3 steps to successfully manage customer experience through social media

The presence of brands on social media is a priority area for developing their visibility and reputation with their customers and prospects. However, it is important to manage this visibility by ensuring that you are as close as possible to the expectations of your audience. To do so, you must adapt your messages according to your target audience and the social network used, and above all to provide content that allows you to differentiate yourself. The challenge is to provide the right information at the right time and in the most appropriate form.

To begin with, it is important to define what Customer Experience is: it is a set of emotions and feelings felt by a user before, during, and after the purchase of a product or service. It is the result of all the interactions a customer can have with the brand or company.

Today, we are in an increasingly digital world, so it is essential for brands to have a social presence in order to maintain a relationship with a targeted customer base while remaining attentive to their suggestions/needs and resolving their problems.

The customer’s experience begins by catching their mobile, tablet, or computer at any time of day. There are therefore more and more interactions every day on websites and social networks, hence the importance of these in the attractiveness of a company to its customers.

According to Gartner Predictions 2020, in 2020, 85% of exchanges with a customer will take place without a human intermediary.

How do we respond to customer expectations on social media?

1. Stay tuned

Customers are looking for an ultra-personalized service from the companies they communicate with, i.e. an exchange with a person who quickly understands their needs. The social networks Facebook and Twitter make it possible to meet this requirement quickly and confidentially creating a one-to-one service while maintaining confidentiality through private conversations.

Facebook makes it possible to display a “Very responsive” badge on a brand’s page, showing the public sphere the brand’s commitment to quality customer service. This badge translates into a response rate of 90% of private messages and a response time of fewer than 5 minutes.

A page is not just customer service. This is why it is important to bring it to life with informative, fun, and commercial publications, with at least one publication per day. An abandoned page loses its value and automatically its interaction with Internet users. It is therefore essential to give customers a positive experience by offering brand events, asking questions (continuous improvement, suggestions, etc.) and organizing competitions.

Social networks allow customers to express themselves about the brand, both negatively and positively. The voice of the customer is very important, so it is necessary to respond to all comments/ratings to show the brand’s involvement in customer satisfaction.

The COVID-19 crisis is a prime example of the importance of customer experience on social media. During the crisis, Internet users often only have social networks to communicate with brands on various issues: after-sales service, commercial gestures, orders, information, etc.

2. Analyze the behavior of web users

This recommendation makes it possible to observe the strengths of the brand and the continuous improvements to be made.

Following a product/service launch, we can observe reactions and opinions on social networks. Good or bad, it is important to take them into account in order to subsequently update them to meet customer needs.

To analyze the behavior of Internet users via social networks, here are 4 indicators to monitor with your Analytics accounts:

• “The reach of publications” on social networks is essential. This measure makes it possible to better understand which media are best suited to the distribution of content and which are the targets on each of these networks.
• “The number of posts” on social networks allows you to get to know your Internet users better. The more publications there are, the more material we have to know what the preferences of Internet users are. It is therefore important to have a sustained pace of publication.
• “Total number of followers” and follower profiles: it is preferable to have fewer but qualitative followers, i.e. web users who are active by putting likes, comments, and shares.
• Community engagement measured in clicks on posts, likes, shares, comments, retweets, favorites, etc. This will make it possible to measure the scope of publications and observe the most popular content.

3. Offer one’s customers an incomparable experience

It is important to implement a customer approach strategy specific to each network because social networks are not the same targets, and this for all brands.

Facebook is known for having privileged relationships with its users. Twitter is more aimed at hyper-connected customers (a relatively young clientele). The choice to create a Twitter account, a Facebook page, an Instagram account, etc. depends on the image that the brand wants to convey to its consumers and the nature of the link that it wants to establish with its community.

Today, customers like visual content such as photos and videos. This is why social networks such as Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook (live) are so successful. Internet users want to participate and “feel” the brand. It is therefore recommended to share exclusive content (event preparation, behind-the-scenes filming, etc.). It must be taken into account that today the customer is no longer an ordinary consumer, he wants to participate in the life of the brand. To do this, we must offer “open” content, i.e. ask questions, pose challenges, set up competitions, votes, etc.

Social networks have become an essential tool for brands, in order to create and maintain a link with their customers on a daily basis.

The current context of store closures during the COVID-19 crisis is causing customers to increasingly turn to social media to communicate with their brands. It is therefore all the more essential to properly manage your communication strategy on the networks to maintain an exemplary customer experience.