This was while reaching millions of people around the world each week with their message that “real people make real differences.
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Subway:
Subway uses Twitter to reach fans and followers daily. They have one of the most active Twitter accounts of any brand and use it to keep followers up to date on daily specials, promotions, and other news.
Coca-Cola, Subway, Hilton
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Hilton:
Hilton Hotels uses socialmedia as a customer service channel because their customers call them with new requests every day. Through social media, they can reach out to these customers in real-time. This helps to ensure the requests are handled immediately (or at least within the 24-hour window that Hilton considers “immediate”).
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American Greetings:
American Greetings uses Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and Snapchat to communicate with customers. They actively look for ways to engage their customers through social media and respond in real-time.
Benefits of using social media for customer service
Social media has become a valuable tool for customer service. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are all great ways to engage with customers and answer questions, and Customer feedback is becoming more expected by consumers.
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Connecting with Customers –
Social networks allow us to connect with our customers in a very different way. It leads to many insights about what they want out of our company. In the past, employees would go through consumer data, surveys, and customer service complaints to understand what people wanted. But today, all of that information is readily available online. Back in 2009, when Domino’s Pizza had a crisis, they were able to turn it around and shift its image by using social media.
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Providing an Easier Way to Reach Customers –
Back in 2009, Mitchell Reichgut was looking for a way to reach his customers more quickly after they made inquiries or complaints about his company’s products. He came across Twitter first but then began exploring other forms of socialmedia. It was not long before he created a new brand, @Domsocial, and began communicating with people through social media! He found a new way to connect with his customers by using socialmedia.
customer service
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Fulfilling Consumer Expectations –
It is important to understand your audience as they are more likely to engage with you through socialmedia. When creating promotions and contests, it is important to make them valuable and relevant to the target audience. One of the most common examples of this would be the #Text4Truck contest. There, companies give away free stuff via text messages. But have users enter the promotion by using a keyword or idea related to their product or service.
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Using Social Media in Safety Compliance –
Social media has become a great way for safety compliance to reach their employees. In many cases, employers use social media in the areas of drug and alcohol prevention. Companies post messages, videos, and links to other sites with information on the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse and how it can affect the workplace. There are numerous studies on how companies that use social media in this way have seen a dramatic decrease in workplace injuries and accidents.
