With every brand worldwide going digital, it is no surprise that businesses are turning to social media to manage customer service queries. In fact, big brands like Amazon have established customer support accounts on social media platforms (Amazon Help, in this case).
The biggest advantage of using social media for customer service is that it helps teams quickly and effectively resolve complaints. However, that’s not all. Social media is being increasingly used by brands to build a brand community, engage with customers, and collect vital information about products and services. This evidences the huge impact of social media customer service.
However, you need to manage this impact cautiously. Social media offers customers a platform to provide candid feedback about your brand—which can be both positive and negative. If it is the latter, your brand reputation may be damaged. The silver lining here, though, is that you can still gain vital information that you can use to enhance the brand experience. Furthermore, you can use social media’s engagement and analytics tools to improve customers’ interactions with your company. In this blog, we will illustrate the impact social media has on customer experience and how you can leverage it to create a positive image for your brand.
But first, let’s learn what social media optimization means and how it supports CX.
What is social media optimization?
Social media optimization, or SMO, is the process of using social media platforms to proactively and constructively interact with customers on these platforms.
This entails evaluating and monitoring the brand and consumer interaction with it across social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. The primary objective of social media optimization is to raise awareness of future events, new products and services, and fast responses to consumer concerns to keep consumers engaged with the business.
So, how does social media support CX? Let’s understand it in the following section below.
How does social media support customer experiences?
Social media has revolutionized how businesses interact with their customers and can greatly improve the customer experience. Customers from diverse backgrounds can participate in this real-time opportunity for accessibility and engagement.
Social media is also an excellent tool for enabling customers to contact you from anywhere at any time. While it may bring you both positive and negative feedback, it gives you a unique opportunity to work on exactly what your customers want your brand to improve and enhance consumer happiness. Thus, social media use can lead to better customer interactions.
Addressing consumer concerns personally and fostering trust and loyalty through transparency can really strengthen any brand’s image.
Channels like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube allow easy consumer access that your brand can use to —
- Interact with customers on their platform(s) of choice,
- Distribute informative and engaging brand content,
- Create and maintain relationships with potential customers, and,
- Promote empathetic actions towards your brand’s products or services.
In a nutshell, social media can contribute to free marketing, if used properly.
Want to know how you can create a positive customer experience on social media? Let’s learn about some strategies you can use to help your brand deliver better customer experiences.
Seven strategies to create a positive customer experience on social media
Here are seven ways you can help your brand create a positive customer experience using social media:
Here are seven ways to help your brand create a positive customer experience on social media:
1. Engage actively and responsively
Active engagement with your audience is essential for creating a positive customer experience on social media. Respond promptly to comments, messages, and mentions to show customers their feedback is valued. Use a friendly, approachable tone to humanize your brand and make interactions feel personal. Quick responses to inquiries or complaints can prevent negative experiences from escalating and help build customer trust and loyalty.
2. Deliver consistent brand messaging
Consistency in brand messaging across all social media platforms helps build a recognizable and trustworthy brand image. Use consistent visuals, tone of voice, and messaging that align with your brand’s values and identity. This uniformity reassures customers that they interact with the same brand, no matter the platform, making their experience more seamless and familiar.
3. Leverage user-generated content (UGC)
User-generated content, such as reviews, testimonials, photos, or videos shared by customers, can enhance your brand’s credibility and foster community. Encourage customers to share their experiences with your brand and repost or feature their content on your social media pages. This provides authentic social proof and makes customers feel appreciated and recognized, boosting their overall experience.
4. Provide valuable and relevant content
Creating and sharing valuable and relevant content helps position your brand as an industry leader and keeps your audience engaged. Share content that addresses customer pain points, educates them about your products or services and provides insights or tips that add value to their lives. Infographics, tutorials, and informative videos can enhance the customer experience by meeting their informational needs and encouraging continued engagement with your brand.
5. Use social listening tools
Social listening tools allow you to monitor mentions of your brand, products, and industry across social media platforms. You can gain valuable insights into what your audience cares about by tracking customer feedback, trending topics, and emerging conversations. Use this information to proactively address customer concerns, tailor your content strategy, and refine your customer service approach, enhancing overall satisfaction.
6. Run interactive campaigns and contests
Interactive campaigns, such as polls, quizzes, contests, and giveaways, encourage audience participation and make the customer experience more enjoyable. These activities can increase engagement, grow your following, and create positive associations with your brand. Ensure that your interactive content is aligned with your brand message and provides value to participants, whether through entertainment, education, or the chance to win something meaningful.
7. Handle negative feedback professionally
Handling negative feedback professionally is crucial for maintaining a positive customer experience on social media. Instead of deleting or ignoring negative comments, acknowledge the issue, apologize if necessary, and provide a solution or direct the conversation to private channels for resolution. Demonstrating willingness to address complaints and make things right shows you care about customer experience and are committed to continuous improvement.
Implementing these seven strategies can help foster brand trust and loyalty, which can help your brand build stronger connections with your audience. Thus, social media can become a powerful tool for positive customer engagement.
To help you maximize customer success using social media, we have cited some brand examples in the following section below. Check them out!
Three brand examples that show how to leverage social media to elevate customer experience
Using social media for customer service has helped some of the biggest brands in the world create loyal communities among their audiences. The level of customer success these companies have achieved throughout the years has been largely attributed to their adept communication with their target market.
Here are three of the best examples:
1. Nike — How Nike shows care toward their customers
Nike is one of the most notable sports brands. The brand’s selling points are high-end sportswear and shoes, and it has collaborated with and featured several celebrities, athletes, and influencers. Nike’s reputation as a consumer favorite has been solidified by its powerful brand presence and effective social media customer care approach.
Nike has dedicated social media accounts on the most popular social media networks. The most prominent is its official “Team Nike” Twitter account. Customers can contact the company in seven different languages—English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Italian, German, and Japanese—and the customer service team will answer their questions and concerns in seven languages. Doing this has helped Nike properly serve as many consumers as possible and speak with them in the language of their choice.
In addition, Nike’s support staff expertly reflects the brand voice when responding to customer questions and complaints. The company’s social media customer support is praised for its warmth and friendliness towards all users, including those who file complaints. Here is an instance of a customer who tweeted Nike in a somewhat panicked state when their brand-new shoes “broke.” Team Nike replied to the customer within five years, a testament to prompt social media customer service.
2. Starbucks — How Starbucks gives its customers what they want (before they can ask for it!)
The world-renowned coffee chain Starbucks is one of the finest examples of social media customer service focused on fostering customer relationships. Companies frequently believe that customer service is all about responding to inquiries. While answering queries is vital to a customer service system, support workers must empathize with their customers. The social media staff at Starbucks is adept at this.
Starbucks offers consistent and seamless customer service online and in-store because of its comparable digital and in-store customer support. Starbucks is well-represented online; it has devoted social media pages on all major social media networks, with sizable fan bases. Starbucks has, thus, focused on creating a sense of community by encouraging its patrons to work together and share suggestions on anything from menu items to product categories.
This accumulation of customer feedback has greatly aided Starbucks’ high brand presence. Customers get the impression that their preferred coffee vendor values their feedback and is interested in their business beyond just closing a deal. In fact, they have put together a whole website for just this purpose. Whether it is a random conversation about the brand or input from a regular customer, the Starbucks social media customer service team takes nothing lightly! Here are some examples.
3. Netflix — How Netflix makes customer service creative and memorable
As a brand that has become a pop-culture reference, Netflix knows how to speak in the language of its audience. One of the biggest streaming platforms with a wide range of movies and TV shows across all genres, Netflix provides an intuitive user interface beloved by its subscribers. However, that is not the only thing customers admire this brand for.
Netflix has a stellar reputation for providing social media customer service in that its support staff effectively communicates the brand’s voice to its audience. Netflix is a wonderful brand to look at if you want an example of a company that understands its target demographic. Here is an example of the brand’s tone of voice.
Since comedy plays a big part in the streaming behemoth’s corporate identity, its customer service staff frequently engages in clever conversations with its fans on social media, which fosters connection. Netflix’s customer service staff receives recognition for exceptional customer service because they succeed at making their subscribers the focus of the discussion.
Final thoughts
There is no denying the influence social media has on customer experience today. Customers are venting their displeasure on social media platforms, which has the potential to negatively affect the reputation of businesses now more than ever before. In addition, social media analytics and engagement tools are increasingly allowing brands to gain deeper insights into their target audience’s preferences.
This can be used to enhance customer experience far beyond social media.
Want to leverage social media to improve customer experience for your brand but don’t know where to begin? We recommend exploring X-Shift, a leading expert in digital transformation services and cutting-edge customer experience (CX) solutions.
With a proven track record of successful CX implementations, deep industry expertise, and strong partnerships with top CX software providers, the X-Shift team is uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between technology and business outcomes. We are more than just integrators—we are CX architects with a comprehensive understanding of technology and customer needs. This expertise enables us to collaborate closely with our partners to co-create innovative CX solutions that deliver exceptional value. Schedule a free demo to discover how X-Shift can help elevate your customer experience using its social listening solutions today!