Social Media as a Channel to Provide Excellent Customer Service - Ibrands Digital

Social Media as a Channel to Provide Excellent Customer Service

How Digi nailed the corporate social media space.

Social commerce sees a significant rise in Malaysia and the demand for customer services has risen in tandem with consumer demand. Old-school businesses used to handle their customer support services with a toll-free phone number, but many customers are no longer fans of that because of its lengthy and slow response procedure. Instead, people are turning to private messaging and commenting on corporate social media platforms to seek customer care.

Plus, the Malaysian consumers’ mindset is changing.

 

A good relationship with a brand is now more
essential than the product or service being
sold to them. 

 

We are always looking for humanised connections with brands that feel like part of the local community, and this connection is especially important on corporate social media pages. Social media is a convenient and straightforward way to connect with your clients and achieve a good rapport – that is if done right.

What Is Social Media Customer Service?

Social media customer service is a method of providing support through social media channels, like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. It lets businesses meet customers where they are and quickly answer questions, as most users check their social pages more than they answer calls or read emails.

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Social media customer service is triumphing phone-call customer service as it is easier and faster for both consumers and agents.

Social media sites have grown past its role as mere marketing and advertising platforms. Today, they’re acceptable and even regarded as a valid and important channel for consumers to get customer service. Knowing where your consumers are will allow you to allocate time and resources much better. Plus, social media customer service is invaluable because it’s a near-instant chat system.

Providing Great Social Media Customer Service

Today’s customers expect excellent social media customer service from leading brands. We have to understand and accept that the consumer wields the most power over a brand’s image on social media, not the business itself. Neglecting conversations and comments on sites like Facebook and Twitter can have staggering consequences. Convince & Convert reported that not answering a customer complaint on social media lowers consumer loyalty by 50%.

A survey showed Malaysians expect positive and speedy customer service replies from social media, where over 60% of customers think solving an issue fast is the most important part of good support. The best example to show the importance of speedy replies is none other than Xbox Support, where they managed to respond to 5,000 customer support Tweets in an average time of 2 minutes and 42 seconds.

Responsiveness in customer service is the pinnacle of great service and an achievement to be truly proud of.

Digi: A Massively Successful Example of Great Social Media Customer Service.

Digi is a leading telecommunication provider in Malaysia that amassed a significant social media following, at 115k followers on Instagram and 2.4 million likes on their Facebook page. If you manage your own company’s social media page, you’ll know those numbers are humongous, as you’d know too well how painstakingly difficult it is to gain likes and follows as a corporate page.

How did they manage to gain these numbers?

The answer is so simple.

When customers talk to them, they respond. In multiple languages too, might I add (even emoji
language)!

The responsiveness of Digi is apparent in the comments of their Facebook posts. (Screenshots taken from various posts)
Source: Digi Facebook page

Just scrolling through the comments on their Facebook posts, you’ll see so many answered comments, no matter how ridiculous they may seem or how unprofessional a customer may sound. Their impeccable social media management made Digi probably one of the most responsive comment sections we’ve seen on a Malaysian corporate page so far.

Using social media as a tool to promote your brand and keep your brand relevant is one thing. But, listening is equally important, from a support perspective. In social media customer service, “shouting” your brand is not nearly as effective as “listening” to the customers and responding promptly in an empathetic, comprehensive, and useful manner. Adding something of value to the conversation and in the long run, customers will grow to hold a good reputation of your brand.

In Community Management, Digi’s Got the Whole Package.

Apart from the direct customer communication aspect alone, Digi is managing other more indirect forms of communications well too. Mastery in social media management is a great way to develop loyalty and advocacy for your brand, especially with existing customers. Community management should be highly prioritized and conducted effectively for the audience in this market.

Digi’s customer communication comes in many forms, such as:

1. Good, shareable content.

Social media users want to follow pages that provide good quality and interesting content. As a corporate page, we know you can’t help but feel the need to post marketing content which you think will get your message out there. That rarely works. Nobody wants a junk mail version of social media content on their feeds.

Digi gained a following by putting out content that Malaysian consumers can relate to.

 

In the broad and global social media space,
truly Malaysian content that is actually good is
hard to find.

 

By filling this gap, Digi received its well-deserved popularity on social media. To fulfil the customer service aspect, they’ve subtly included all the necessary links in the caption to offer super convenient support and help to customers.

Useful content that is shareable is a great way to get engagement on social media and to gain credibility indirectly.

2. Strong brand identity

When looking at Digi’s Facebook and Instagram pages, it is obvious that the brand has a clear – more importantly, consistent – style guide. Across all of their social media posts, Digi utilises its striking yellow and blue colours that are consistent with its logo. This not only establishes a strong brand identity, but ensures that their content is retained in the minds of consumers.

Digi’s Instagram bio showing consistent branding.

3. Light-hearted content with entertainment value

Digi regularly puts out social media content that is thumb-stopping and chuckle-inducing, which explains the brand’s social media following. An example of this can be seen in their meme posts, which many people would appreciate due to their light-hearted and comical nature. This shows that despite the technical nature of the service offered by Digi, the brand is still able to publish fun content to appeal to consumers and keep the brand name in the back of their minds without hard- selling.

Corporate pages don’t have to always be professional, social media is meant to be fun!
Source: Digi Instagram page

Back To Social Media Customer Service: How Can We Manage It?

Smaller companies may struggle with the manpower to keep up with customer interactions, whereas large companies with high levels of engagement may find it hard to connect with every contact. Nonetheless, here is a very simple guide to help you find that balance.

1.  Keep track of customer interactions

 

How many comments:

i. Sound frustrated at a bad customer experience?

ii. Are technical questions?

iii.Provide feedback, positive or negative?

iv.Can be answered using links to existing content?

v.Benefit from a response?

vi.Are received on each day of the week?

 

2.   Manage Customer Support Volume

 

Corporate pages will see a lot of “noise” on social media platforms, such as mentions or passing remarks that don’t require a response.

i.Sift through the clutter and prioritize comments that do need action

ii.Have a set list of answers for common questions. Try to personalise each message and avoid copy-paste answers or just providing links but no clear

iii.Redirect heated conversation to a private message if

iv.Use AI technology to help if needed, but always remember that human responses carry significantly more

 

3.  Follow-up

 

If agents already have user data tracked, they can reduce back-and-forth questioning and maintain calm and collected professionalism.

i.Has there been a past conversations with this customer?

ii.Who did they interact with, and what was the progress?

iii.Are they facing a repetitive issue?

iv.Have they already tried reaching support through other channels, or was social media their first attempt at contact?

 

4.  Highest Priorities – Issues to Be Resolved Immediately

 

i.Technical questions

ii.Complaints from unhappy users

iii.Issues or service outages that may raise a potential PR crisis

 

5.  Second priorities – To Maintain Proactivity

 

i.Replying to general remarks of your products or services

ii.Thanking those who provided positive feedback

iii.Responding to general comments with some witty

Takeaway: Time is of the essence.
It’s worth restating that response time is critical.

 

Did you know that there are professionals out there who can take over the social media management aspect of your business? Digital marketing agencies like Ibrands Digital can supply this service. Ibrands Digital is a marketing agency located in Penang, but we are more than happy to work remotely with you.



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