Monday, April 1, 2013

Using Social Media for Customer Service

by After Interactive

Finding new customers for any business is always a good way to grow your company. However, a good business professional can't forget to keep their current customers. These customers can serve as ambassadors for your company and also buy additional services/products. Social media is a great platform to use for offering great customer service to keep your current customers happy. What are some ways social media can be used for customer service?
  1. Real Time Help - People use social media at all times of the day whether its the middle of the day or the middle of the afternoon.  In addition, people expect a prompt response through social media. For example, a customer may post on a coffee shop's Facebook what time they open in the morning. Leaving this question unanswered may cause this individual to take their business elsewhere.  
  2. Rewards - If someone decides to follow your company on social media, that means they're interested in what you have to say.  However, don't just end the relationship by just giving them great content to engage with on social media.  Reward these individuals. If you have a restaurant, offer them a coupon for a free appetizer since this will drive them to your business and buy more during that visit than just the appetizer.  What about an IT services company?  Offer a free white paper to executives who sign up to learn how to lower IT costs which your sales team can use to identify sales leads.
  3. Evangelize - The people that follow your company on social media want to hear from you and spread your message to others.  Show them they made the right decision by creating engaging content that they will want to engage with in the form of a like, comment, or share. Each time they do that then the people in the social media network will see this which will give your company greater visibility.  
Keeping your current customers through great customer service will help grow your company because they will tell others about your business and buy more from you.  Social media marketing is the best way to use to keep your customers happy.  If done right, social media can be the most the effective way to grow your business by keeping your current customers happy.