The Power of Social Media for Customer Service

Did you know that over 56% of consumers would rather send an instant message than call customer service?  Utilizing Facebook Messenger as a customer support channel is beneficial for both the consumer and the producer.  It allows customers to go about their day freely, rather than being placed on hold for an hour or longer.   Using Facebook Messenger as a support channel is also convenient and efficient for business owners.  Messenger allows you to create automated yet personalized responses.  Facebook Messenger even allows you to configure a response time.  This allows company pages to respond in a prompt time frame.

Facebook Messenger and Response Time

59% of Americans with accounts have found that seeking customer service through social media has made the process easy and rapidly.  Facebook users efficiently get their questions answered and their issues resolved.  You may not be aware, but there’s a direct correlation between your response time and your sales.  In 2018, people are no longer obligated to wait by the phone for customer service to call them back. Their resources are no longer limited.  If you don’t respond in a timely manner, you’re pushing a potential client to look elsewhere.  In your “about” section on your business Facebook account, Facebook displays your average response time.   Would you feel obligated to initiate a conversation with a company that’s notorious for their delayed response time?  Put yourself in the clients’ shoes and act accordingly.  People appreciate agility.

Optimizing Your Social Media Profiles

What does your business profile on social media look like?  Are there a lot of blank spaces or is it sparse with information?  When customers see gaps, they will fill them in themselves.  You don’t want potential clients drawing conclusions because you didn’t fill out your “About” section on Facebook.  Facebook is very user friendly – they pretty much do all the work for you. All it takes are a few keystrokes to set up a profile.  Social media users are very tech-savvy, and they will be able to find your information quickly.  Setting up a social media profile is almost effortless.  It takes less than five minutes to set up a profile and it literally pays off.  Potential clients want to feel like they can trust you before they strike a deal with you.  In a sense, they want to feel like they know you through your social media account.

What Social Media Does For Your Website’s SEO

Aside from customer service, social media has the power to boost your company’s SEO.  You should start by including a link to your website in your posts.  This is incredibly beneficial for SEO purposes.  Don’t be that company with a “bare bones” social media page.  Not only does it reflect badly on your business, but it also decreases both the quality and the amount of traffic you get on your page.  Using relevant keywords on your social media page is also extremely beneficial for SEO.  Better keywords bring your website closer to the top of the list of search engine results.    Ideally, your website should be as close to the top as possible.  Most internet users aren’t going to skim through 10 pages of search engine results.  We love that convenience.  They want to put in the least amount of effort as possible.

The Purpose of Hashtags

Have you used hashtags before?  Do you know how to use hashtags?  Do you know why hashtags are important?  It’s very important to remember that hashtags are a robust research tool.  They’re capable of bringing a lot of quality traffic to your business page.  However, you must use them in the correct way.  Google, Yahoo, and Bing use and index hashtags.  Google now lets you search for a specific hashtag.  They offer search results and they also link you to that specific hashtags feed on various social networks.  Using Relevant hashtags and properly placing them provides potential clients another way to search and discover your business.  You also need to be weary of using overly used hashtags.  Popularity is a good thing, but not when there are literally thousands of people creating a post and using the same exact hashtags you are at the same moment.  You also need to make sure you’re switching up your lineup of hashtags, using the same hashtags repeatedly will lead to having your posts marked as “spammy”.  You want your hashtags to increase your odds of being discovered, not send you into a blackhole of spam on a social media page.

Social Media Is Your New Customer Service Tool

Let’s summarize what we’ve learned.  Firstly , if you want to increase your odds of making a sale you NEED to respond to potential clients in a timely manner.  How you chose to do that is up to you, but if you’re busy individual, it’s best to configure an automated response through Facebook Messsanger.  Secondly, make your businesses social media page as informative as possible by leaving as few blank spaces as possible.  Lastly, #hashtags!  They’re so easy to use, they’re one of the best discovery tools the internet has come out with.

Now that you know how to use social media for customer service.  Still need help or assistance?  Faceless Marketing is your “go-to” marketing firm that you can depend on to give you the best results and greatest return on investment (ROI).  Reach out to Faceless Marketing to grow your business online.  Call 800-357-1299 or shoot us a message us here.