How to use social media as a customer service channel

More and more businesses are using social media as a channel to provide better customer service. Find out how companies can use social media to deliver a better customer experience with this infographic:

How Customers and Companies Interact Using Social Media
Customers typically post the following types of posts on social media when engaging with a brand:

Service inquiries
Product inquiries
Technical inquiries
Sales inquiries
Technical support
Complaints
Companies typically post the following types of posts on social media:

Service and product information
Service and product status updates
Technical information updates
Special offers or promotions/sales
Follow up on inquiries by customers
Critical incidents

Customers use social media to communicate with other customers on the following topics:

Service and product information
Resolving a service inquiry
Fixing a product problem
Purchase advice

Customer Engagement on Social Media
The top three factors driving customer engagement with social media:

Emotional experience during an interaction
Level of resolution achieved
Degree of effort expended in interaction

Social Media as a Customer Service Channel
The average first contact resolution rate (FCR) based on customer service channel:

Live agent on the phone: 71%
Web self-service: 67%
Social media: 61%
Web chat: 59%
Text: 59%
IVR: 59%
Letter: 57%
Email: 55%
Fax: 48%
The first contact resolution rate of 61% using social media not optimal.

Using Social Media for Inbound Customer Service
25% of companies use social media as a customer service channel.
8% of customers have used social media for customer service.
This is a 100% increase from the previous year, which was 4%.

Using Social Media for Customer Service and to Drive Customer Engagement
7% of customers have received a response to their inquiry via social media.
5% of customers have received essential information about a company via social media.
14% of customers have received product and promotional information about a company via social media.

Social Media Challenges Companies Face

The greatest challenges companies face when using social media are:

Hiring and training social media experts
Defining and adhering to a social media strategy
Generating content that engages customers
Resolving customer issues via social media quickly and effectively
Effectively monitoring and tracking analytics
Adhering to risk management and reduction procedures