How to Amp up Customer Service on Social Media in 2021

After the year we’ve all had – the use of social channels to connect with businesses has sky-rocketed. That’s why 2021 is the year to focus on streamlining and automating customer service, creating personal connections with your customers and remaining trustworthy.

Before we get into it, here are a few more ‘can’t ignore’ facts

• 44% of customers say customer service defines a brand.
• 40% of consumers expect brands to respond within the first hour of reaching out on social media, while 79% expect a response in the first 24 hours.
• 57% of customers will follow a brand on social media to learn about new products and services.

Here are our top tips when it comes to communicating with your online community in 2021

Respond ASAP – Make sure you respond to inquiries, complaints, reviews with empathy as quickly as possible – especially if they are visible to everyone.

Make social a priority – Make it part of someone’s responsibility to keep an eye out on social media for customer conversations.

Use the customer’s name where you can – The same way you would address a customer over the phone or email by name, do the same on social media and make the experience more personable for your customer.

Ask yourself: Does the customer communication need to move to private messaging? Learn which conversations should be moved to a private message or email to avoid negative public criticisms. We suggest you acknowledge them publicly and then inform them you have privately messaged and continued the conversation there.

Use automated messaging – Use an automated marketing tool to create generic responses to questions and inquiries sent when offline. And give your customers a time frame of when they can expect a response.

Be proactive with your content – Use your platforms to share educational material to help your customers learn how to get the most from your products and services. Stay ahead and post updates about any known service issues.

Respond to everything – It might seem overwhelming, but you need to respond to all feedback, inquiries and remarks on social media. Monitor all of your mentions, check your DM’s, study your reviews and keep tabs on any place you find people talking about you.