Customer Service Is A Social Medium

Mr. Sterling has an interesting post up in advance of the C3 conference entitled Social Media Force a ‘Conversation’ Between Marketing and Customer Service. I have been thinking a bit about this in anticipation of the social media advisory service I am helping BIA/Kelsey launch. I was speaking with a client yesterday about their social media efforts. They had started out testing social media channels (primarily Twitter and Facebook) to acquire new customers, but they quickly found that these platforms were much more productive when they focused on interactions with current customers. Twitter became a way to both answer questions quickly and to engage with customers who were unhappy with the service. Facebook became a way to alert customers to new features, promotions, etc.

While these channels have not replaced support emails, customer service phone numbers, etc., they have started to become a much more important part of the mix. And the cost-savings and customer satisfaction that has resulted has been significant.

From Greg’s post:

A simple metaphor is: Who owns the Facebook page?

If it’s marketing exclusively a valuable customer care touchpoint is missed. Indeed, part of a “social media” program should be service; this gives the “campaign” something more to be about than just promotions or “brand messaging.” Collecting feedback and addressing customer concerns and complaints in an authentic way should be as much a part of “social media” strategies as pushing sales and offers.

Greg has put together an incredible lineup for C3 next week. Speakers from Yelp, Groupon, Microsoft, Closely, Cisco, Oodle, MerchantCircle, Praized and a number of other great local focused companies will be there as will I.

Hope to see you there.