How Can You Use Social Media To Show Customers You Care?

February 21, 2011 / in Social Media / by Mic Johnson

Let me start this post by THANKING YOU for taking a little time out of your day to read the Blue Gurus blog. I can assure you that Jason and I truly appreciate your continued support and encouragement.

Ok, now on to the post…

I’m going to make an assumption about you. I am willing to bet that you are a fan of GREAT customer service. Now I want you to think about the absolute best customer service experience you’ve had recently. Did it make you happy? Did you tell a lot of people about it? Did it impact the way you felt about that company? Did it impact the likelihood that you would buy from them again?

Now let me ask you what is one of the core components that it a part of EVERY single great customer service experience?

My answer? CARING.

During that great customer service experience, someone took the time to let you know that you were important, that they cared enough to take the time to listen, that they wanted to help you with a problem, that they were going to upgrade a service for you, etc.

So when it comes to social media, what can you and your organization do to show your customers (and potential customers) you care? Here are just a few recommendations to get you started:

-FACEBOOK: When someone posts a comment to your company Facebook page (positive or negative), be sure to respond as soon as possible. It shows you’re listening. How can you make sure you do it every single time? My previous blog post on Hyper Alerts makes it super easy. If you have a company Facebook page, Hyper Alerts is a MUST.

(NOTE: Facebook is rolling out new changes to all “Pages” (also known as Fan Pages) on March 1st. One of those changes is a notification email that is sent when someone posts to your fan page. As of now, we still prefer Hyper Alerts because you can choose the frequency of receiving updates and the original post and subsequent comments are all emailed to you (Facebook only emails the comment; not the original post.)

-BLOGGING: Share the stories that happen every day in your business. New products, new services, employee bios, customer success stories, things you are doing in the community, and on and on. All of those things communicate your company culture and brand and make customers feel good about who they are doing business with. And again, if someone takes the time to comment on your blog, respond back to them as soon as possible.

-LINKEDIN: Pay attention to what is going on in your LinkedIn network. Did someone just land a new job? Did a business just launch a new product or receive an award? Did someone get promoted? Did someone post a link to article that you found interesting or helpful? If you see any of these things happening, take a minute to say “Thank You” or “Congratulations” or whatever the case may be. Even just hitting the  “LIKE” button lets them know you are listening.

Have examples of how you or your business have used social media to let your customers know you care? Tell us about them and we may just use them in a future blog post!