The Importance of Social Media Customer Service for Businesses

The experience you give to your customers and potential customers on social media shapes the way the public perceives your business. If you have an audience that is consistently engaging by leaving comments and direct messages and you’re not actively responding then more than likely you will lose a potential customer. Ultimately, people will buy from companies that engage and provide support. People want to be seen and know they can trust you when purchasing your product or service.

What is Social Media Customer Service?

Social Media customer service is providing support to your customers/audience on social media platforms such as Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Instagram and TikTok. This includes responding to comments, direct messages (DMs) and other queries across the platforms.

Why has Social Media Customer Service Become So Important?

In the age of social media marketing, people expect a response to their questions online. If people (target markets) are easily accessible on social media, then brands and businesses should be the same to their customers.

Social media customer service is now part of the marketing experience for consumers and has become a major deciding factor on purchases. Think about it, would you want to buy a product/service you saw on social media if they were not communicating with you in a timely manner?

Social media customer service builds trust among audiences and customers when businesses respond in a timely manner with friendliness and professionalism.

Additionally, social media customer service also boosts brand awareness across social platforms. Social media platforms love when people are engaging with each other. It is after all called a social network, and people (and brands) are expected to engage with each other.

Brands are also able to showcase their expertise in their field by answering audience questions publicly, this again builds business credibility.

How Can You Provide Great Social Media Customer Service?

Give Timely Responses: Aim to respond to messages as soon as possible, since most customers expect a response right away. However, social media managers aren’t robots; so setting up automated responses and away messages are super helpful in managing DMs that come in after hours.

Respond to Everyone: you definitely don’t want to be selective in your responses , especially in a public comment section. Ensure that every query is addressed, even the ones that appear critical or negative. Note that this is different from outright abusive comments (which should be flagged). Responding to everyone shows that you care about your audience.

Know how to respond to negative feedback: Receiving negative feedback is inevitable if you’re on social media, and it is important to respond in a demure manner. Keep things professional, offer solutions and if needed request to take the discussion offline and delve deeper into their issue to solve it.

As long as you have a business providing goods and services, customer service especially in the social media age is vital to the success of your marketing and social media strategy. Remember that on social media the way you interact with your audience matters as it defines your business’s public image and ultimately affects your sales.

Are you ready to take the next step and grow your business’s social media presence is a transformational way? Reach out for a FREE social media audit by completing our contact form.