How to Leverage Social Media Customer Service Experience

For most customers, contacting customer support is still a big headache. It means calling a service number, waiting for the executive to speak with you, and still not being sure whether the complaint or issue will be resolved. The other approach is to go physically to the nearest location of the brand and get a resolution. However, in the digital era, social media has emerged as the primary touchpoint for customers to get attention from the brand.

With the power to reach a larger audience, social media has ensured that customers get quick, accurate, and timely responses, and this doesn’t have to be a negative aspect for the brand.

Providing good customer service can elevate the brand to new heights.

● It can help improve customer loyalty

● Gain trust from potential customers

● Showcase just what makes your brand stand out – the value of customer empathy!

This blog will look at how brands leverage social media customer service experience and examples of how brands have stepped up their social media game!

How to Use Social Media For Customer Service

To use social media effectively for customer service, brands can adopt a few strategies, including:

1. Being responsive

In the world of social media, most customers do not like being kept on hold or waiting too long for a response. According to Convince & Convert, 42% of consumers expect a response within 60 minutes on social media, and any further delay only infuriates the customer.

If a customer complaint or post is not attended to for too long, it will make the brand look bad. So the ideal step is to respond quickly but without compromising quality. Even if your customer service representative doesn’t have an answer to a customer’s query, they can quickly respond by acknowledging their comment or post and letting them know that your team will get back.

2. Be available 24/7

Though your customer service representatives and the team can have dedicated hours depending on the kind of customer and business segments you serve, being available 24/7 is a must in today’s world.

While most of your customer service team may be away during non-office hours or holidays, you can have automated responses or chatbots to help users in these situations. The bot can inform the user that the team is away and tell them about office hours or provide contact details to a 24/7 helpline to resolve the queries quickly.

3. Take public conversation private, but do it smartly

Many customers will reach out to you by leaving comments or posts on your social media page (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn) or tweeting directly to your business (Twitter). While these can make your company look bad, respond to them with a positive message and slowly take the conversation into a private discussion.

A simple way to do so is to apologize for the issue and ask for details like their number or email to contact. The response showcases to any third party that your brand efficiently responds and provides a resolution to its customers.

4. Have a dedicated handle for customer services and support

Often, brands have dedicated teams for managing their social media and customer services. Creating an account specifically for customer services is essential to manage customer complaints and ensure that both teams focus on their dedicated goals more effectively.

For example, if your Twitter handle has @yourbusiness as the handle, the customer service account can be @yourbusinesshelpdesk or @yourbusinesscares. This makes it easier for the team to account for the number of support requests and issues while ensuring that each customer receives a proper response from the dedicated team.

5. Create brand advocates using effective customer services

In the world of social media, many users won’t shy away from providing a negative review or sharing their experience with a brand, especially if it is not a good one. While most product issues or mishaps are often unavoidable, good customer service is often what can save the day for the brand.

By responding to the customer and helping them as required, brands can often turn a negative experience into a positive. When customers recognize that the brand cares for its customers and is ready to help them, they are more likely to become your brand advocates. And having brand advocates, which is essentially a customer, loyal users, or employees who speak well about your brand, ensures your brand is looked at positively by your target audience.

Top 7 Social Media Customer Service Examples

Now that we know the benefits of elevating social media customer service experiences, let’s see some examples of exceptional customer services in action on social media platforms:

1. Skyscanner

Imagine being an airline search engine and ticket booking platform, and a user points out how the website recommends a 413786 hr 25 min layover. Can completely disrupt the brand’s reputation, right?

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That was not the case here, thanks to this customer service representative handling this situation like a professional. Here’s how the customer service representative offered help and made sure to add some creative zing to it!

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2. Starbucks

Not all customer requests are complaints, as seen from this example of a question posed to Starbucks. The brand’s response is how they are ready to go above and beyond to get customers their drink and make sure it adds the right tone.

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3. Nike

Nike is a well-known global brand, and it’s no surprise that it has to deal with customer complaints and feedback from around the world in multiple languages. But despite being a global name known for its amazing products, the brand prioritizes customer services, and here is how it is doing it:

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The Nike team responded and made sure to follow up at every step, turning a negative experience into a positive one.

4. Zappos

‘What’s in the name is not a phrase to take lightly for any business and especially will come to haunt brands with similar-sounding names. Take this example of a customer talking about Zapp’s chips on Zappos Twitter account. Although the brand could’ve just ignored the comment, here’s how they converted the honest mistake into a great example of courteous social media responses:

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5. Wix

Wix is an online platform that helps users build their websites, and for most users, finding the best plans is often tough. When a customer reached out to the Wix team for help in this regard, they did what every brand should do in this situation:

1. Respond quickly
2. Start with a pleasant message
3. Give the customer contact information for the team that is best equipped to handle their query

The outcome: A delighted customer!

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6. Southwest Airlines

In a world that is digitally connected, imagine not having WiFi! When a user pointed this out to Southwest Airlines, they made sure to let the customer know exactly how they planned to resolve this issue.

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7. Spotify

A music streaming app, Spotify has created a name for itself thanks to its ability to personalize and empathize with the customers. From making sure it always has recommendations that match the mood and liking of its customers to going the extra mile to add a song to its platform, Spotify is creating brand advocates with its stellar customer service.

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Customer experience management is not just about resolving customer issues and creating a solid brand image; it helps build a lasting relationship with your customers. It gives hope to customers that even if they may run into issues, they will get help from your brand. What’s more, it creates loyal customers and brand advocates, which is a win-win for any business.

We hope this blog helps you understand the many ways to use social media to elevate the customer experience, enabling you to build and elevate your brand value in the long run!

Key Takeaways

● Social media customer service is a great tool to elevate the customer experience.

● Social media is a great way to provide customer service round the clock and benefit both customers and the business.

● Handling customer complaints and concerns on social media will help showcase your dedication to your customers on digital platforms. It helps other customers trust your brand.

● Brands can elevate their overall brand loyalty by providing accurate, quick, and satisfactory customer responses.

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