Sometimes, when customers reach for a customer service representative by phone, they have to wait for hours just to get connected, and when they have a chance, the issue is not resolved at all— and they would just hang up with frustration. Luckily today, almost all businesses used online customer service specifically on social media platforms. In fact, 67% of consumers have engaged a brand’s social media for customer service needs. Social media has become the most convenient place for customers who want to reach out, give compliments, and often give complaints about their experience with a brand or business. Using social media for customer service gives businesses a favorable view from customers if they respond to their customers’ queries promptly. Hence, having a well-executed social media customer service strategy is crucial for delighting customers and distinguishing your brand from the competition.
Be proactive
One best practice for creating a social media customer service strategy is to be proactive rather than reactive. You could, for instance, produce a how-to video on best practices. Your goal is to assist clients in getting the most out of your products. Updates regarding any known faults with your online service could also be posted. Self-help tools can be found in pinned posts and Instagram Stories highlights.
Robert Zeglinski, Managing Editor & Researcher at Breaking Muscle
Make response times a primary concern
I believe that social media client expectations are fairly high. With social media as a conduit for customer care, customers anticipate considerably faster response and resolution timeframes. Therefore, you must make response speed an absolute top priority. Even if you cannot provide immediate responses, you must acknowledge the customer’s inquiry and assure them that your team is working on it. Late responses may result in customer backlash, unfavorable reviews, and a negative brand reputation.
Andrew Priobrazhenskyi, CEO at Discount Reactor
Build community
One best practice to set up a social media customer service strategy is to build a community. Use successful customer service journeys as a way to help the rest of your community. They may run into the same problem. Repost social media customer service conversations and give others a heads up as to how their peers have solved the problem.
Garrett Ramos, Marketing Director at Ramos & Company
Set up brand monitoring
When it comes to developing a unique social media customer service plan, brand monitoring is critical. Customize the brand monitoring tools to assist in recognizing and listing comments and posts that contain specified keywords or words. This will allow you to easily narrow down to the most common and relevant content. Having several streams allows a company to classify consumer problems in such a way that the most pressing issues may be addressed first. This way, not only will consumers’ problems be resolved, but also the brand’s reputation and identity will be preserved.
Elliot Ledley, Director of Caspian Studios
Use chatbot for common service requests
One social media customer service strategy that I can share is the use of chatbots. Chatbots are one of the newest additions to the world of customer care, and they’ve been shown to have a slew of advantages in providing basic answers to consumer questions 24 hours a day, seven days a week across social media platforms and live chat platforms. AI-powered chatbots are the most popular among brands since they are always available. Bots are an excellent approach to address typical service requests that firms confront more frequently as a frontline mode of supporting clients.
GerridSmith, Director of E-commerce at Fortis Medical
Tailor your tone
It’s important to be aware of your tone when dealing with customers. On the phone, you may get away with a bit nasty tone, but you can’t risk the same thing on social media. Everything is on display for everyone to see on social media. So, you should pay extra attention to how you talk to your customers. If you blame your customers, don’t say you’re sorry, or say something hurtful, your online reputation will be hurt forever. This will have an impact on your conversion rates and may result in higher customer churn.
Lulu Albanna, Co-Founder at WRC Media
Hire the right social media customer service personnel
Having the right one to implement your social media customer service strategy is crucial. Remember that anything you post on social media is seen by both current and potential clients. When it comes to employing a customer service representative, don’t cut corners. An intern with no prior knowledge of business communications and processes should not be assigned the task of providing social media customer service.
Dr. Frederik Lipfert, Founder & CEO at VPNCheck.org
Know which issues should be resolved in public or private
When customers reach out to businesses on social media, they often expect a public response. But in some cases, it may be more appropriate to respond privately. For example, if a customer raises an issue that is sensitive or personal in nature, it’s usually best to respond privately. This way, the customer feels like they are being heard and their privacy is respected.
Mark Sorenson, CEO at Social High Rise
Deal privately with unhappy customers
Bad word-of-mouth evaluations spread faster and gain support from other disgruntled customers, causing your reputation to suffer. When you receive complaints on social media, you should not only respond quickly, but you should also take such talks to a private channel for settlement, especially if the issues involve personal information such as phone information or order information.
Charlie Garcia, Chief Editor at WP Dev Shed
Stay open to feedback
Not every customer service issue has a solution, and that’s true on social media as well. If customers provide unsolicited feedback – good or bad – be gracious and appreciative in your responses. Others reading these exchanges will see that your company cares about what its customers think, which is important for building brand value.
Daivat Dholakia, VP of Operations, Essenvia
Address negative interactions
Not every single comment you get on social media will be positive. Sometimes, frustrated customers will mask their needs for support with negativity, and you need to be able to identify these types of comments. However, this doesn’t mean that you should willingly accept harassment, bullying, or hate. If you identify any comment that breaks the platform’s guidelines, you should swiftly report it.
Kathy Bennett, CEO and Founder of Bennett Packaging
Be empathetic
One best social media customer service strategy is to be human, don’t be a robot. It’s okay to have canned responses or FAQs, just make sure you’re tailoring each response to the unique question or complaint. Don’t take a complaint personally. Try to remove your own emotions from the situation and put yourself in the customer’s shoes, how would you want to be treated?
Ingrid Deon, Founder and CEO at word-craft inc.
Determine what types of comments get responses
It’s most likely that customers will send comments on your social media posts and a few negative comments are inevitable. It’s noteworthy to remember that managing negative comments is a great way to win new customers. Give clever guidelines to your team to manage both positive and negative comments to increase customer trust and loyalty.
Caitlyn Parish, Chief Digital Officer at Cicinia
Follow up
After you have resolved an issue, follow up with the customer to ensure they are satisfied with the outcome. This shows that you care about your customers and their experience with your brand.
David Scott, CEO and Home Improvement Expert of Neutypechic
Set clear expectations
If you can’t staff your social channels 24/7 (and who can), it’s important to let customers know upfront when you will be around and where they can get help most quickly. Use your bio space to tell people when they can expect an answer.
Allan Borch, Founder of DotcomDollar
Look for opportunities in customer feedback
If you are introducing a new product or considering changing something in your operations, ask for customer feedback on your social media. Your followers are the people who spend money with your business. This will give you direct insight into how these decisions will affect your bottom line.
Shannon Briggs, Founder & Head Trailblazer at Campfire Collective
Use strategic hashtags
Hashtags help customers navigate through specific needs, so stay organized about creating and maintaining relevant hashtags for customer needs. This will make your company stand out as a business that is dedicated to serving its customers in the easiest way possible, meeting them where they already are, and making sure you have a space to receive their feedback and respond.
Karim Hachem,VP of eCommerce at La Blanca
Takeaways
Today, most businesses have customer service dedicated social media accounts that help them identify customer-related issues easier and faster. When you have the right planning and execution of your social media customer service strategy, it can surely help you take your online brand image to a higher level. Moreover, hiring an expert can actually handle your entire social media strategy. Here at Stealth Agents, we provide social media manager who can do the work for you, while you focus on the bigger pictures. Book for a free consultation now!
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