Not long ago, customers called a business, submitted a ticket,  or went to the brick-and-mortar location when they had issues or questions, and the idea of social media customer service didn't even exist.

Now it's the main channel for most customers to communicate with a business or brand, and it's something you can not afford to ignore.

According to Conversocial, 95.6% of consumers are affected by other comments on a brand's social pages - so, that's pretty much everyone.

Check out the video or podcast above. Subscribe to our weekly live stream on Facebook, or take it on the go with a podcast on your platforms’ choice. Keep up-to-date on news, trends, and tips in digital marketing and join in on the conversation.
What's New?
Online communication has been growing for years now, but 2020 accelerated the shift to digital and the need for social media customer service.

Over the past 6 months, if your business has not been online or actively engaging on social, well, you're probably not open anymore, unfortunately.

So much has changed, including how we communicate, the way we shop, and even what we expect from brands.
What's Working?
So, how do you provide excellent social media customer service?  Chatbots, responding to reviews, and engaging with posts and comments on social media are some excellent places to start.

Ultimately, you want to be present and active.

In a world where instant gratification has become the norm, timeliness is incredibly important. If you're not available to respond to customers within a reasonable time frame, they will go somewhere else - most likely, one of your competitors.

As you can see from the chart above, half of all customers will boycott a brand for inadequate social media responses. That's how important social media customer service is.

Just as importantly, nearly half of all customers will share their bad experiences, both online and offline. We've mentioned before how powerful word-of-mouth can be, and it is worth repeating.

People are far more likely to listen to a friend's opinion or any old stranger online than they are to anything a brand has to say.

Even if you're already in the social media game, this small infographic below makes us think we could all be doing a bit better, maybe?

That 80% of companies claiming to deliver exceptional social media customer service versus the 8% of their customers that agree tells a very eye-opening story.

Apparently patting ourselves on the back doesn't deliver results at all.

OK. Let's dig into those 12 reasons you need social media customer service.
#1 Understand your Community's Voice
Get involved in conversations that your customers are interested in, and pay attention to what they're saying and what they're responding too.

Take the time to understand your brand's tone of voice, so your customers have a consistent experience when engaging with your business - and add this as part of your strategy.

Doing this will help you understand the right tone of voice to connect with your audience and show you what interests your customers and motivates them to engage on social media.

This information can help you determine where your focus should be by looking at how many:

* Comments were written in frustration after a bad experience.
* Questions are technical or account-specific questions.
* Provide feedback, whether positive or negative.
* Can be resolved using existing links to FAQ or help sections.

It can also help determine what time of day your ...