Social Media is constantly being raved for its ability to help startups increase sales and we can all agree that it has definitely helped all brands reach more people and thus making marketing strategies more effective. Let’s be clear – it is not just for startups. Social media platforms are a great way to spread the brand message and expand the user base. With those things in mind, let’s pay close attention to one side of business that receives a lot less attention: customer service, or as many call it today (and they’re right) “Customer Experience” (CX).
Today we will take a brief, yet effective look at just a few ways anyone can use social media to create a memorable customer experience. The first thing to understand – and the most important one to understand – is that the “experience” is amplified for the customer when there is engagement between him/herself and the company behind the product.
- Google Hangouts: Have people send in questions throughout the week, and then a pick a convenient time and day to answer them all – live – with anyone
and everyone in a hangout. You can create a hashtag especially for this part of customer interaction that can get traction on Twitter – make it relevant and keep it constant so it catches fire over time. What will you discuss with customers? Let them decide by asking them with poll in your content, email newsletters, and Q&As in the month/weeks that lead up to it. - Create a Group on Social Media: Pick a network and open a group that turns into a forum. Unfortunately Facebook pages aren’t the best places to create an open forum because the pages focus on the company’s content. By opening a group you are allowing for the sharing of ideas, and above all you show users that you want to find a solution. It does not seem like Facebook is the ideal place (think why people login to Facebook versus why they login to LinkedIn), so think where you will be able to answer and give more value to customers.
- Tweet to New Users: If somehow you can get a hold on the Twitter handles of your clients then sending a unique Tweet to them whenever they buy a product or when they sign up for a new service. Make sure to let them know how they can get answers to questions or problems.When was the last time you saw an incredibly successful brand tweet with average Joes on a constant basis?
- Pinterest: Open a group board that is focused on the purpose of users/clients adding images of their issues. Anyone with a similar issue can always comment on the image with a tip or with a follow-up question.Create a group board for your products and encourage your community to upload their images, whether to brag or to bring up questions on maximizing value from product use.
- Slack Chat: This is not technically social media, but it is definitely something worth mentioning.With their private groups option, Slack is definitely something that should be, at least, discussed upon by the team. Unlike when using regular social media groups, with Slack everyone can drag, drop, and share files – something crucial to having an effective talk between the user and yourself.
Plenty more can be done to interact with your valued customers on or off of social media. It all starts with wanting to offer an experience and not feeling that it is another thing to do on the “to-do” list. We repeat: don’t look it as a service you need to offer, rather as a medium for interacting with someone you rely on to succeed. Once you’ve created a standard for interacting via any of the above listed methods solving problems for consumers becomes simpler and more enjoyable you may even see increased sales (more than likely you will, if you do CX the right way).
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