Social media is increasingly becoming the next big preferred contact channel regarding customer engagement, feedback and overall experience with a given brand. Leveraging the power that social media engagement and customer data can provide could lead to potentially transformative changes the future of your company’s user experience.

Presenting your brand in a good light via social media is becoming increasingly important to users. Companies are only just beginning to discover the social media gold mine of data, feedback, and vital insights that can help drive more delightful user experiences, relative to both digital and physical experiences. Products, experiences, and services should all be designed utilizing these human-centered approaches, and social media is no exception.

Online reputation is critical for any brand looking to boost user experience, as customers expect increasingly seamless and connected journeys across the board. In today’s era of customer centricity, social media channel teams can no longer exist disjointed from the rest of the organization. Working to create an aligned strategy, voice and brand identity is crucial to remain competitive. Without these connections, your customer experience will suffer.

Which companies are getting it right?

Adobe has a dedicated Twitter account, @AdobeCare, which is their official Customer Care and Support account. In addition to responding to customer service questions and concerns about their products, they post daily tips, tutorials and updates to their followers to ensure more delightful user experiences with Adobe.

Zappos is known for their speed in responding to customer comments and complaints, both positive and negative, in fairly lengthy and oftentimes playful responses to emphasize that Zappos is genuinely invested in their customers as individuals. The company also takes their social media presence a step further, responding not only to mentioned posts, but to plain text posts relative to ‘Zappos’ as well. This shows both loyal and prospective customers that the Zappos brand is proactively considering the importance that social media support plays in the end-to-end user experience. 

Social customer experience statistics heading into 2020

Better serving your users wherever they wish to be served - whether through social media, live chat, phone, e-mail, etc. - can lead to strong growth in customer loyalty, more positive customer engagement, and brand reputation.

According to Microsoft, 74% of millennials report that their perception of a brand improves when it is clear the company responds to customers’ social media inquiries.

Additionally, Microsoft found that 65% of individuals aged 18-24 feel that social media is an effective channel for customer service, while a whopping 75% of people aged 55 and older do not. This vast inconsistency speaks to the ease with which young consumers associate with social media interactions and experiences. This will only continue to grow in importance.

Statista found that 31% of U.S. consumers, and 37% of global consumers, expect a response to social media questions and complaints within 24 hours. Unfortunately, according to Esteban Kolsky’s research findings, “55% of customer requests for service on social media are not acknowledged.”

These disconnects in customer experiences across channels, and within social media in particular, should be considered and designed more meaningfully, as social media can provide great value to your organization from a data and insights standpoint, and from a customer care and support standpoint as well.