How to Lead Customer Service Conversations on Social Media ...

Quality customer service starts with careful listening. For brands that effectively service their customers through social media this means using the medium like a telephone, not a megaphone. ?

Adopting the ?telephone? strategy, there are two distinct ways that can guide your brand?s social media and customer service engagement strategy: respond to conversations that are already happening or initiate them. Read below for more details on how to execute each one of those steps:

Step 1 - Respond: What to Say?

There really is no universal, ?right way? to engage and help your community. ?The right type of engagement for your business stems from the goals you set forth for your social media program. ?There are, however, simple comments you can make right away that won?t compromise your brand?s reputation. ?These include:

- Thank You
- We?re sorry
- How can we help?
- We?re listening and we hear you
- Here?s some information..
- Yes or no. And here?s why...

Once you?ve mastered the art of the response, consider creating a content marketing plan to help drive the conversation in the direction that benefits your brand.

Step 2 - Initiate Conversation through Marketing

Sparking meaningful dialogue revolves around content, content, content...and more content. ?Content marketing is the engine that drives the social web - whether it is in the form of videos, blog posts, white papers, or even a social post; and when you produce useful content, you will be more likely to gain, retain, and delight your customers. ?

Your business will enjoy many benefits from developing a cohesive content marketing plan, among them:

• Trust: when your customer realizes you?re not just trying to sell them more product, rather trying to help them, you will build a stronger customer relationship
• Reputation: become a thought leader in your industry by pushing valuable research or opinions
• Web traffic: attract more prospects and customers to your website and improve your SEO results
• Business opportunity: engage with prospects who are educating themselves through your content
• Customer empowerment: enable your repeat customers to become ambassadors of your brand by educating them

The world of social media is overwhelming: billions of users; millions of conversations; countless service strategies to deploy. ?The key is to stay disciplined by carefully choosing which conversations to respond to and how. ?If you?re just getting started, keep it simple with the risk-free responses listed above. ?If you?ve moved beyond responding, spark conversations about your brand with killer marketing content. ?And remember, in a world where social service is becoming the norm, a little engagement is better than nothing at all.

For more in-depth discussion of customer service through social media be sure to download this free ebook and stay tuned to these blog series.

Source: http://blogs.salesforce.com/company/2012/11/how-to-lead-customer-service-conversations-on-social-media.html

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