Active social listening: The key to fortify your customer service

When social networks first made their way into the tech scene, many of us didn’t immediately realize these websites’ potential impacts on the business industry. Sure, we’re quick to embrace them as tools to personalize communication, but it’s only in the past decade that brands used social media as a primary tool to spread awareness about their products and services.

Fast forward to 2015, enterprises are now using big networks such as Facebook and Twitter for social media customer service. And it’s proven to be effective in promoting brand engagement and providing customer support, as almost everyone in all parts of the world is going online.

To maximize the use of social networking sites and user-generated information, social listening strategies are becoming even more relevant. The idea behind this concept is to keep ears on social grounds, gather and analyze data, and reach out to customers.

These four useful tips will help you fortify your customer service on social media platforms.

 

1.     Check out your competition.

Or better yet, check out the social pages of the industry’s leading brands. By visiting your competitors’ online pages, you can quickly determine whether you’re underperforming or over-performing compared with the industry standards. Without a benchmark to compare yourself to, it’s difficult to make an assessment that could otherwise help you achieve your goals.

 

2.     Identify your customers’ major complaints.

Many social media customer service tools can generate the most discussed themes and keywords appearing across a network. Brands can utilize this to find out what customers are saying about their brand, their complaints, and issues. Also, pay close attention to groups of people who are having the same experience. Look at shares, likes, and comment threads that are congested in one location, and devise a plan to resolve such customer issues.

 

3.     Discover influences and advocates.

Even if you’re not the biggest brand out there, chances are that several people are genuinely interested in your content. Tracking links to your articles will help you identify influencers who share your content. You may reach out to them to build relationships and strengthen your clout. In addition, you can also identify your brand’s biggest advocates. Once you do, it wouldn’t hurt to reward them with giveaways or free offers.

 

4.     Generate feedback.

Social listening isn’t just about understanding the market information already out there. It goes beyond this, as it enables brand managers to gather feedback and customers’ opinions about an existing product or service. You can also use social media platforms to understand your market’s needs or even directly ask them about what they’d want in a future product.

 

5.     Find qualified talents.

For sure, social networks are home to many digitally savvy professionals who actively advocate their skills by posting intelligent insights online. Take advantage of social media to find these individuals, and offer them internships or even a full-time position in your company. If they’re interested, it’s a win-win deal for both of you.

Social media customer service has crept into every company’s digital marketing strategy as a way of enhancing the customer experience and increasing brand engagement. Entrepreneurs should focus on expertly leveraging this technology to establish a firm niche in a highly competitive market.