Editor’s Note: Vinod Nagar is a marketing 3.0 evangelist by profession who works as a Social Media Engineer for Nokia. Nagar is a highly passionate persona with an expertise and over nine years experience in through-the-line marketing communication.
Undoubtedly, social media is all about engagement, but engagement is not only about sharing content; it is also about having healthy conversations with fans as and when they have a question. The rise of social media means customers expect authentic, truthful and open communication and won’t be fooled by excuses, run-arounds or insincerity. Social media is more than just acquiring a new customer, it is the new beginning of a friendship – one that should exist between brands and their customers. As the saying goes, “a friend in need is friend indeed”; that is where customer service, after sales service begins. Companies should be there to assist customers who need help.
Today, customers are changing – they have found new ways to communicate with friends, colleagues, families, friends of friends, and more importantly us, the brands they patronize. One of such ways is through social media. Customer experience today includes a lot of interaction on key channels like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs, forums, and so on. On these channels, comments about products and services are easily shared and visible to more people, thus carrying a lot of influence.
Once a customer buys a product or service, he needs support on many levels. Today, consumers seek cheaper and more convenient ways to get help on issues they have, and because social networking is free for all, they have easy access to gain attention from brands. As a result, the new trend is that consumers are turning to social media channels for customer service, regardless of whether a particular brand is equipped to handle customer service over social media.
For any company venturing into or already involved in social media as a means of customer service, the approach should be strategic, not a tactical. Here are a few tips to help with your social media strategy:
- Define clear objectives
- Collaboration with internal stakeholders
- Draft a process (determine how interactions will happen within the Internal team)
- Recruit a competent team
- Investment in tools and training (such as Radian6, Socialbakers and Sprout Social
- Define key performance indicators (KPIs) and Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
- Measure and refine strategies
It’d be great to read back from you as to your experience implementing some and all of these tips.
