What’s in this article:
- A great way to build strong relationships with your customers is through social media
- The latest tips on how to use all your social pages as a way to engage customers
Developing a healthy relationship with your customers doesn’t happen overnight. That’s why you need to put in the effort to nurture them along the way, whether they have been with your company for a day or years. One great way to build that bond is through a platform designed specifically for connections: social media.
With more than 223 million social media users in the United States alone, there’s no denying how popular these online platforms are. Current and potential customers are interacting with brands via sites like Facebook and Instagram. So, you want to make sure your brand is proactively reaching and engaging with this massive audience.
The type of social campaign you run will depend on your brand’s goals and what part of the sales funnel you want to target. But ultimately, you want your campaigns to create and sustain relationships with your audience. Not only is that just good business, but it also creates a better customer experience — something the majority of consumers are willing to pay more for.
Here are four ways you can nurture your customer relationships on social media.
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Respond ASAP!
Gone are the days of simply scheduling photos, videos, or links to social media — and then going about your business. Social channels are no longer meant to simply build brand visibility and grow your brand’s reach. Now, your customers are using these pages as a channel for customer service, and you have a responsibility to respond to them accordingly. Think of your pages as a living, breathing extension of your brand.
Not only do customers want to use your social channel as a mode of customer service, but they also expect your response to be swift, as these stats show:
- 60 percent of customers who complain on social media expect a response within an hour
- Not responding to comments can lead to a 15-percent increase in your churn rate
- 54 percent of customers prefer social media for customer service, compared to a phone or email
While it might seem like it takes more effort to respond to their social media requests quickly, there are benefits for your brand:
- Solving a problem on social media is 83 percent cheaper than solving it through a call center
- Answering their social media complaint can increase customer advocacy by as much as 25 percent
- Customers who receive a response from a brand via Twitter are willing to spend 20 percent more on a product in the future
Treat your social media messages the same way you would other customer service requests. You can even use platforms like Intercom or Drift to put your social messages in with your online service tickets so that you ensure none get missed. Then, either respond or assign their requests to the appropriate team member just like you would any other ticket. This also allows you to use saved responses, saving you time. Just make sure all of your responses have a human touch.
Add Value
One of the best ways to deepen your customer relationships is by giving them something they’ll find useful and valuable. You can do that by creating and sharing educational content on your social media pages. Plus, this type of social campaign will also help your followers who are still in the consideration stage. In fact, 63 percent of businesses say videos give them the best ROI on social media.
For example, you can post how-to videos that show customers how to get the most from your products or services. Go beyond the basics and give them real-life usage tips, like Absolut does in their videos. They create quality videos on how to make a variety of drinks using their vodka.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ohuyc5WxcQ8
You can also share links to blog posts or other tips in your social posts to bring value. Consumers want your help, so don’t make them go searching for it. Put your most useful content front and center. If your posts aren’t helpful and targeted to your audience, they will just keep scrolling.
Engage with Them
Consumers love when brands interact with them, whether it’s through a tweet, comment, or liking a post. So, if they are going out of their way to tag your social media page or share a post about your brand, don’t let the moment pass you by. This is social media gold.
If they share something positive about your brand, thank them for being a customer. And if they have something negative to say, take the time to publicly resolve their issue — don’t just fix it behind the scenes. Your response to a negative post is even more important than on a good one because their followers (and anyone else online) will see if you care about their issue. So, you’re responding for both the current customer and also possible future ones.
Get Personal
Remind your customers that there are people behind your brand with all of your social media posts. That’s going to improve their brand loyalty and encourage more engagement. Do that by crafting posts that sound like a conversation between friends. This is a great way to share (or establish) your brand’s voice. When in doubt, read the post out loud to see how it sounds. If you wouldn’t say it in normal conversation, don’t post it.
Take this Instagram post from The Honest Company for example. It has a fun image to go along with the conversational tone, and it also lets customers know about a way they can save time and money. It packs a lot into a short post, and that’s the goal for social media posts.
Start Nurturing Social Media Customers
Use all of your social pages as a way to engage customers. View it as your direct communication with your targeted audience. Especially now that more people are shopping and interacting online, the power of your social accounts can’t be understated. So, start cultivating those relationships!