How to Turn Social Media Customer Service into a Marketing Strategy

The importance of social media customer service in a marketing strategy

These days, customers have more and more options for getting in touch with a company when they have questions or complaints. In this article, the author discusses the importance of effective social media customer service in a marketing strategy.

Social media has made it easy to find out exactly what customers are thinking. Positive and negative experiences that are shared on these platforms can spread like wildfire. That’s why it is essential to be both reactive and proactive!

Customers who take the time to voice their dissatisfaction give companies a real opportunity to get problems under control and resolve them quickly. In fact, a recent study by Harvard Business Review found that individuals who receive a response to their complaint, regardless of whether it is the response they were hoping for, are far more likely to become loyal customers. Furthermore, according to the American Express Global Customer Service Barometer, 25% of customers who complain on social media expect to hear back from the business within the hour. Companies should therefore keep a close eye on social media so that they can deal with detractors immediately.

Taking a proactive approach to comments, content, and engagement can also improve the customer experience. Here are some of the author’s suggestions for how to be proactive on social media:

• Take the time to thank happy customers for their comments
• Share value-added content
• Offer self-service solutions, such as FAQ (frequently asked questions) pages
• Create LinkedIn and Facebook groups so that customers can answer each other’s questions

Customer support was once limited to communicating in person or over the phone. Today, earning customers’ trust involves communicating through multiple channels and platforms. That is why it is crucial for companies to respond, react, and interact with customers on all of these channels—especially social media.