Millions of people are actively engaged on social media platforms and it is fast becoming the most preferred channel for all forms of social interaction. Every day, many share their opinions on politics and business. Indeed, many other issues that were once considered private have secured prime positions in the annals of cyber history.
On the flip side, many businesses have found out that it cost more not to have a social media profile or an active online presence. Most of them have moved from social media pages to advertising channels for better customer engagement and service delivery.
Your customers expect you to be on social media going by findings from Pew Research. About 70% of Facebook users login daily, including 43% who do so several times a day. 59% of Instagram users, 38% of Twitter users, 27% of Pinterest users and 22% of LinkedIn users login daily.
The importance of having a social media customer support system gives businesses the opportunity to connect with customers on both functional and emotional levels and also enhance brand reputation, if well managed.
When setting up a social media customer support system you should know that the expectation of your customers would center on the following:
- Quick responses to issues
- Reassurance that their issue is as important to the brand as it is to them
- Constant engagement with the brand via social media
Knowing which social media platforms your customers are would go a long way in helping to manage online presence effectively. For most corporations, Facebook and Twitter would be the primary focus for customer care because of the large number of people engaged daily, but entrepreneurs in the fashion industry might find Instagram better, while those in the service industry might find LinkedIn helpful.
The success of businesses on social media depends on the quality of customer care support provided after content. To measure the success of a social media customer care support system, the following standards should be set as benchmark:
1 Total number of messages and complaint received on a platform
2The rate of complaints resolution
3 Average time for complaints resolution
4 General feedback from customers
In conclusion, the role of Social media for business should not be limited only to just marketing, but a medium for customer support in order to increase consumer retention index.
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