Social media integration into the marketing mix is a must-have tactic for marketers. Over 74% of international marketers make proactive investments in social media. More than 37% of devoted consumers say social media is a big motivator for regular shopping and consistency. Being active on numerous social media platforms is crucial if you want to connect with your consumers in ways other than only through their purchases and demonstrate that you value them as a customer. Customers adore the concept of being able to contact brands through well-known and frequently-used web channels. It’s also quite appealing to be available to customers whenever and wherever they need you. Customers typically spend between 20 and 40% more on goods or services if you interact with them on social media.
Did you know that shoppers prefer to communicate with brands on social media over emails and phone conversations in approximately 54% of cases? Businesses also benefit since social media makes it 83% less expensive to interact with potential clients and address their problems. The future lies in utilising social media to offer a seamless, all-encompassing customer service experience.
Social media is, in actuality, more of a customer care channel than customer service or marketing one. It enhances customer loyalty, boosts retention and LTV, and benefits the bottom line. Several astute marketers are using social media platforms as a new frontier to develop their brand’s voice, and they’re doing it on a large scale. Scale refers to locating and participating in earned social media mentions. The demand for and popularity of providing omnichannel support is expanding, and CXOs vouch for it. Numerous organisations have indicated an interest in strategising and creating social media plans for effective customer service in light of the sector’s slow but steady growth and development. The four methods brands can use social media for customer service are listed below.
Social interaction
Keep an eye out for what is being discussed online. You can use tools like Google Reader, NetVibes, Social Mention, and others to monitor your business and brand mentions. Create alerts for specific words, phrases, and brand names to receive instant notifications whenever new content is published. With these services, you may quickly and easily set up a dashboard and receive information as it happens. You can react more rapidly the more you know. These tools will assist you in removing content that is unrelated to your field, company, or brand.
Influencer marketing
When utilising social media for various purposes, firms must invest in influencer marketing because of the characteristics of the modern marketing landscape. Influencer marketing can directly involve customers in producing more traffic and thus drive more revenues overall, instead of clogging up customers’ direct messages with pointless advertisements. Additionally, effectively utilising social media may assist organisations in cultivating new leads and support company acquisition and retention. You can convert prospective leads into paying customers by generating informational content on leading new or potential customers through various levels of customer progression.
Be prompt with your responses
A whopping 60% of customers who complain on social media anticipate brand responses within one hour. It’s critical to reply immediately to consumer concerns since doing so demonstrates that you are paying attention and listening, which is essential for developing brand affinity. Otherwise, brands frequently get inadequate evaluations. You must continuously watch your social media handles and any brand-related hashtags if you want to be seen as a brand that cares. Most of the time, you can use bots to put up automated responses.
Never wait for problems to get worse because doing so harms your company’s reputation. Providing exceptional customer service can change how people view your brand and enhance retention and loyalty. Business communication now requires a 24-hour commitment. In actuality, both positive and negative evaluations are visible to everyone, and customers have an impact on customers. It demonstrates that you value your consumers’ opinions if you promptly respond to complaints, reviews, and comments.
Messaging apps are the future
Customers now demand tailored, mobile-first customer service from firms as their expectations are constantly changing. A rising percentage of customers are turning to messages as their primary communication channel since it offers the preferred experience they seek. There are no longer long wait times or days for an email answer, thanks to texting apps. Apple Business Chat and WhatsApp are quickly taking over the customer support industry.
With over 1.6 billion monthly active users as of July 2019, WhatsApp was the most widely used mobile communication service, according to Statista. Nearly 89% of businesses compete on the service they provide, and those brands that offer exceptional and thoughtful encounters will see customers returning to them. Customer experience is currently the most significant differentiating factor for organisations. You must meet them there and give them a seamless experience while they are there to accomplish this.
The work is not done after social media initiatives are implemented for better customer service. More than only implementation and monitoring are needed for the task. Dealing with each consumer may get overwhelming due to social media’s high level of engagement. Therefore, effectively managing the volume of customer support is very crucial. By effectively controlling it, brands may focus on urgent concerns first and reach out to those that are less urgent. Businesses might invest in multi-channel customer support solutions to access customers’ prior purchase histories for more accessible and coordinated management.
Social media is a fantastic instrument for providing customer care, and it is suitable for the current marketing dynamics like social CRM Malaysia and may be used appropriately to get desired results. Effectively and quickly responding to client complaints on social media will demonstrate your brand’s commitment to its patrons and help turn prospective leads into paying customers.
This article is posted on Beta Posting.