Social media customer service is the tricky business of having the right tools, managed by the right team, with the right resources to hear your customers and respond with the right answers. When done correctly, social customer service provides these nine benefits. Read more: http://www.globalresponse.com/2013/09/9-benefits-of-social-media-customer-service/

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9 Benefits of Social Media
Customer Service
Phillip Crowe, Social Media Director at
Global Response,The Brand Care Call Center.

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Don’t just listen, HEAR your customers.
! Social media customer service is the tricky business of
having the right tools, managed by the right team, with the
right resources to hear your customers and respond with the
right answers.When done correctly, social customer service
provides these nine benefits.

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1) Never miss a mention
! According to a July 2013 Conversocial study, 97% of brand
mentions in social media are missed.
! Before enacting a social media customer service program, all
relevant social networks should receive a complete audit. A
true understanding of brand mention volume ensures that
agents are capturing the full picture before they respond.

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2) Real-time response
! Urgency is a big factor in satisfying customer expectations.
Depending on your mention volume and complexity of
response, a dedicated or shared team can monitor and
respond on behalf of your brand in real-time.
! This offers the same level of responsiveness to customers on
social media that they expect from traditional channels, such
as phone or online chat.

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3) Take your brand mobile
! According to The Center for Media Research, 10% of all
eCommerce spending for the holiday season 2013 will be
conducted via mobile device. Smartphones and tablets are
the future of customer interactions with your brand.
! Extend your customer service into mobile by responding to
customer service queries on social media, upward of 50% of
which are conducted on mobile devices.

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4) Management 24/7
! Your customers are asking you questions 24/7. Managing
those interactions can be difficult for small teams, especially
overnight, on weekends, or holidays.
! A dedicated social media customer service team irons out
these difficulties providing tracking and escalation to your
interactions 24/7.

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5) Brand engagement
! Customers crave feedback. Simply publishing content
without response can leave them feeling like only half of the
engagement story has been told.Tell the other half by
responding to their requests in a timely manner.

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6) Build awareness
! Online “word of mouth” is a highly coveted method of
spreading awareness about your brand.
! By garnering a strong online reputation for timely response,
customers will become evangelists, and spread positive
experiences with your brand to their friends and family
members.

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7) Grow customer lifetime value
! Cultivating existing customer loyalty is much more cost
effective than paid advertising used to acquire new
customers.
! By keeping your current customers happy, you are increasing
their likelihood to stay with your brand and spend more
money over the long term allowing your brand to grow
market share organically.

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8) Track trends and insights
! Knowledge is critical in today’s economy. By utilizing analysis
software, you can track mentions of your brand, measure
sentiment, identify the number of different issues, and
formulate a clear strategy based on data insights.

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9) Receive customer feedback
! Likes, comments, and other social feedback level the playing
field for your brand when gathering the insights. Previously,
these insights would have required expensive surveys or
focus groups.
! With social media you can know immediately if a campaign is
well received or requires fine-tuning.

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Go with the pros
! Global Response has been working in customer service for
nearly 40 years. Extending our Brand Care Agents to social
media on behalf of your brand is a natural fit.We manage
your presences on Facebook,Twitter, Google+ and other
online communities, and provide tracking and trending for
disposition, timeliness, and accuracy of response. Contact us
today!

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About the author
! Phillip Crowe is Social Media Director at Global Response,
the brand care contact center. He provides a consultative
approach to set up social media monitoring, management,
and customer service programs for enterprise brands. Phillip
graduated from Florida State University with a Master’s in
Integrated Marketing Communications. Contact Phillip at
phil@globalresponse.com to learn more.