Social media has been around for almost two decades, with 75% of the world’s population (ages 13+) now actively engaged in an ever-evolving online community of networks and algorithms. To avoid being left out of the conversation, most brands have already implemented a social media customer care strategy, having realized that their followers care as much about the product and service as they do about the experience.
But being present and responsive is no longer enough to meet the demands of the modern social consumer. To win in this channel, marketers and customer care associates need to come together to form an all-star team, moving the service experience from a reactive to a proactive state to champion opportunities for value creation.
Many brands operate under the assumption that this is already being achieved, but in reality, very few are doing it well. Yes, social media can be a treasure trove for customer insights and brand advocacy, but if executed poorly without the proper framework and tools in place, it can also be a giant abyss, sucking up your time and resources with little ROI.
In our three-part blog series, VXI Global Solutions explores the common pitfalls to avoid and three mission-critical objectives to set for your social engagement and servicing teams this year. For organizations hoping to achieve legendary social care in 2023, the first objective is imperative, as a lack of cross-functional collaboration will only impede a brand’s ability to deliver superior experiences.
Objective 1: Remove operational silos and cancel the “cost center” culture Social media servicing teams tend to reside in either the marketing or customer care organization. While there may be a monthly meeting to debrief and review KPIs, the two functions typically operate in separate spheres. This is unfortunate because the less internal communication and collaboration between the two often results in more customer friction.
To create legendary experiences, the right supporting organization and governance structure needs to be established, combining the strengths of both departments. Marketing can help customer service teams become more proactive and targeted in their engagement strategies while maintaining a consistent brand voice. By being more selective and strategic on the types of content that warrant a response and the level of urgency assigned to them, customer care teams can find the time to put down the firehose and focus more on joy share and suggestive selling tactics. This is also known as “conversational commerce”, a tactic brands use to respond publicly to a post or a mention with the intent of providing useful information to convert prospects or socialize cross-sell and up-sell opportunities.
In return, service teams can help marketing stay ahead of changing preferences, leveraging their daily interactions as a source of truth into what customers want more or less of – including feedback for the product lifecycle, content strategy, and brand positioning. The key is that both sides become intimately acquainted with the other, working as one unified team to gain a better understanding of their customer.
Example: Take for example a deregulated utility company. While the marketing team might be more focused on promotional campaigns featuring discounts, average savings, customer accolades, and awards, their service teams are busy responding to outage inquiries, service requests, and fostering a sense of community. If the two worked as one, the content strategy would be more cohesive, focusing on personal, localized care that leverages a differentiated service experience as a key selling point compared to the traditional sales pitch. More time could then be spent targeting prospective customers through conversational commerce.
Both departments have historically been viewed as a cost center within their organization, but by working together to turn social media into a full-service channel, the number of actionable insights, conversions, customer saves, and cross-sell opportunities can be quantified to flip that perception on its head. With 71% of consumers more likely to recommend a brand to a family or friend after having a positive interaction on social media, the opportunities for value creation are exponential.
Watch out for part two of our blog series next week as we discuss our second mission-critical objective for achieving legendary social care – leveraging the right SaaS tool across the enterprise.
Speak with our Mocial Media Experts Are you only scratching the surface of what a full-fledged social media customer care strategy can do for your brand? If your teams need help getting started, or are stuck trying to improve high flush rates, low sentiment scores, and long response times, don’t wait.
After all, even social media gurus need help operationalizing legendary. Trust us, we know, our partners include some of the world’s most disruptive brands – even leading social networking companies. Contact us for a quick chat or consultation.
About VXI’s CX Advisory Group At VXI we are passionate about helping our partners rethink, reimagine, and revive traditional customer engagement models. It’s why we offer a team of domain experts who specialize in everything from experience design to digital transformation and program management within the contact center. Our practice leaders are pioneers of the experience economy and have helped leading Fortune 500 brands leverage CX as a competitive advantage and opportunity for ongoing value creation.
