• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, April 30, 2013

Facebook would seem to be a helpful customer-service tool for cable and other pay-TV providers. How better to quickly respond to frustration about service disruptions or answer questions about when a particular channel might be carried?

Cox Communications looks to be taking advantage. Data from a social analytics firm shows it had a 93.5% response rate to inquiries on Facebook in the first quarter.

Among the top-10 “socially devoted” brands in the U.S., Cox ranked second in response rate. Also in the top-10 was Dish Network at 88.3%. No other operator made that grade in the rankings from Socialbakers.

Dish has far more Facebook “likes” (some 3.7 million) and customers (about 14 million) than Cox (682,000 and some 5 million).

Other leading “socially devoted” brands include T-Mobile, which led in response rate at 96.1%; Boost Mobile at 92%; LifeProof at 87%; Best Buy at 79%; and Target at 74.7%.

Socialbakers has been using the “socially devoted” concept since June 2012 and says a 65% response rate is a good benchmark.

Of course, responding to questions does not necessarily correlate with customer satisfaction. The need to turn to Facebook with such commitment might actually be a sign of the reverse.