Many companies use social media and social tools today. While 86% of companies know how to use social tools, only 41% use social tools for communication with customers.
The questions needs to be asked:
How social is social media if it is only used for marketing, and not for communicating with customers?
According to the Hootsuite’s numbers, the facts about customer experience and social media are quite sobering:
- 52% of shoppers expect a response within 30 minutes of their social media contact
- 57% expect exactly the same response time at night and on weekends as during normal business hours
- 24 hours was the average Facebook response time of the Top 100 US Retailers, while 11 hours and 15 minutes was the average Twitter response time of the Top 100 US Retailers
Obviously, customers perceive social media as means of getting great customer service. But the reality says different. Only 36% of customers that make customer service enquiries via social media report having their issues solved quickly and effectively.
When customers and their complaints are ignored on social media, 80% of them later express frustration if they are forced to make calls to a call centre.
One of the reasons why companies avoid handling customer complaints on social media is because social media makes them public. In other words, companies are afraid that by dealing with a customer complaint publicly, they will add fuel to the fire. The worst case scenario? The conversation goes wild, and you attract attention for the worst reasons ever. But ignoring critics is not a solution. The lack of engagement can be as detrimental to your brand as a negative comment on your Facebook page.
How to properly use social media to improve customer experience
Listen to your customers
It doesn’t matter whether your customers are talking about specific service problems or they are just having broader conversations about products and services. Your company should take the time to listen to customers, learn from their sentiments and identify sectors that need improvement.
Respond Quickly
You need to listen, but you also need to respond quickly. Unanswered complaints can go viral and damage the company’s brand.
Make Improvements
The whole point of listening and responding to customers’ inquiries on social media is to improve your customer service. Track customer expectations, the number of requests and social response times. Include the demographics or even profiles of the customers who are active on social media too.
But social media is not a “one size fits all” solution for all customer related problems.
According to Hootsuite’s experience, social media works best when there is a resolution within 1-3 replies of the initial inquiry. Twitter and Facebook have character and formatting limitations, which means that a quick resolution isn’t always possible through social media.
There are also cases when you should avoid resolving issues through social media. For example, billing-related problems and matters of personal identity or credit cards. These types of issues should be resolved away from social media.
Social media is a great marketing tool. It is also where customers are choosing to ask for help, make complaints and give feedback. That’s why you should use social media not just for storytelling, but also for listening to customers’ needs.
Are you also using social media for listening to your customers? Do you think that there are still ways to improve customer experience on your social media profiles? Share your experiences and learn about the best practices from other professionals at the UK Digital Experience Awards 2016!
The post How to Include Social Media in Your Customer Experience Strategy appeared first on UK DXA 2016.