Like it or not, social media is now an integral part of our lives; it’s not a connection with our friends and families but a place to do business, use various services or find a significant other. Even more important to us is how powerful social media is in our customer service and experience efforts.
In this article, I will explore the benefits of using social media in your CX/CS work, how to start and what to consider before using them. I will share some tips and tricks for getting the best results and advise you on measuring whether social media benefits you.
Benefits of social media in CX/CS
What Jay Baer said about social media should resonate when you are thinking about benefits for customer success.
"Social media allows big companies to act small again"
Jay Baer
The ability to be closer to your customers, even if you have thousands and millions of them, should be your crucial advantage. I also can think about two more areas.
Increasing the reach
"There are over 4.2 billion social media users worldwide, which is expected to grow to over 4.8 billion by 2025"
One of the main benefits of using social media in CX/CS is the ability to reach a large audience quickly and easily. According to a study conducted by Hootsuite, there are over 4.2 billion social media users worldwide, which is expected to grow to over 4.8 billion by 2025. Most probably, your past, current and future client is already actively using more than one platform.
Customer satisfaction
"Over 20% of happy customers told ten or more people about their experience"
Providing a well-designed user experience can lead to greater user satisfaction. A positive experience with a product or service often results in users continuing to use it and recommending it to others. Conversely, a negative experience may cause users to switch to a competitor. Therefore, creating a good UX design is essential in ensuring users have a favourable experience, which can foster customer loyalty and retention.
The case presented by Harvard Business Review clearly illustrates this point: over 20% of happy customers told ten or more people about their experience. Users become your product’s best advocates — free of charge — when you provide them with pleasant experiences
Increased sales
Another benefit of using social media in CX/CS is the ability to provide real-time support. Customers expect quick and efficient responses to their queries, and social media provides a platform where you can immediately respond to their questions and complaints. This can help to improve your customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Speed-up the support
Another benefit of using social media in CX/CS is the ability to provide real-time support. Customers expect quick and efficient responses to their queries, and social media provides a platform where you can immediately respond to their questions and complaints. This can help to improve your customer satisfaction and loyalty.
How to start and what to consider
"60% of all customer service requests will be managed via digital channels by 2023"
The first thing for you to determine is which social media platform will serve your needs the most. Understand your user base and research to find where most of them are. One option to achieve that can be to run a trial on multiple platforms and, after some time, assess which is the most attractive.
Another option may be to use statistics if you already used social media for marketing and promotional purposes. Selected platforms may target different demographic and are used for other purposes. That way, it’s vital to choose those that align with you over CS strategy; speaking of strategy…
This is the second thing to consider. Ensure your social media strategy aligns with your overall CX/CS strategy. This includes defining your goals, identifying your target audience, and determining the type of content you will share. It is essential to ensure that your social media strategy is consistent with your brand's voice and messaging.
I chose some tips and tricks to consider to get the best results from your social media efforts:
One effective strategy to stay in touch with your customers is to utilise social listening tools to keep track of their discussions about your brand on social media platforms.
It's crucial to respond promptly to customer inquiries and complaints.
Share interesting and pertinent content that connects with your intended audience.
Take advantage of social media to offer a customised experience to your customers.
Interact with your customers by requesting their thoughts and feedback.
Additionally, you may consider implementing an omnichannel strategy if you don’t use it yet. The omnichannel strategy connects all customer touchpoints, including social media, to provide a seamless and consistent customer experience. You can read more about it in one of my articles.
The last thing for you to consider is harnessing the power of AI into your CS social media endeavours. AI can give you an additional edge by helping to prepare personalised communication and automatise using chatbots. Please explore one of my recent articles to learn more about the possibilities and risks of AI in customer success.
"59% of customers favor brands that respond to their complaints over social media"
According to Statista on qualtrics.com
How to measure if social media brings you benefits
It’s essential to measure the results of any CX and CS activity you’re doing, but measuring your social media's results seems even more crucial. By their nature, social media platforms are constantly changing, so small mistakes can generate huge problems however used effectively, you can get tremendous results.
So how can you measure the quality of your work, then? Several metrics can be used here. I choose a couple of them, but if you want to learn even more popular CS metrics, please check one of my articles.
Engagement rates: This metric measures the level of interaction and involvement of your audience with your social media content, such as likes, comments, shares, and click-through rates. High engagement rates indicate that your content is resonating with your audience and generating interest and conversation around your brand.
Average response time: This metric measures the average time it takes for your brand to respond to customer inquiries, comments, or complaints on social media. It provides an overall picture of your brand's customer service speed and efficiency. A shorter average response time can indicate that your brand prioritises customer needs and quickly resolves issues, improving customer satisfaction and brand reputation.
Inquiries volume: It measures the total number of mentions, messages, comments, or direct messages your social media channels receive from customers or followers. This metric can help you track the amount of customer engagement and interest in your brand on social media and identify potential opportunities or challenges that require your attention.
Sentiment analysis: This metric analyses the emotional tone and attitude of the online conversations and feedback about your brand on social media. It can provide insights into how customers feel about your brand, products, or services and help you identify areas that require improvement or praise.
Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): CSAT measures customers’ satisfaction with a specific product, service, or experience. In the context of social media communication, CSAT measures how satisfied customers are with their interactions with your brand on social media channels. By tracking CSAT scores for your social media customer service, you can identify areas where you need to improve your responses, communication, and support to ensure that customers have a positive experience with your brand on social media.
Finish line
"Social media is not a media. The key is to listen, engage, and build relationships."
David Alston
Social media can be a double-edged sword. It can elevate your customer support and engagement to an even higher level, but if you don’t wrong can backfire, causing severe damage. Developing a social media strategy that allows you to have a common goal across all your channels is fundamental to getting the best results! Don’t forget about the constant measure of quality and impact of your social media, and don’t hesitate to make changes if you see that something is not going in the right direction. Finally, I found a quote from David Alston that is instrumental in thinking about social media in customer success and customer experience.
Here are some additional resources for those who want to dive deeper into the topic:
The article “The Ultimate Guide to Social Media Customer Service” by Influencer marketing hub offers valuable insights and guidance for businesses looking to enhance their customer service through social media channels.
The article “Social Customer Care” by Hootsuite discusses the importance of social media in customer care and provides practical tips for businesses to improve their social media customer service.
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