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Real People, Real Results: Why authenticity trumps AI on TikTok, Instagram, and beyond
47% of U.S. consumers say they prefer brands that answer customer service questions or complaints via social media. According to Statista, 59% of global customers feel the same way.
However, these consumers that prioritize social media customer service don’t just want your brand to respond when they complain or ask questions on social media. They want you to respond quickly and sympathetically with a solution to their query or complaint. In fact, 42% of consumers expect a response to a social media complaint within 60 minutes.
What happens if your brand meets these customer expectations? If you do, your brand will be on the right track to establishing a rewarding relationship with half its prospective and existing customers.
You cannot build customer relationships on social media without frequently creating and posting quality social media content. Posting engaging and informative content will help keep prospects and existing customers engaged. When customers know that you regularly post enjoyable content, they will frequently visit your social media, interact, and share your content, leading to more traffic and visibility.
Also, providing excellent social media customer service is essential for building lasting and rewarding customer relationships. Your social media customer service should prioritize the following:
You don’t have to wait for customers to talk to you before you talk to them. You can keep customers posted about new products and service upgrades your brand has coming via social media. Such communications will keep you at the forefront of customers’ minds so that your brand is the first thing they think of when they need the product or service you offer.
Also, when customers reach out to you via social media, avoid the urge to ignore them, even if what they say is negative. One-third of customer complaints go unanswered, and most neglected customer complaints are on social media.
If you ignore customer complaints in a public space like social media, prospects and existing customers will eventually assume that you do not care. Since most consumers prefer brands that care and are willing to pay more if they think a brand cares, you should not neglect communication.
Only 5 to 10% of customers write reviews, but 70% of customers will leave a review if you ask them to give one. Positive customer reviews are excellent for promoting your business because 76% of consumers believe customer-generated content is more trustworthy than brand-created content.
Also, asking for feedback helps build customer relationships because it shows consumers that you care about their opinions. Acting on customer feedback will further amplify customer trust in your brand, making your brand more likable and appealing to prospects.
Showing your customers some love is a winning tactic that boosts brand loyalty and customer retention. You do not have to give expensive prizes or gifts to show customers you appreciate them. Something as simple as a social media shout-out to loyal customers is enough to make them feel valued. Also, when customers provide feedback, motivate them to keep giving feedback by thanking them for their input.
Develop and strengthen the relationship between your customers and brand by applying these social media customer service tips:
No rule says your brand can’t have multiple social media profiles. However, each profile should have a clear purpose that differentiates it from your other profiles. For instance, you can have a profile for sharing updates and interacting with customers and another profile for receiving and resolving customer queries.
When customers need help, they will know that your social media channel for customer support is the best place for quick assistance. If you use one social media page for all your customer communication, you may have trouble sorting through messages and miss some customer questions or complaints.
Each complaint or question you miss will paint your brand in a bad light. Also, you can optimize your social media channels for customer service by assigning dedicated customer support teams to each one.
A social media content moderator is responsible for monitoring and permitting what gets posted on your social media pages. They ensure that offensive posts are not on your pages and decide which customer posts require a response.
Having moderators monitoring your social media 24/7 is important because it ensures customer complaints do not stay unanswered for too long. According to Convince and Convert, 57% of consumers expect a quick response on social media even outside normal business hours. You cannot respond that quickly without 24/7 moderators.
As we’ve stated, customers expect a quick response to queries on social media. However, what counts as a quick response? According to a HubSpot report, 79% of consumers want social media posts answered within 24 hours.
On average, brands respond to customers on social media within about five hours. While this is acceptable, it won’t set your brand apart from your competitors. If you want prospects and customers to see you as a brand that prioritizes customer satisfaction, you should work towards answering social media users faster than your competitors.
Viewing and acknowledging customer feedback from social media users is not enough. Top-notch social media customer service requires acting on feedback as quickly as possible. After a customer complains or recommends a product or service improvement, acknowledge the message and analyze the feedback to determine if acting on it will benefit your company and customers.
If you act on a customer’s feedback, notify the customer after implementing their recommendations or rectifying their complaint. You can notify the customer by tagging them in a post that announces the changes. Responding to feedback will motivate other customers to give feedback and provide your brand with valuable insights regarding how it can better satisfy its customer base.
Nothing says "I don’t care" more than a boilerplate response, and that’s not the kind of perception customers should have about your brand. Avoid such an outcome by reading and understanding social media customer complaints or feedback and providing responses that match each communication. Personalized responses prove that your company actually reads and values customer communication and acts on them.
User-generated content is content created by customers about your brand or product. The content can be a video, image, or text. You can use such content to your advantage by sharing them on social media.
Sharing UGC that praises your brand or product shows consumers that other customers enjoy using your product. If other customers are enjoying your product, prospects will expect to have a similar experience if they use your product. According to CrowdRiff, consumers trust customer reviews 12x more than brand-created content, and UGC content influences the purchase decisions of 84% of millennials.
Other benefits of using UGC include increased brand trust, authenticity, and user engagement. You can gather UGC from social media and other sources and share the content on your social media pages. You can avoid the stress of doing this manually and get better results with AI-powered tools.
Since over 80% of your customers already use social media, it’s the perfect platform to build a community with fans of your brand. Your online community will allow you to connect with customers to share ideas and have a good time with them. Tips for building a social media community that benefits your brand and customers are:
Through social media like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, you can find, engage, and convert millions of prospective customers from anywhere in the world. You can get your desired results faster and with less effort, if your social media customer service is top-notch.
Show prospects the quality of your products and customer service with UGC from your happy customers. With Cohley, you can get custom-built UGC tailored to resonate with your target audience and get them excited about your brand and product. Book a consultation today to learn more about using Cohley to get content that will boost your brand reputation and drive sales.