How to Use Social Media for
Customer Service

SMM & Customer Service

3 Tips for Communicating with Clients Through Social Media

Many small companies which use social media (SMM) as a tool for advertising have rapidly discovered that they can also use them to broaden their customer service processes. In fact, these businesses have been able to create social media profiles that
1. Promote the company
2. Act as first-line client service portals.

Many small business owners have been avoiding social media and SMM for a long time. However, they often are drawn in by their clients as they start sharing opinions regarding the organization on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Or they sometimes leave reviews on sites like Google Places and Yelp.

So, in this article we're giving a few tips which you can use in your customer service-concentrated social media (SMM) plan. In particular, these tricks will help you boost and reinforce your client relationships while guarding the status of your company's reputation.

The good news is that you can expand your customer service capabilities by being present on social networks and by building a SMM strategy that focuses on client retention.

People are not only calling out big brand names companies to provide solutions to problems and offer their goods on social media sites; in fact, those social media sites are free game for any type of business, whatever their size!

Use Search Tools

To implement the use of social media (SMM) as a tool to provide customer service won't take long. However it does need regular checkins to be efficient. You need to know what your customers are saying about your business. You can use many different tools to track mentions of your company’s name and products around the Web. Try setting up keywords in Google Alerts and then consistently evaluate the outcomes.

Respond Quickly

Regardless of how you feel regarding a complaint, you need to react immediately on your social profiles. It can be something as simple as, "I am sorry you are having that issue”. “Send a note to [my email address] with the details, and I 'll look into it immediately."

This will also allow you to shift the issue away from the public eye, so you can work together with the customer one-on-one and resolve the problem. When the issue is resolved, don't overlook the follow-up to make sure the client is satisfied. And if you are lucky, she or he will post about the great customer support acquired.

Social media sites are mostly public, therefore there isn't an option of taking it back once someone throws something out there. It is vital to react fast, particularly when a customer is disappointed about something and is letting everyone know about it.

Listen Up

Be pro-active. Add keywords about your products and services to your lists on tracking sites. Listen to what people are saying. This may be a great method to locate potential clients who need what your business offers. Reach out and offer the answer to her or his problem.

In addition, listening to what customers are saying about the competition and your industry can be a way to gather quality information about your target market. You can then use the information to enhance your digital marketing strategy as well as your products and services.

If you put this advice to work, you will be surprised how easy it is to provide customer service on social media.

And, as you start, remember that professionalism and consistency are the two most crucial factors which come into play when using social media for customer service!

More

Click here to discover how to use Facebook and Google plus effectively, or how to create a successful business blog. And if you are interested in web presence optimization, watch our animated video!

To learn more about our digital marketing techniques, such as inbound marketing, visit our digital marketing agency or send us a message!