Running a business in today’s digital age means letting go of many traditional, outdated marketing practices. Gone are the days of handing out flyers and only putting advertisements up on billboards. The internet, social media more specifically, allows for more convenient and quicker methods of reaching new audiences and marketing your product. And it’s even become the environment to deliver quality customer service. Here are some important DOs and DON’TS of social media customer service.
DOs
1. Do stay consistent with your brand personality
Understand your business, your competitors, and your target audience. By knowing your industry, you can effectively attract the market that you know would be interested in your brand – allowing you to craft a profile that gets the proper attention. More importantly, it shapes your brand personality, which helps define your brand voice and tone. When responding to customers’ requests, inquiries, comments, and feedback, be consistent about your brand voice and tone – which may be drastically different from the way you personally communicate.
2. Do maintain a strong and active social media presence
Consistent and constant activity on your social media profile is a good sign for customers; it helps assure them that your business is passionate and always ready to serve. It also serves as a constant advertisement for your business. Staying active on social media platforms also helps you beat the algorithm and keep you appearing on your followers’ feeds.
3. Do respond quickly and professionally
Your response time and attitude are very important. Be quick to respond, whether it be a DM or a comment on one of your social media posts. You shouldn’t keep potential customers waiting. People can be impatient and quickly move to your competitor if you don’t respond soon enough.
Answer both positive and negative comments with grace and professionalism. It would be best if you also didn’t let negative comments fester and scare away those who are interested. Ignoring bad comments can lead to misunderstanding. And even your supporters may be led to believe that the bad reviews are true.
DON’TS
1. Don’t forget proper grammar and etiquette
Avoid unprofessional responses, which include slang, misspellings, and grammatical errors. These will ruin your brand’s image and are likely not consistent with your brand personality, voice, and tone. Using abbreviations or text speak will come off as childish and lazy. While humor may be part of your brand personality, remember to always be respectful. If you are dealing with a negative comment, use wit and avoid triggering a conflict.
2. Don’t fail to personalize and be specific
Avoid copying a default response from another brand, particularly if it is from a competitor. As much as possible, craft unique replies, even if you’re using AI or a chatbot. And once you’re the one chatting or messaging with a customer, be specific with your answers and address them by name whenever possible. Don’t use generalized or generic responses that won’t help them solve their problem.
3. Don’t lose your cool
It’s easy to get frustrated with an angry customer, especially when they start to hurl insults or troll all your posts. And it will be tempting to fight back. However, losing your cool, especially on a public platform such as social media, will only hurt you and your brand. Remember that even messages exchanged via the platform’s inbox or DM can be captured via screenshots and shared online. So keep your cool and always practice professionalism. Later, if the situation escalates, you can take screenshots of your own and prove a customer’s toxic behavior.
