SOCIAL MEDIA
[…] it gives the brand a personality which is comical, relevant and engaging. It’s important to read the situation properly, however as rude or inappropriate responses via social media have been known to destroy brand reputation. This is why it is crucial to have social media brand guidelines that are followed by all staff .”
A Unique Voice
For some brands, however, the human touch delivered by social media is a defi ning feature of their brand personality. Keith White, head of marketing at men’s formal wear retailer Dobell, suggests that the Twitter approach is integral to connecting with their customers. “[…] especially for our brand, having the ability to converse in a friendly, chatty style, via social media, fi ts with what we’re doing. A large proportion of our interactions are with people getting married or attending an important event, so there is a potential to connect with them emotionally over social, and understand their needs.” This kind of immediate human response allows the customer service team to gauge the tone required and respond accordingly.
Figuring out the kind of voice
required for each individual enquiry really puts your customer service ahead of the game. Twitter is really an incomparable way of giving a unique voice to your brand, and this has been utilised to great eff ect by brands such as Tesco and Innocent, and some retailers such as ASOS have their own dedicated “Help” accounts, which are solely focussed on resolving customer issues. The award-nominated #PowwowHELPMEnow campaign, run between conference call solutions provider Powwownow and PHA media, saw the team responding to requests for help with offi ce-based problems across London, resulted in a 26 per cent increase in conversions – proving that great grasp of social media can have a knock-on eff ect cross your brand’s marketing department.
We Would Like To Apologise For…
CONSUMERS HAVE
REALISED THERE’S OFTEN NO FASTER WAY TO RECEIVE A RESPONSE TO YOUR ENQUIRY
THAN DOING IT WHERE EVERYONE CAN SEE.”
On the fl ip side of this heightened consumer interaction however, one important question to ask is: how much is too much? When does customer service go from personable to laughable? In 2016, Omid Kashan, fed up of poor service on his local Metrolink Tram service, created the website
sorryfortheinconvenience.com, which tracks the number of apologies made by UK transport companies on Twitter. The total recorded apologies for 2016 was 515536, which defi nitely doesn’t cast the British public transport service in a good light! In the transport industry, however, which is always plagued by delays, bombarded with complaints and aff ects so many people daily, complaints are an unavoidable side-eff ect. But Kashan suggests that the dedicated Twitter teams dealing with customer complaints help to make this situation more palatable for travellers. “I think in some cases, an apology is off ered as it’s often the thing that the customer is looking for- it’s a human touch in a situation that is otherwise (usually) devoid of human contact […] I don’t think it’s too farfetched to imagine that companies are well aware of this fact and will use it as a tool to close down complaints.” It’s easy to mock the companies
currently sitting at the top of Kashan’s “apology ranking”, but this high volume of responses actually shows an extremely high level of care. Brands who are taking the time to address concerns on-demand, in real time, day in and day out, demonstrate an attention to the consumer experience that all forms of customer service can draw from. For smaller companies, social media off ers the chance to
connect with existing and potential
consumer leads with as much accuracy as larger brands, and
reminding us that you don’t need a huge social media presence or massive budget to show your customers that you care.
33 issue 30 summer 2017
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