The Emerging Role of Social Customer Care in Business

The Emerging Role of Social Customer Care in Business

The month of April was action packed, and among the most memorable things I did, was taking part as a speaker at the PACE Convention & Expo. The focus of the convention was creating an effortless customer experience and the emerging role of social customer care in business.

Customers need engagement throughout the product life cycle, from their research to purchase to consumption and even after consumption. Unlike before, whereby, you only needed to engage the customer before and during the purchase. Social customer care should be a big part of your marketing strategy because more and more customers are going to social media to seek for answers.

This trend has gained popularity among consumers because,

  • They do not have time to pick up the phone and ask the customer care representatives.
  • They are not sure how long it will take you to respond to the online contact form.
  • They are aware of the “onlooker effect” whereby the potential reach is broader than just the dialogue between the consumer and the company.
  • They want value for their time and money.

How then, can you engage your customers on social media? Be proactively reactive. This means that you respond in a timely, personal and relevant manner.

Timely

Consider these statistics:

  • In Twitter, there are approximately 5,000 tweets every second. 30% of the users expect a response within 30 minutes.
  • One in five brands say they “rarely” respond to customer complaints made via social media, yet consumers who use social media expect a response within an hour
  • According to Sprinklr 38% of consumers, feel “negative” about a brand who fails to meet their expectations for a timely social media response.

Consumers expect instant feedback from you. When you make them happy, they will make you happy too. If you do not respond immediately, you lose the opportunity to please a customer and many others that follow you.

Personal

Social Media provides the window to personalize your message. As a brand, you need to take advantage of the issues raised; the social media channel preference, location and influence of the customer.

For example, when a customer asks a question on your twitter handle, you need to answer them in the same channel, use their name in your response, be sympathetic with them and their concern and most importantly, offer them an appropriate solution. When you do not personalize your response, it leads to channel irritation, which easily spreads to other customers.

Relevant

When a customer raises a question, it is up to you to remain relevant. Relevance to the customer means that you help solve the particular problem. However, relevance to your organization means leveraging the data for future use, aligning your responses to other marketing initiatives and remember, what you say reflects on your brand.

For example, if a customer wants to know when the new products will be available in the stores, do not start telling them about the production process and the numerous unforeseen challenges that can come up. Be precise with your answer, give the tentative dates and promise to keep him or her updated on the progress.

The task of managing all your social media platforms concurrently may sound like a daunting task and you may shy away from trying it. At first, it will overwhelm you a little, but with practice, it becomes easier by the day. You can also outsource this part of your customer service to experts in contact centers who will give you all rounded social customer care.

In conclusion, we have looked at the role of social customer care in business, and the best way to engage consumers; being proactively reactive by providing timely, personal and relevant responses.

Are you engaging your customers online? What are some of the tricks that you have tried and tested and worked wonders for your company? Feel free to share with us.

This blog first publish on LinkedIN

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