mRELEVANCE Urges Clients to Use Social Media as Customer Service Tool

ATLANTA - Sept. 2, 2016 - PRLog -- Social media is a powerful tool, and businesses are basically required to incorporate it into their marketing plans if they hope to survive and excel. That is why mRELEVANCE urges clients to properly utilize social media as a customer service tool.

"Strong customer service can go a long way in strengthening your business' brand and improving customer relationships, and social media has become yet another outlet to do just that," explained Carol Morgan, managing partner of mRELEVANCE. "It's important for businesses and brands to begin thinking of social media as a huge customer service opportunity, because that is what customers think of it as."

The first step is to find out where customers are and what social media sites are best suited to reach them. It's hard to go wrong with Facebook and Twitter. Stay on top of conversations that are going on, and be sure to add something of value. Do not neglect conversations, especially direct inquiries. Eighty-eight percent of customers said they are less likely to purchase from a company that leaves questions unanswered on social media.

In addition to showing customer reviews, Facebook Pages now show how quickly a company replies to consumer messages in the 'About' section. The faster and more consistently a business responds to customer questions and complaints sent through Messages, the more positive it will reflect on the page. In fact, select Facebook Pages that have excellent response rates can proudly display a badge indicating their level of customer service.

On Twitter especially, it can be a smart move to create a separate account purely for customer service use. This is especially true for larger brands that get consistent messages related to customer service. For instance Delta Airlines has several accounts – @Delta is the main account and @DeltaAssist is used to manage customer inquiries related to customer service.  Having two accounts will keep the main Twitter feed clean and free of customer complaints and responses.

"With the separate account, you can follow the user, reply to them or even direct message them to keep the conversation private," continued Morgan. "Once you have that account figured out, it's time to use social media as one of your strongest customer service tools."

The key to this process is replying to customers' complaints or concerns as quickly as possible. Generally, aim to respond within five minutes. In fact, many brands now have an online concierge, marketing assistant or a social media manager who are tasked with monitoring social media and answering customer inquiries and complaints, which makes answering so quickly possible. Do not ignore any post; simply acknowledging the customer can go a long way. With that said, don't just be an automatic social media account responding to customers; personalize and humanize the experience. People like to know who they are speaking with, so simply providing a name with a response can help connect with a customer.

Online communication is not always the best form of communication. More serious inquiries should be handled with a phone call or even a face-to-face meeting, so be sure to always provide the necessary contact information. These types of interactions can be valuable in building a strong relationship with customers.

"That is really the goal of social media as a whole: to build relationships," said Morgan. "By providing excellent customer service, you can show you care about your customers and keeping them happy. Perhaps you won't be able to respond to every complaint, or the complaint occurs offline. Build relationships so your other customers will want to advocate on your behalf and resolve issues for you."

Social media is an exciting forum for many businesses because it encourages creativity. Try to have some fun and to not take some things too seriously. Many businesses have found success through providing unexpected gifts to customers, joking with customers and going above and beyond what others expected. Doing nice things for customers and making sure they're happy can lead to longer relationships and overall creates good publicity.

To learn other social media secrets for businesses, check out www.MarketingRELEVANCE.com. For more information on great customer service, read Raving Fans by Ken Blanchard.

About Marketing RELEVANCE: mRELEVANCE, LLC creates relevant marketing and communications that reach audiences with focused and strategic messages. Through technology and creative content, messages are delivered to target markets to encourage customer action and interaction.

With offices in Atlanta and Chicago, mRELEVANCE can connect your company with buyers and build relevant relationships nationwide. For more information, visit www.MarketingRELEVANCE.com, Like us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/mRELEVANCE, Follow us on Twitter at @mRELEVANCE or call 770-383-3360 or 847-259-7312.