Social media networks make for great customer service platforms when utilized properly. One of the biggest advantages to using a social network, like Twitter (now X), is that you can respond to issues or questions in real-time. To put that into perspective, customers don’t have to wait as long for a response to their problems. It can also help cut the cost of running a full-scale customer service department.
Of course, the biggest disadvantage to using social media is that any correspondence with an irate customer is publicly visible. That means nearly anyone can witness an experience that turns sour, which can result in poor press for the related business.
Taking both of those points even further, there are many more reasons why using a social network can improve your customer service. You can find some of the best ways to use social networks in customer service campaigns below.
Make the Best of a Bad Experience
It’s impossible for every customer that comes your way to have a good experience. It is the responsibility of the business to ensure the customer is always happy, even when a point of sale goes sour or something goes awry.
While the biggest disadvantage of using social media is that correspondence is publicly available, that point can also be a boon when you play your cards right. If you handle the customer service issue or correspondence with the customer in a positive way, everyone can see that too.
Generally, successful customer service calls or visits are never witnessed by anyone other than the customer involved. When handling such issues via social media platforms, everyone can see how responsive and helpful your business really is.
Ditch the Scripts
Not every customer service campaign is based on pre-determined scripts. Generally, when customers call a service center, the agents are asked to follow a specific set of guidelines. When responding to customer complaints and issues on social media, you can ditch the formal responses and opt for something truly unique. This not only makes for a much better experience for both the consumer and the agent, it also creates a more personal relationship between the two parties.
This can help in many ways because it allows the customer to feel important as a representative is communicating directly with them to take care of an issue.
[Recommended reading: Avoid These 7 Cringeworthy Social Media Mistakes]
Encourage Positive Experience Sharing
Word of mouth is one of the oldest forms of advertising there is. When a customer has a good or bad experience, you better believe they’re going to share it with friends and family. Thanks to social media, those same people can now share their experience with the entire world.
You can use this to your advantage by encouraging positive feedback about your brand or business. Challenge your customers to share their best experiences with the world. Not only will this strengthen your brand awareness, it will help others see how great your products or services really are.
Connect Customers to a More Direct Form of Contact
Not everyone will be comfortable sharing personal information or experiences where it’s publicly accessible. Often, customers will reach out to companies through social media. Usually, the customer will have a personal issue they’d like to have solved. This way, you can use social media to enhance contact with such customers.
For example, you can offer up direct email addresses to an important company rep or agent. A lot of times, customers have problems getting in touch with the proper contacts at your business. This only enhances the customer’s bad experience. Through social media, they can be connected to the appropriate parties, thus alleviating rising issues.
Have More Fun
Sometimes, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s important in life, especially when you’re invested deeply in a business or brand. Not everything has to be so serious and through social media, you can experiment with a bit of humor from time to time. Of course, you definitely want to keep things tasteful and family friendly in that regard, but there’s no reason you can’t have a bit of fun.
You can interact with other brands or competitors, and even engage in playful banter with customers. In fact, some of the best social media experiences involve various brands who are just trying to have a bit of fun. We all know how easy it can be to get out of hand when playing around though, so humor should be used sparingly.
Build a Permanent Support Database
One of the benefits of using an online forum or database is that customers who share the same problems can access support data. The same holds true with social media networks, especially something like Twitter (now X). Through the use of hash tags and keywords, you can build a permanent support database for customers. Customers can search for issues that others have already experienced.
Of course, you will always have customers who don’t take the initiate themselves and instead ask for help directly. But, for those that seek their own knowledge, an online database is ideal. As mentioned above, by using the proper tags and keywords, you can build this database for all to see. Future queries for support via search engines will return the relevant support data. These search engines will also display any previous correspondence about an issue.
Social Media for Customer Service
As you can see above, there are many benefits to using social media platforms like Twitter, for customer service. The internet has streamlined nearly everything in our lives that has to do with information. That means B2C or business to customer relationships can be much more personal than they once were. This change is not a bad thing, in fact, every company should embrace it.
You better believe that competing brands are likely preparing to launch a social media platform to handle customer service correspondence. If you don’t have one of your own, you should begin preparations to launch a campaign as soon as possible.
[Recommended reading: 5 Ways To Successfully Retain Online Customers And Make Them Shop More]
[Main image: Pixabay; other images are credited in their respective Social Media Revolver articles.]
Courtney is a passionate blogger with a love for all things social media. Some would say she is an internet junkie. Connect with her on which ever form of social media you see fit.