The Importance of Being Social

The Importance of Being Social The boom in social media is showing no signs of slowing. 82% of 18-29 year olds now use a social network today. With more and more consumers turning to social media with their customer service queries, it's more important than ever for brands to jump on the bandwagon too. 86% of people have used social media for 1,000,000 people view customer service at least once. customer service related tweets every day 80% 80% are negative or critical in nature As demand for social customer care grows, it seems, so do consumers expectations. 42% of .and 32% expect a response within 30 minutes. However, only 36% of customers who inquire via social media said their issues were resolved 'quickly & effectively'. consumers expect a response on social media within one hour.. 42% 32% 36% So, it is vital that businesses get it right when they're responding to their customers on social media. Customers who use social... 71% of those who have had positive customer service experiences on social media go on to recommend the brand 10P 71% .Are prepared to spend 21% more for good service Choosing social media over the phone for customer service is favoured by (but not limited to) younger customers. .83% had blamed an abandoned sale or purchase on poor customer service % of those who prefer social media: 18-24 37% years 25-34 years 35% 35-44 years 31% 45-54 years ...On average will tell 42 people about a positive experience 26% 55-65 24% years 65+ years 17% .Will tell 53 people about a negative experience With more consumers preferring customer service through social media, and expectations of these services generally higher than those of more traditional forms of customer service, it is becoming more and more important for businesses of all kinds to provide great customer care. So how can this be done effectively? First, you need to choose which platforms to use. 65% think social media is a better customer .While just 7% think call centres are better. service platform than a call centre. 65% 7% Social networks used most to interact with consumers: Social networks that are used most to interact with brands: f 29% in 000 Facebook Other Blogger MySpace Twitter Linkedin Facebook 13% Twitter You Tube | 2% YouTube 34% 4% 1% 1% 2% 11% Blog Clearly, Facebook and Twitter are the most popular social net works. If you are planning a social media strategy to improve your customer service, one of these would be a great place to start. Get the Right Tools to Help! Once you have your social channels set up, it is important to monitor for any customer service requests. 57% of consumers expect response times to be the same during weekends/weeknights as during business hours, so the use of tools can help with this task. Here are 4 excellent tools to help master the art of great customer service on social networks. IFTTT sproutsocial MOZ bitly followerwonk>> A dashboard management system which gives you an overview of all your different social profiles in one place. Send and schedule messages to different accounts. An automation tool that enables you to A URL shortener that monitors how many times a link has been Analyse your Twitter followers, compare different users, and search through bios. set up certain outcomes dictated by certain triggers. Connect your social profiles, and automate sharing simply. clicked on, and by whom. Many larger companies now have dedicated social channels for customer service. Nike's @nikesupport twitter handle has over 90,000 followers! This is no guarantee of great customer service however, as these social media fails show... Domino's Pizza's Weird Apology Automation and scheduling of your posts can help you to manage your social output, especially if you have multiple social channels. Best Pizza Ever! Pan Pizza :) Keep up the good work guys! However, you need to be careful when employing this tactic, as this example from Domino's Pizza's facebook page shows. It can backfire dramatically and leave you looking foolish and disconnected from your customers. So sorry about that! Please share some additional information with us at Domino's appeared to respond to a big compliment from a customer with a clearly automated post, apologising for the situation! bit.ly/dpz_care and please mention reference# 1409193 so we can have this addressed, Susan Boyle's Rather Inappropriate Party Using Twitter hashtags for Q&As with your customers can provide you with quick information. Make sure you check your posts before you hit send, though. Susan will be answering your questions at her exclusive album As this example shows, even the smallest mistake can lead to disastrous (and hilarious) results, when Susan Boyle's team failed to notice that the #susanalbumparty could also be read as Su's anal bum party! after careful consideration and lots of online mocking, the hashtag was changed to #susansalbumparty - much better. listening party on Saturday. Send in your questions #susanalbumparty Susan HQ British Gas's Social PR Disaster We are here with our Customer Service Director, Bert Pijls, answering your questions until 2pm #ASKBG British Gas Timing can be everything. British Gas made an awful faux pas, launching their #AskBG campaign on the day they announced hefty price rises. They held a Q&A session with their customer service director, Hi Bert, which items of furniture Bert Pijls, that descended into a PR disaster with hundreds of do you, in your humble opinion, think people should burn first angry customers venting their frustration on Twitter, with tweets labelling the company robbers and shysters. this winter? #ASKBG It's not all bad though. These examples of amazing social wins show that when done welI, interacting with your customers through social media can be a powerful tool. 02 Rap It Out with a Customer Having a sense of humour can often help to diffuse a situation @02 bastard big man ting I swear direct me to your owner what happened to my internet connection fam mans having to use wifi and dat and show your customers a more personal approach than a recorded telephone message or 'canned' response. An o2 customer service rep took this to the next level in this humorous conversation with a customer, rapping out his responses in similar street slang to the customer. Funny and effective. @Tunde24_7 Have you tried to reset the router ting fam, so mans can use the wifi and dat? @o2 jheeze sou man speak slang and dat r u a girl what ends u from. And naa ii didn't what router @Tunde24_7 The router/modem that sends the WiFi signal round mans yard to get internet? Reset it and let us know how you get on fam. American Airlines Nail Customer Service Probably the best thing about using social platforms for customer service is how quickly you can respond to a situation. Waiting on the ground in a plane on runway while traveling w little kids is interesting to say the least. @Americanair staff being extra cool tho. When done well, it can be pure customer service gold as this example shows. American Airlines were able to react immediately to a passenger's concerns over missing a connection, and they offered their help, leaving the customer very satisfied - he did make his flight. @ideagov We hope it's only for a short time, Alan. What's the flight This is a perfect example of the importance of being social. number? @AmericanAir hi, up now but concerned about connecting to flt 2078, will we make or do we need to rebook? Thanks. @ideagov Alan, we'll reach out to the airport to see if we can get you some help. You'll be arriving gate K9 and departing from gate K6 @AmerianAir Thanks so much for in-flight help. Going to be close due to ground conditions at chi. PS: Other companies need to learn from u @ideagov You're very welcome, Alan.We're always happy to help. Citi Bike and J.Crew Monitoring social media for brand mentions paid off for US brand Citi Bike when charity worker Paull Young fell off his bike. @paullyoung Stay tuned, help is on the way via @jcrew! #PANTSFORPAULL citibike He tweeted about the accident and damaging his trousers, and when the company noticed his tweets they sprang sending Young some J. Crew gift cards so he could by some new ones. Young tweeted a picture of the gift cards, giving shout outs to both brands. actic My #PANTSFORPAULL from @citibikeNYC after my post-stack #PLEASESENDPANTS plea this morning. Day made @Jcrew! A great example of using social media to respond to a customer that has also lead to lots of good exposure for both brands. Sources: customerserviceinthecloud.com convinceandconvert.com edisonresearch.com sentimentmetrics.com Virtual (VIP) eptica.com