Don’t just listen, HEAR your customers.

Social media customer service is a complex mix of having the right tools, managed by the right team, with the right resources to hear your customers and respond with the right answers. When done correctly, social customer service provides these nine benefits:

Never miss a mention – According to a July 2013 Conversocial study, 97 percent of brand mentions in social media are missed . Before enacting a social media customer service program, all relevant social networks should receive a complete audit. A true understanding of brand mention volume ensures that agents are capturing the full picture before they respond.

– According to a July 2013 Conversocial study, 97 percent of brand mentions in social media are . Before enacting a social media customer service program, all relevant social networks should receive a complete audit. A true understanding of brand mention volume ensures that agents are capturing the full picture before they respond. Real-time response – Urgency is a big factor in satisfying customer expectations. Depending on your mention volume and complexity of response, a dedicated or shared team can monitor and respond on behalf of your brand in real or near real-time. This offers a comparable level of responsiveness to customers on social media that they expect from traditional channels, such as phone or online chat.

– Urgency is a big factor in satisfying customer expectations. Depending on your mention volume and complexity of response, a dedicated or shared team can monitor and respond on behalf of your brand in real or near real-time. This offers a comparable level of responsiveness to customers on social media that they expect from traditional channels, such as phone or online chat. Take your brand mobile – According to The Center for Media Research, 10 percent of all e-commerce spending for the holiday season 2013 will be conducted via mobile device. Smartphones and tablets are the future of customer interactions with your brand. Extend your customer service into mobile by responding to customer service queries on social media, where upward of 50 percent of queries are conducted on mobile devices.

– According to The Center for Media Research, 10 percent of all e-commerce spending for the holiday season 2013 will be conducted via mobile device. Smartphones and tablets are the future of customer interactions with your brand. Extend your customer service into mobile by responding to customer service queries on social media, where upward of 50 percent of queries are conducted on mobile devices. Social media management 24/7 – Your customers are asking you questions 24/7. Managing those interactions can be difficult for small teams, especially overnight, on weekends, or holidays. A dedicated social-media customer-service team, whether in-house or through a contact center, irons out these difficulties providing tracking and escalation to your interactions 24/7.

– Your customers are asking you questions 24/7. Managing those interactions can be difficult for small teams, especially overnight, on weekends, or holidays. A dedicated social-media customer-service team, whether in-house or through a contact center, irons out these difficulties providing tracking and escalation to your interactions 24/7. Brand engagement – Customers crave feedback. Simply publishing content without response can leave them feeling like only half of the engagement story has been told. Tell the other half by responding to their requests in a timely manner.

– Customers crave feedback. Simply publishing content without response can leave them feeling like only half of the engagement story has been told. Tell the other half by responding to their requests in a timely manner. Build awareness – Online “word of mouth” is a highly coveted method of spreading awareness about your brand. By garnering a strong online reputation for timely response, customers will become evangelists, and spread positive experiences with your brand to their friends and family members.

– Online “word of mouth” is a highly coveted method of spreading awareness about your brand. By garnering a strong online reputation for timely response, customers will become evangelists, and spread positive experiences with your brand to their friends and family members. Grow customer lifetime value – Cultivating existing customer loyalty is much more efficient than expensive paid advertising targeted at acquiring new customers. By keeping your current customers happy, you are increasing their likelihood to stay with your brand and spend more money over the long term allowing your brand to grow market share organically.

– Cultivating existing customer loyalty is much more efficient than expensive paid advertising targeted at acquiring new customers. By keeping your current customers happy, you are increasing their likelihood to stay with your brand and spend more money over the long term allowing your brand to grow market share organically. Track trends and insights about your brand – Knowledge is critical in today’s economy. By using analysis software, you can track mentions of your brand, measure sentiment, identify the number of different issues and formulate a clear strategy based on data insights.

– Knowledge is critical in today’s economy. By using analysis software, you can track mentions of your brand, measure sentiment, identify the number of different issues and formulate a clear strategy based on data insights. Receive customer feedback without costly surveys or focus groups – Likes, comments and other social feedback level the playing field for your brand when gathering the insights. Previously, these insights would have required expensive surveys or focus groups. With social media you can know immediately if a campaign is well received or requires fine-tuning.

Global Response has been working in customer service since 1974. Extending our Brand Specialists to social media on behalf of your brand is a natural fit. We manage your presences on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other online communities, providing tracking and trending for disposition, timeliness, and accuracy of response. Contact us today!