This article is based on a presentation given by Laureline at our virtual Customer Experience Summit in 2024.
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Some say we’re living in the age of artificial intelligence (AI), some say it’s the age of big data. But if anything, we’re living in the age of social media.
While it’s easy to relegate social media to the domain of marketing, customer experience (CX) and success professionals are seriously missing a trick by ignoring the opportunity social media affords CX.
From understanding the evolution of social media over the last fifteen years to exploring the unique value propositions it offers, I've seen firsthand how leveraging these platforms can enhance customer satisfaction and brand credibility.
In this article, I'll share key strategies and advanced best practices that are essential for building a strong social media support team, effectively utilizing AI, and ultimately creating a more responsive and engaging customer experience. Keep reading to learn about:
- The evolution of social media
- The unique value proposition of social media for customer support
- How to build and improve your social media support team
- What the advanced best practices for social media support are
The evolution of social media
Let’s begin by examining how the social media landscape has evolved over the years, particularly in shaping customer expectations for interacting with brands online.
Pre-2010: Early days of social media
Back in 2010, social media was still in its infancy. Brands were just beginning to establish a presence on major social media platforms. From a customer pain standpoint, social media was primarily used to bring disputes into the public eye, often in a "name and shame" manner.
Customers would publicly call out brands for poor experiences, especially in the realm of customer support.
While this might sound detrimental for brands, it actually presented an opportunity. Brands could step in to resolve issues, demonstrate care for their user base, and own their mistakes in a public forum. At that time, having a social media presence was more of a “nice to have,” serving as a competitive advantage and a differentiator.
The mid-2010s: The rise of social media as a support channel
Fast forward a few years to the mid-2010s, and we saw a shift. By then, most brands had established a presence on social media, with Twitter (X) emerging as the go-to platform for customers to reach out to companies.
During this period, many companies had also implemented self-serve strategies for their support contact centers. Previously, customers could easily find a phone number or email address on a company’s website or via search engines.
However, companies began to introduce support hubs, which guided customers through a series of self-serve options before presenting them with a form, chat, or phone number. This made it slightly more complicated for customers to directly contact support.
As a result, customers who simply wanted to speak with a human started turning to social media to initiate support conversations. It was much easier to find a brand on Twitter, and customers could often expect a faster response than through traditional support channels.
This shift heightened the expectation for social media as a support entry point, and failing to provide quality social media support began to be viewed negatively and as unacceptable by customers.
Today: Social media everywhere
Today, we observe two major trends in the social media landscape.
First, there has been a proliferation of social media platforms. What was once limited to Twitter and Facebook has expanded to include numerous other platforms. However, the more significant change is in the customer mindset: now, every online space where customers can express themselves functions like a social media platform.
Social media is no longer confined to traditional platforms; in essence, everything is social media.
As a result, customers expect brands to meet them wherever they are. This means they not only expect customer support on platforms like Twitter, but also on Reddit, Facebook, LinkedIn, and even in the comments section of press articles on sites like TechCrunch or the New York Times.
They might also expect support in-app reviews on Google Play or the App Store, as well as on peer review sites like Trustpilot or the Better Business Bureau. The list goes on, but the message is clear: brands must be present and monitoring their channels.
Chinelo Diejomaoh
