Have you ever complained to a brand publicly via social media?

I’ll admit it, I have done this.

Fortunately, my comments received a response and a resolution to the problem. But this is not always the case with every business—and it should be.

Following essential social media customer service best practices is vital to supporting your consumer base and retaining them long term.

In this article, you’ll discover:

• how to leverage social media as a customer support channel,
• examples of social media customer service from brands,
• what to do with negative comments and complaints,
• tools to monitor customer service on social media,
• …and more.

Let’s dive in!

Social Media and Customer Service

A two-way conversation, or social connection, has long been the intended purpose for social media.

We’re now seeing social media platforms used to grow business by:

• Boosting brand awareness
• Marketing products or services
• “Listening” to consumers

Social media and customer service may not have been an intentional combination for these channels when developed.

However, many people having an issue or question look for a quick solution by using social media for customer service inquiries on a frequent basis.

In fact, 67% of consumers have engaged a brand’s social media for customer service needs.

That’s a lot of people, and a lot of exposure for a brand!

Ultimately, creating a brand with an inclusive and helpful community via social media is the goal of any business.

In order to be effective, using social media for customer service must now become a part of your overall social media strategy.

SEE ALSO: 7 Effective Social Media Best Practices for Business

[clickToTweet tweet=”67% of consumers have engaged a brand’s social media for customer service needs. #socialmedia #custserv” quote=”67% of consumers have engaged a brand’s social media for customer service needs.”]

Are you using social media for customer service in the right way for your business?

Take a look at six key elements you’ll want to employ in your efforts.

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6 Social Media Customer Service Best Practices

1. Reply as quickly as possible on social media.

Most forms of customer support via phone and email are not typically expected to be available 24/7. Yet, social media customer support has created an “always-on” expectation.

As a result, 42% of consumers expect a response on social media within 60 minutes.

This means responding to inquiries, reviews, and complaints as quickly as possible is the best social media customer service strategy.

[clickToTweet tweet=”42% of consumers expect a customer service response on social media within 60 minutes. #custserv #socialmedia” quote=”42% of consumers expect a customer service response on social media within 60 minutes.”]

The effects of poor response time for customer service through social media are real, causing people to:

• Tell their family and friends about the experience
• Use another channel to escalate their concerns again
• Buy less from a company in the future
• Not recommend a brand’s products or services
• Complain publicly via social media

Read that one more time: 56% will never use the company again.

On social media customer service inquiries, timely responses are rewarded.

Using Facebook for Customer Service

Your company’s Facebook support response time rate is clearly shown on your Facebook page.

Facebook only considers your business “quick” (or, very responsive) when it replies within 5 minutes or less—around the clock!

Now, you may not have the ability or resources to monitor social media accounts 24 hours a day.

Fortunately, the addition of programmable messenger “bots” and customizable away messages for off-hours give you other quick and effective options for providing customer service on Facebook.

Using Twitter for Customer Service

With Twitter, it’s safe to say that people expect a reply immediately.

This is, of course, the nature of Twitter.

The platform is often compared to a 24-hour news ticker with a constant flow of information. Therefore, conversations often occur in the same rapid fashion as texting.

By the numbers, 53% want a response within the hour on Twitter. What’s more, this jumps up to 72% expecting a response within an hour after issuing a complaint.

SEE ALSO: How to Use Twitter Chats for Marketing Your Business

To excel at customer service on Twitter, use the relationship-building techniques found at the center of any solid customer support process:

• Listen
• Appreciate
• Resolve

The challenge is Twitter’s 280-character limit, requiring a concise message.

In some cases, acknowledging a customer service issue, thanking the customer and providing resolution can be done in 280 characters or less!

But when it cannot, guide customers to DM (direct messages).

This is especially useful if an issue is negative—since Tweets are public and DMs are private.

Remembering the need for real-time replies on both public and private correspondence is important when it comes to using social media for customer service—and especially on Twitter.

Take a look at one of the more successful social media customer service examples, resulting in a sale.

Social Media Customer Service Examples: Best Buy

As seen in the screenshot below, Best Buy did not receive a direct @ mention on Twitter by the customer. They were likely listening for their brand name with a tool to monitor customer service on social media (see more on this later).

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2. Know which social media posts should be resolved in public or private.

You already know you can’t please everyone, so prepare for the inevitable negative comment or complaint.

Create a process to provide clear direction on handling customer service through social media for your business.

Guidelines are important to document and follow, as consistency can only strengthen your overall brand building.

I’ll explain further.

Outline which kinds of comments should be resolved publicly. These public social media comments would exist on:

• Page posts or reviews for Facebook
• Posts on Instagram
• Openly via tweets on Twitter

Then, determine which conversations should become private—whether it be moved to direct message, email or phone.

This process looks different for every business but follows a general framework.

For direct messages that require research, reply immediately to let the sender know the message has been received and an answer is coming shortly.

For example-

Consumer: “I’m not seeing the tracking number for my recent order and it hasn’t arrived yet.”

Brand: “Hello [Name], Thank you for your inquiry! Let us look into that for you. We will reply shortly!”

Sometimes, a message does not seem to require a reply because it’s not a question. Still, be sure to reply so that your response rate percentage is not affected. The key is timely acknowledgment.

For example-

Consumer: “The new website was confusing but now I understand.”

Brand: “Hello [Name], Thanks for letting us know. Let us know how else we can help you.”

In Facebook, your comment should be the last message sent in the exchange. Facebook response rate algorithm is only able to tell who sent the last message. For example, even if a sender ends the exchange with “Thank you”, send another message saying “You’re welcome!” or “Glad we could help!”.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Create a process and guidelines to handle customer service on social media for your business. #custserv #smm” quote=”Create a process and guidelines to handle customer service through social media for your business.”]

Social Media Customer Service Process Questions

Ask yourself the following questions to help create a process that works for your social media and customer service:

QUESTION #1
Who will review incoming customer comments to determine if it requires a positive/negative interaction?

QUESTION #2
What are some examples of positive and negative comments, based on customer service interactions your company has already had?

QUESTION #3
How do you handle it—if the interaction is negative, do you diffuse immediately or direct the customer to the phone for support?

Examples of Social Media Customer Service: GoDaddy

When a customer inquires about something that requires account information which should remain private, GoDaddy responds accordingly on Twitter.

Here are the important things to note in this social media customer service response:

• A cordial, friendly opening line
• Concise direction provided for the next step
• Link embedded in the tweet for direct message

Using the CTA (call-to-action) link feature that Twitter provides helps save customers the effort of opening up another direct message thread on their own. Brilliant!

3. Respond to all social media feedback, questions, and comments.

Every post, review, and check-in on social media needs acknowledgment.

This is one of the biggest social media customer service best practices.

Don’t let someone’s thoughts go into a black hole.

A customer wants to be heard, plain and simple!

Since so many comments can be viewed by the public, businesses have an incentive to be attentive to everybody via social media.

The incentive is crystal clear: not replying equates to ignoring a customer.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Every post, review, and check-in on social media needs acknowledgment. #smm #custserv” quote=”Every post, review, and check-in on social media needs acknowledgment.”]

Just as no business would ignore a customer in their store, no business should leave a comment unattended online!

Streamlining Your Social Media Customer Service Process

Use the data you gathered while answering the questions above in section #2.

Create a series of pre-written replies to help streamline the process of social network moderation.

The key to using canned responses is ensuring they read correctly to the end user.

Similarly to email replies, the customer will interpret words without tone and inflection. So, the best customer service responses should be written in ways that cannot be misconstrued.

However, unlike email these replies will be public—as will the time stamp (see section #1: reply as soon as possible on social media).

Users want personal attention, so customize the reply to the individual on a case-by-case basis. Scripted replies are guidelines you will modify to fit a situation.

The goal is to create a community feel.

Hence, responses that seem automated are counter-productive.

For major corporations, replying to every single post may not align with the overall strategy for social media and customer service simply because of the sheer number of comments.

The rate at which your company replies to posts can align with the size of your brand.

• Small businesses need to reply to everything as a means of community-building.
• Mid- to large-size companies may choose to acknowledge positive comments with a simple “like”, while putting more time into turning negative comments around.
• Large corporations often dedicate entire teams when using social media for customer service. Some even manage support from a totally different account or page than the brand.

[click_to_tweet tweet=”Just as no business would ignore a customer in their store, no business should leave a comment unattended online! #smm #custserv” quote=”Just as no business would ignore a customer in their store, no business should leave a comment unattended online!”]

Social Media Customer Service Examples: JetBlue Airways

Airline travel can be frustrating when so many things can go wrong with delays, cancellations, lost luggage, etc. Therefore, customers often take to Twitter and Facebook to voice their complaints on social media publicly and can do so easily via a smartphone.

In this situation, relating to the issue and acknowledging the frustration helps a JetBlue customer service rep diffuse the emotion of an angry flyer.

When crafting customer service responses on social media, mirroring words can make someone feel heard:

“I understand that you are upset about (insert their complaint here, and their name). We would like to speak with you by phone to learn more about the situation, so we can find a way to remedy it for you. Please call us: insert phone number.”

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4. Include a greeting and be transparent with names or initials.

If a name is apparent from your customer’s social profile, don’t hesitate to use it with a greeting.

A simple “Hello [name]”, or “Hi [name]” helps reach out with a personal touch.

Furthermore, closing social media customer service responses with a -Sonia or -SG (first name or initials) also humanizes the response.

This creates accountability on both sides of the coin.

• It makes the user feel heard by an actual person.
• It allows the business to see who replied should there ever be a dispute.

Seems simple, but many companies don’t do this. These are easy things to include that soften a reply considerably.

Imagine that you are leaving a concerned comment or review, and the brand reaches out to you publicly. You wish to reply, but you don’t know who replied to you. So you just address the company, or no one at all.

Giving a customer your name humanizes the brand instantly. It offers them someone to speak to directly should they be interested in continuing the conversation.

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5. Combat negativity with positivity on social media.

When a negative comment is posted, businesses can be inclined to defend themselves.

Always meet negativity with positivity.

They say the customer is always right, and that age-old saying applies ten-fold online.

When a customer complains in the store, perhaps three other customers could overhear.

When a customer complains on social media, every single one of your customers could potentially see it in their news feed!

Remaining positive also helps to breed support from your loyal customers.

Other fans or followers will often rally around the business when a single negative follower is antagonizing the company. Depending on how likely your business is to be on the receiving end of social media negativity, brainstorming positive responses can be a crucial piece of your customer service social media strategy.

To prepare for negative content on social media, consider gathering previous negative calls and emails for review. Then, create 1-3 positive responses for each.

The most important thing is to show you care and value the customer’s opinion, regardless of whether it started out negative.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Always meet negativity with positivity when a customer complains on social media. #smm #custserv” quote=”Always meet negativity with positivity when a customer complains on social media.”]

Demonstrating empathy in your responses goes a long way when using social media for customer service. In some cases, it’s the difference between a 1-star review, and a 5-star one.

Social Media Customer Service Examples: Applebee’s

Let’s take a look at how Applebee’s handles an issue (they are known more for their humorous, quirky customer service responses on social media).

@LandonMac1 Hi Landon, we’re sorry to hear this. Please give us a call at 888-592-7753 until 7pm CST so we can assist. ~ARL

— Applebee’s (@Applebees) August 17, 2016

Applebee’s replies in a timely manner, greets a customer by name, apologizes, offers a phone number to take it offline AND signs with initials. All in under 280 characters!

(Note: since original publishing of this article, Twitter increased their character count from 140 to 280)

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6. Monitor customer service through social media with a tool

The moderator for incoming customer service through social media should be given the same training that traditional representatives receive, and a tool to aid their process.

This holds true, regardless of whether you are a company with a new social media presence. Or, a company who has had social media platforms for a long time and just now using social media for customer service purposes.

Social Media Customer Service Tools

Monitoring customer service activity on Facebook and Twitter (and other platforms like Instagram or Google+) is best accomplished with tools such as:

• Hootsuite
• Buffer
• Sparkcentral
• Mention

These types of social customer service tools offer the ability to listen to consumers across multiple platforms. Accounts can be monitored by a single customer service representative or a team.

You’ll be able to add streams that show search results for phrases such as your brand name. What’s more, it can help you respond to questions or issues, without your company being directly @ mention or being tagged.

Oftentimes customer service social media training is included with the price of an online tool or software. Take advantage of this!

Because social media never “closes”, tools can notify you with a text or on an app—even when your business is off hours.

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Conclusion

When they need to ask a question or solve a problem, consumers worldwide said they prefer to get help online, according to a study by Oracle on customer service.

The role of social media in customer service can play a big part in the success of your brand loyalty and advocacy.

With the right preparation and listening tool, using social media for customer service can take your digital community to the next level.

Be ready to use your social media platforms to support customers by including the six key elements provided here.

Let’s recap the essentials of your social media customer service strategy:

1. Reply as quickly as possible on social media
2. Know which social media posts to resolve in public or private
3. Respond to all social media feedback, questions and comments
4. Include a greeting and be transparent with names or initials
5. Combat negativity with positivity on social media
6. Monitor customer service through social media with a tool

How are you planning on using social media for customer service?

Tell us in comments below!

FreshSparks is a creative studio specializing in brand strategy, web design and development, and digital marketing. Your online presence needs to be a marketing machine. We can help you with that. Get a free consultation for your next project.

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