Every tweet, direct message, and comment holds weight. Social media has long been a connectivity platform, where users engage with friends, colleagues, and family.
In recent years, it’s also evolved to become a feedback mechanism for businesses.
In many industries, customers are communicating with a business on social media. It’s a key customer service channel, one in which savvy businesses must consistently monitor to ensure they’re meeting customers’ expectations.
In many cases, it’s the first place customers turn for help.
For brands, this shift presents a massive opportunity but also a real challenge.
Customers expect rapid responses. Research shows that 41% of consumers expect a response from a business within 24 hours. Plus, they’re not afraid to call out a business publicly if they don’t respond or effectively meet their needs.
Today, social media is no longer exclusively about amassing the most followers and likes. It’s about building genuine relationships with customers through timely responses, authentic engagement, and proactive customer service.
The Hootsuite Social Media Consumer Trends 2024 report found that 53% of social media users say the most appealing thing a brand can do on social media channels is to quickly respond to direct questions and comments.
In this post, we’ll explore how social media can be used as a strategic lever for building lasting customer relationships and how your business can implement social-first strategies that elevate both service and reputation.
The Evolution Of Social Media Customer Service
When social media platforms like X (Twitter) and Facebook first launched, brands used them primarily as one-way communication channels.
They’d share promotions, advertise events, showcase new products, and announce pertinent updates.
However, over the last few years, this paradigm has completely flipped. Businesses are now using social media as a two-way communication channel, fostering deeper relationships with customers that turn into loyalty.
With feedback being front and center on social media, customers quickly realized they could get faster responses by mentioning a brand (@brand) rather than using traditional customer service channels, such as chatbots or phone calls.
In turn, businesses realized the importance of social media as a customer service channel, leveraging technology to reply to customer concerns at scale and ensuring timely follow-up.
Social media has become a natural extension of customer support. There are several factors that have contributed to the rise of social as a customer service tool, including:
The Rise Of Mobile
Mobile accounts for over 62% of market share worldwide, with desktop falling behind at 36%.
Mobile phones are the go-to for browsing, shopping, and messaging. With smartphones now the default device, consumers will engage with brands on the go.
Whether it’s sending a direct message to an airline about a canceled flight or mentioning a retail brand on X (Twitter) seeking information about shipping status, customers are more comfortable than ever with connecting with businesses across all social platforms.
Given the convenient nature of mobile devices and mobile apps, social engagement has become more seamless and accessible than ever before.
Generational Changes
Millennials and Gen Z are the dominant force in purchasing power. They’re also the two generations who have grown accustomed to digital-first experiences, including communication.
Both these generations grew up with mobile phones, the internet, and companies that deliver expedited experiences, like Amazon’s two-day shipping.
As such, they demand instant answers to their inquiries, just as they’d expect a friend to reply quickly to a text message.
Platform Maturity
Social media has evolved into a critical customer service tool, and the major platforms are stepping up to make communication easy.
For example, Facebook offers Messenger API integrations, and X (Twitter) supports customer service workflows.
On the other hand, Instagram allows for quick or automated replies, as well as live support features. TikTok is advancing its features to allow brands to address product questions or service complaints.
Customer service has followed the conversation, and those conversations have gone social.
Trends Shaping Social Media Customer Service
Customer expectations continue to rise, and as they do, they’re reaching out for support from businesses in divergent formats, including across social media platforms.
Enter social customer care, which has quickly become a crucial endeavor and a need for every business.
Social customer care is growing smarter and more seamless, powered by automation, fueled by data, and defined by customer expectations for immediacy and personalization.
Let’s break down the trends driving this shift in social media customer service.
AI-Powered Support Has Entered The Scene
Consumers are widely adapting to artificial intelligence, engaging with it for streamlining tasks, seeking information, and contacting support.
AI chatbots have also come a long way from being basic autoresponders with a few canned responses.
Natural language processing (NLP) has become much more advanced, enabling AI to detect sentiment and context at deep levels to:
- Distinguish between a frustrated customer and one who simply wants more information.
- Route escalated customers to live agents for human intervention.
- Recommend products or solutions relevant to the end user based on their past behavior.
- Tailor responses based on a person’s interests and previous prompts.
- Produce human-like responses, where customers feel like they’re being helped rather than rerouted to an unhelpful resource.
Be sure to pair AI chatbots with human agents (a.k.a. “agent assist”) to increase resolution speed, ensure human touch in feedback management, and maintain empathy when customers reach out for help.
Full CX Tech Stack Integration
Technology is getting smarter, and social media tools now integrate directly into customer relationship management systems, help desk software, marketing suites, and more.
This allows support teams to have quick access to order history, view past conversations, and personalize responses without asking for repeat information.
Sales, customer success, support, marketing, and customer experience no longer exist in siloes.
Together, they’re able to promote positive customer experiences across every touchpoint, whether a customer is seeking assistance during the awareness stage or needing help post-purchase through improved visibility.
Voice And Video Support Via Social
Customers have become accustomed to receiving quick and seamless support.
Voice and video support offer attractive alternatives to traditional customer service options.
As technology continues to evolve and align with consumer behavior trends, short-form content has opened the door for new and unique types of customer service interactions.
For example, brands responding to customer questions with personalized videos to help walk through concerns or offer visual guidance.
Alternatively, support agents are also leveraging voice messages to talk through customer support, sending customers a short voice message in Instagram DMs or WhatsApp.
This eliminates the need for customers to pick up the phone and talk to an agent in real time, while offering more personal support.
Livestreaming has emerged as a powerful way for brands to build trust and transparency.
Platforms like Facebook Live, Instagram Live, YouTube Live, TikTok Live, and Twitch make it easy to connect with audiences in real time.
Whether hosting Q&A sessions or holding virtual “office hours,” livestreams allow brands to engage directly with customers and address questions on the spot.
These diverse customer support formats help humanize support and can enable faster resolution through rich media.
Proactive Support Through Social Listening
Social listening has emerged as a powerful ally for spotting issues immediately, allowing businesses to be proactive and swift when addressing consumers.
Social media support has evolved from tracking @mentions. Now, social listening tools empower brands to scan for brand mentions, product feedback, competitor and industry keywords, and more – even if the business isn’t tagged.
Smart brands tracking myriad feedback across social media platforms are able to then:
- Jump into conversations before they escalate further.
- Address complaints swiftly.
- Identify opportunities for improvement in service or products.
- See competitor pain points.
- Introduce your business to a customer who’s evaluating vendors.
For example, a beauty brand may see numerous mentions about a leaky mascara tube on Instagram and Facebook.
Before it spirals any further and fuels negative brand perception, the brand could investigate the issue, fix it, and proactively respond to comments regarding the product defect and the steps they took to rectify it through the power of social listening.
Rise Of “Dark Social”
Not all social responses are public.
“Dark social” is becoming a preferred communication method through platforms like WhatsApp, Messenger, and Telegram, as conversations are private and not broadcast for all to see, as is typically the case with social media conversations. Although, preference is regional and demographic-specific.
The “dark” nature of this communication allows for more personalized one-on-one conversations, which can be especially valuable in international markets, industries with sensitive queries (like financial services and healthcare), or any other industry where confidentiality is needed.
Best Practices For Effective Social Media Customer Service
Just as with traditional customer service channels, social media customer care requires a nuanced approach to ensure satisfaction at every touch point.
A one-size-fits-all approach will no longer suffice. Smart businesses will evolve from reactionary to proactive support, irrespective of social media channels.
Feedback will be monitored across the diverse, fragmented social media landscape, where new content types are consistently introduced and new platforms emerge, eager to garner attention.
According to a recent study, engagements received on Facebook and Instagram continue to grow year-over-year, whilst engagements on X (Twitter) remain steady.
The study shows that customers are engaging across myriad social media channels.
Whether a customer mentions your brand on Twitter or your product on Facebook, equipping your customer service teams with the tools and technology to respond in near real time is a must.
A few best practices to implement into your social media customer service strategy include the following.
Respond Quickly
Consumers have grown accustomed to speedy responses. The Sprout Social Index™ shows nearly 75% of consumers expect a brand to reply within 24 hours or less.
Quick customer service is necessary, and customer expectations continue to grow.
While speed is critical, it can’t be at the cost of humanity. Aim for a first response to a customer within an hour or faster.
The use of pre-approved templates can be beneficial for common queries, but customization will be necessary for escalated issues where emotions can be heightened.
Be sure to acknowledge each issue with empathy and respond in your brand’s tone.
Customers are still not entirely eager to receive responses from AI. A Gartner study found that over half (64%) of customers would prefer that companies didn’t use AI in their customer service.
Escalate Smoothly
Sometimes, a tweet isn’t enough to squelch an issue.
When deeper issue resolution is needed, brands should keep public replies brief and take the conversation to a more private forum, such as DMs or email.
Brands must train agents to recognize when more personal support is warranted and needed, and how to make the transition to a private conversation more seamless to mitigate customer frustration.
Use Dedicated Support Handles
Customers may feel better served knowing they’re engaging with a member of the support team.
To help users distinguish your business from your support staff, it can be beneficial to have a separate dedicated support handle, such as @NikeService vs. @Nike.
A dedicated support handle can reduce confusion, make users feel heard, and ensure support requests aren’t lost in the void.
Help Your Agents Help You
Consider a customer who has reached out for support in the past via Facebook due to a high-ticket product defect.
Your brand rectified the issue by providing the customer with a new part and a partial refund. Now, consider the product experiences further issues in the future, and the customer reaches out again.
They may start to feel like just a number if the second support agent isn’t equipped with the customer’s full product history and was never made aware of the previous product issue.
This, in turn, creates a negative brand experience, which can lead to a bad review and the loss of a customer.
Smart brands give their social media customer service representatives the tools and resources to access customer history to avoid potential pitfalls like the scenario mentioned above.
Empowering your frontline employees not only helps your customers but also your business’s brand reputation.
Follow Up On Service
Customers want to feel seen and heard, irrespective of where they’re reaching out to you. Check in with your customers after their issues have been resolved.
Customer follow-up surveys are a great tool to employ post-service to assess how your customer service team is doing.
Whether a customer reached out to your business via Instagram DM or a chatbot on your website, it’s important to ensure customers know they matter to your business.
Measure What Matters
Customer support managers should track key performance indicators (KPIs) consistently to accurately assess employee performance and keep a pulse on customer satisfaction.
A few common KPIs businesses will want to measure are:
- First Response Time: How long it takes for an agent to reach out to a customer after they’ve reached out for support.
- Average Resolution Time: How long it takes to resolve an issue, beginning from the moment the customer reaches out to closing out the ticket.
- Customer Satisfaction: How happy a customer is with the level of support your business provides.
- Social Sentiment: What users say about your business across popular social media platforms (from your brand name to your products)
- Volume by platform: Which channels receive the most inquiries for support, to better prioritize where your customer support teams spend their time.
- Issue Types: The types of issues you see most commonly, such as frequent issues with shipping or quality concerns.
By measuring what matters most, businesses can pinpoint critical issues before they become widespread.
For example, if customers continue to voice concerns over short battery life in a toothbrush on TikTok, the business can flag this for its product team, look further into whether it’s a smaller issue that impacted a batch of shipments, or assess if a bigger quality assurance issue is at play.
Make Social Support A CX Differentiator
Using social media as a customer service tool is non-negotiable.
The social media landscape is no longer just a forum for fun. It’s evolved to the point where customers are actively seeking support and voicing their concerns for the wider public to see.
It’s a service battlefield, where brands either win or lose customer loyalty.
Social media has to be a core support channel, not just a nice-to-periodically check.
When your social support mirrors your online support, brands will differentiate themselves from the businesses that aren’t responding with speed and empathy.
Moving forward, the first step you can take is to audit your social media support today.
Ask yourself: Is your business meeting response time expectations? Is your team equipped with the best tools to enable smooth support? And how will your business escalate issues when they arise?
The brands that will thrive in the long run are those building systems for service, not just likes, today.
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Featured Image: Accogliente Design/Shutterstock
