COM 4110 UCF Social Media Customer Support Service Report

Social Media CustomerSupport Services
Name
Institution
Course
Professor
Credentials
Introduction
• Social media has greatly
impacted customer service
over recent years.
• More than 80% of customers
use Social media in brand
engagement.
• Mobile smartphones have
allowed people to spend more
time on Social media
• It helps to enhance customer
relationships.
• It is used as a marketing,
communication, and
relationship tool.
(Adler, 2014)
Literature Review
• More B2B companies are
embracing Social media in
customer support services.
• This improves customer
relationships, increase
business performance.
• 69% of users admit that
social media for customer
service instills trust in the
brand.
• Customer requests on
Social media guarantee
faster responses.
Pros of this trend
•
Increases customer loyalty.
•
Improves company performance.
•
Increases the level of customer
trust in the company.
•
Companies can offer insights on
their products and services.
•
Grow the level of returning clients.
•
(Moore et al., 2013)
Cons of this trend
• Requires large capital to
establish.
• Forces companies to train
employees.
• Require immense
technical compliance.
• May generate additional
expenses that had not
been anticipated for.
Ways to Improve
• Respond quickly to clients
• Be transparent in responses.
• Always reply to comments
and messages on social
media posts.
• Separate private and public
issues that require
resolution.
• Use a client’s first name
References
Adler, E. (2014). Social Media Engagement: The Surprising Facts About How
Much Time People Spend On The Major Social Networks. Available:
http://www.businessinsider.com/social-media-engagement-statistics-2013- 12?IR=T
Moore, N. J., Hopkins, D. C. Raymond, A. M. (2013). Utilization of
RelationshipOriented Social Media in the Selling Process: A Comparison of
Consumer (B2C) and Industrial (B2B) Salespeople. Journal of Internet Commerce,
(12), 48-75.
Rosemary, R., Neiger, L. B., Hanson, L. C., McKenzie, E. J. (2008). Enhancing
Promotional Strategies Within Social Marketing Programs: Use of Web 2.0 Social
Media. Health Promotion Practice, 9 (4), 338-343.
Senn, C., Thoma, A., and Yip, G., S. (2013). Customer-Centric Leadership: How to
manage Strategic Customer Assets in B2B Markets. California Management
Review, 55(3), 27-59.
Swani, K., Brown, P. B., and Milne, G. R. (2014). Should tweets differ for B2B and B2C?
An analysis of Fortune 500 companies’ Twitter communications. Industrial Marketing
Management, (43), 873-881
Communication 3310: Business and Professional Presentation
Managerial Communication Report
How Social Media is Changing Customer Care
Eram Mahmood Al Balushi
Summary
The term social media refers to the contact and activities between individuals or groups
of people who utilize the internet to exchange ideas. As social media grows in popularity
worldwide, it has a significant and profound impact on young people. Children grow up in a
world dominated by smartphones, computers, and interactive social media platforms like
Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Social media has become an integral part of their lives, not
only for teenagers but also for adults. There are 4 million Internet users in Singapore, which has
5.4 million people. According to statistics, 74% of Singaporeans use social media regularly, with
more than 31% of users between 25 and 34. The popularity of social media sites such as
Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, and LinkedIn has skyrocketed in recent years. The
average millennial spends 2 hours and 58 minutes every day on social media networks like
Facebook. While some maintain that the site is beneficial, others contend that the information
acquired is minor and does not warrant the time spent on social media. The preceding points
make individual use of social media contentious, so many students are asked to write a social
media essay. So, here are some fantastic pointers to assist in composing a social media essay.
Social media has had an immense impact on customer care services. With the days of fax,
telephone, email, and letters being gone, social media is increasingly becoming prominent in
offering customer support and assistance. Research shows that more than 80% of customers use
social media in brand engagement. This means companies that do not invest in social media
customer support are losing big.
MANAGERIAL COMMUNICATION REPORT
How Social Media is Changing Customer Care
Eram Mahmood Al Balushi
Spring 2022
Social media has changed how individuals communicate, share information, and create
content. According to Trainor (2012), social media has increasingly become influential, causing
a significant shift away from passive customers to active participants. This increased prevalence
caused by more access to mobile smartphones means people spend more time on social media.
These changes have prompted companies to reallocate their budgets from traditional media to
online platforms (Rosemary et al., 2008). Companies also use social media as a way of
enhancing solid customer relationships. This includes shifting customer care services to an
online platform where most customers are easily accessible.
Overview
This report will discuss some of the literature on how social media has changed customer
care services, its positive and negative attributes, and ways to improve these services. It will also
highlight the factors affecting this new profitable trend in managerial communication.
Literature on the use of social media in Customer Care
Social Media is a potential marketing, communication, and relationship tool that business
to Customer (b2c) companies have realized its benefits. This recognition led to increased
research studies on the effectiveness of success stories of the ability of social media to enhance
customer engagements and relationships in the b2c contexts and increase brand awareness and
loyalty (Moore et al., 2013). The same can be said in business to business, where marketers are
acknowledging the potential of social media to improve customer relationships and even
branding (Swani et al., 2014). This is significant because customers represent a significant
financial asset for b2b companies (Senn et al., 2013). Using social media to manage customer
relationships has an immense impact on the company’s performance. Customer relationships are
an essential part of the success of any company; hence more companies are investing in social
media to take advantage of this aspect through customer care services.
With more people being present online today, communication between customers and
companies occurs online. For instance, 69% of US residents acknowledged that messaging a
company directly instills more confidence in them about the brand. Additionally, more smallscale businesses today use social media platforms such as Twitter to provide customer service.
Researchers have also found that answering customer complaints on social media can increase
the advocacy of customers by 25%. This prompts more businesses to invest in social media to
attend to these complaints efficiently. Additionally, more customers in the US reported that
sending their customer service requests on social media platforms assured them of a response
from the companies. This has significantly increased their trust and loyalty to these companies.
Customers that use social media to send their customer service requests expect to get a response
from the company within 30 minutes to 4 hours. Future Customer adds that more consumers are
full of higher expectations of the quality of services and products and are active on social media.
This means they expect companies to offer social media customer support.
Pros and Cons of using social media for customer care services
From the literature above, the use of social media to provide customer care services has
had immense benefits for both businesses and customers. Most companies have realized success
by making their customer services available and reachable through different social media
platforms. Another pro is that offering social media customer support can easily indicate trust.
Research depicts that 33% of customers would instead contact a brand through social media than
through a phone, citing convenience and aspects of faith (Adler, 2014). This offers companies
significant opportunities to provide their customers with information they can trust. They can
also use social media to give insights into their products and services. Research shows that 68%
of customers expect their complaints to be resolved within 2 hours. When companies meet these
expectations of customers, they are more likely to establish positive customer relationships and
grow to return loyal customers that will also serve as their brand ambassadors.
Despite the wide range of benefits arising from offering social media customer support,
they have specific cons. This can only be possible if the company is well invested in social
media. To do this, the company must have enough capital and be financially ready to support this
initiative. This may prove difficult and costly for small businesses that are newly established. It
may take such companies longer to invest in social media to enjoy these benefits fully. Using
social media customer support also requires intense use of technology, given the technology
compliance needed when utilizing social media and staying on top of emerging trends in
customer service. Additionally, taking this route will require companies to offer proper training
to their employees to provide excellent services. This may cost the company something that may
not have been in their yearly budget.
Ways to Improve Social Media Customer Support Services
Social media customer support services have proven to transform the trajectory of
businesses by creating trust among the customers, establishing better customer relationships, and
improving the company’s brand image. There are several ways that a company can ensure it gets
the most out of using social media to offer customer care services to its customers. Quick
response is critical, as research has shown that a company will gain 3-20% greater customer
spending per interaction if they offer fast and prompt answers to and resolve customer issues
without redirecting to other channels. This is because customers expect immediate responses
through social media. Companies should also train their employees to respond to clients faster
and more efficiently. This will ensure that all customer requests are addressed as needed.
Second, it is essential to be transparent, and this includes not giving customers false
promises. Fast responses do not always mean you can fix all the customers’ issues as fast.
Enforcing transparency when dealing with customers will help establish a high level of trust
between the brand and the company. This will contribute to the overall customer loyalty that will
reflect on the company’s performance. Companies should explain to customers how long it will
take to resolve their issues, including revealing that they are not sure how long the process will
take. Companies should also understand which social media posts should be determined in public
or private. The customer care team should be able to note the difference and take the most
appropriate action depending on the issue of complaint presented by the client. Using a client’s
first name is very powerful in customer care services. This is because it gives the client a certain
level of connection and assures them that they are not speaking to a robot or a recording.
It is also important to consider tracking the performance of customer services offered
through social media. This will also ensure that the companies can highlight the areas that may
need improvement. This also includes collecting feedback from customers, intending to
understand what they can do better or what needs to be improved in the services offered. It is
also essential to have rules in place to guide the customer support team. This may be in the form
of canned responses that will help save time and advises them on how to direct customers to the
right services that align with their mentioned problems. It may also include providing proper
training to the team on how to respond in a brand-appropriate way on social media.
Giving suitable cases to the right people is another way companies can ensure their social
media customer support addresses the issues presented by customers. In the case of management
handling telephone and email, it is only best to send customers to team members who already
have a connection. It also includes directing clients to the senior team members in case of more
complicated issues. Consequently, companies should respond to customers on the platforms of
their choice. Giving such options to customers will provide them with a sense of control.
Responding to clients on the same channel they reached out to is very crucial to ensure that all
requests are addressed as needed. Investing in technology is fundamental in customer care
services. This will help the team efficiently flag issues and quickly address problems presented
by clients. This includes looking into the brand mentions received on different social media
platforms.
Conclusion
The increased prevalence of use of social media over the years has made it easy for
companies to incorporate customer care services on these platforms. Social media has largely
revolutionized the level and quality of customer care services offered, by means of improved
quality, faster responses, and more personalized solutions to customers. Companies also benefit
from this growing trend through improved brand image, increased customer loyalty, and
improved performance. Social media has evolved into the most popular and significant virtual
region, with the platform serving as an effective tool for digital advertising and social
networking. Another emerging significance of social media due to the epidemic is how it
allowed people to make funny films and participate in social media challenges and events, which
kept them occupied during such challenging times. Social media has made a significant
contribution to the exponential growth and scope. It also serves as a knowledge resource for a
variety of topics. Individuals can learn vital knowledge and stay up to date on world events due
to this. However, there is always a disadvantage to anything with a favorable component.
Consider the significant advantages and disadvantages of social media in today’s contemporary
world.
References
Adler, E. (2014). Social Media Engagement: The Surprising Facts About How Much Time
People Spend On The Major Social Networks. Available:
http://www.businessinsider.com/social-media-engagement-statistics-2013- 12?IR=T
Moore, N. J., Hopkins, D. C. Raymond, A. M. (2013). Utilization of RelationshipOriented Social
Media in the Selling Process: A Comparison of Consumer (B2C) and Industrial (B2B)
Salespeople. Journal of Internet Commerce, (12), 48-75.
Rosemary, R., Neiger, L. B., Hanson, L. C., McKenzie, E. J. (2008). Enhancing Promotional
Strategies Within Social Marketing Programs: Use of Web 2.0 Social Media. Health
Promotion Practice, 9 (4), 338-343.
Senn, C., Thoma, A., and Yip, G., S. (2013). Customer-Centric Leadership: How to manage
Strategic Customer Assets in B2B Markets. California Management Review, 55(3), 27-59.
Swani, K., Brown, P. B., and Milne, G. R. (2014). Should tweets differ for B2B and B2C? An
analysis of Fortune 500 companies’ Twitter communications. Industrial Marketing
Management, (43), 873-881.