One of the most significant trends in customer engagement over the last three years is the rise of social media outside marketing and inside customer service. Social media is moving beyond contacts and interactions to a culture of community and collaboration for the most engaged and customer-centric companies.
More than 23% of consumers between the ages of 18 and 32 prefer social media when learning about products. Consumers are no longer relying solely on the traditional channels of phone and email. They are interacting online with peers over sponsored communities and over the public cloud via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
Consumers and consumer groups are setting up social media and other online advice services themselves. Approximately 83% of consumers tell their friends if they get a good deal, demonstrating that the demand for advice from fellow customers is present and strong enough for consumers to act to enable this type of advice.
In the financial sector, for instance, more than 12% of consumers turn to blogs and almost 7% use other forms of social media as a resource for advice.
Social is more than an interaction, or transaction; it is a culture. Social is an approach to doing business in a more interconnected way. Social media is becoming the answer for crossing functional and departmental barriers and for collaborating as one business. Social media is the answer to getting that one contact who comes in once a year connected to the one person in the company who has the experience and insight to provide the right insight at the right time. Social is a philosophical belief that more people working together is better than one person working alone.
Follow these five steps to establish a customer engagement strategy:
If your social media engagement increases beyond your internal capabilities, consider leveraging your contact center partner to scale your operations and expertise.
Social networks and community forums are very visible channels for customers to share and discuss experiences they have had with a company. Companies that understand this and establish a social media strategy are better prepared to quickly address customer issues. A proactive and speedy response helps improve customer experience, increase brand loyalty and potentially diffuse the negative impact of any bad customer experiences.