Social media marketing is all about cultivating relationships with your followers. That’s why it’s social! Updates and posts keep your business on your followers’ minds and in their newsfeeds. Blog posts and newsletters give you the chance to develop engaging content that distinguishes your business as an industry expert. It gives your followers the real lowdown that you want them to absorb and share.
And, of course, it’s a two-way street. Your followers can use social media to offer feedback, ask questions, etc. Forbes contributor Daniel Newman explains: “What once served primarily as a platform to increase sales is now a meeting space, and has become part of the brand experience itself.”
Brands do well to exude a savvy, service-oriented persona. You demonstrate this through your timely and relevant responses to your followers’ concerns and questions. Obviously, you want to handle these interactions well for your customers, clients and prospects. You also want to demonstrate that deftly managing customer service is on-brand for your business.
A Portal for Service
Glowing feedback from a happy customer is a strong endorsement, as are comments from a costumer who started out disgruntled until he or she was heard. Social media is a powerful means for showing your followers that you listen to your customers and you’re willing to go that extra mile to address their issues.
Showcasing the finesse with which you address your followers concerns, issues and questions stands to demonstrate the strength of your product and your brand values. In his book Hug your Haters, Jay Baer describes customer service as a “spectator sport” when enacted on social media. Use that to your advantage. Show your followers that your business is hands-on and that you care about your customer’s needs and concerns.
Customer Experience
Being treated with concern and care matters to your customers, clients and prospects. Baer explains: “By 2020, a majority of customer decisions will be based, not on price, not on availability but on customer experience. Customer experience is how we make our customers feel, and when you exceed customers’ expectations in one or more powerful ways, it makes word of mouth involuntary.”
If you use social media to ensure that your customers feel heard and valued, they are likely to share their satisfaction which reaches your followers and theirs. It’s powerful.
Your Social Media Manager is your BFF
Your social media manager helps you foster these important relationships. Clearly, timeliness is key. If your followers are engaging on social media, you want to be responding promptly and strategically.
Your social media manager monitors your presence on various platforms. When complex responses are necessary, he or she will prompt you for those, so that you can routinely respond in a manner that reflects your brand and communications strategy.
Your social media manager can also help by spotting trends and giving you insights about what your followers respond to; from there, you can generate a plan.
Your social media manager helps you to analyze your current efforts and to strategize future efforts. He or she is key to successfully reaching your followers.
Newman explains: “Customer experience/service is fast becoming the most important tool for business success, and how a particular forum represents and adds to your brand’s vision is a vital component to successful customer experience.”
Consider letting Social Butterfly help you up your professional game on social media, this is an ideal time to expand your reach. Contact our team today at 224-650-6722 / erika@socialbutterflysocialmedia.com