Social Media Tip: Social Media + Customer Care = More Business

Posted on August 30, 2011

by Dave Evans

I’m betting that you’ve gotten at least a start in use of social media for marketing. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading this.

But ask yourself this question: “If some said something really ugly about your product, or were to absolutely rave about your service, what would you do?” More to the point, what you do to ensure less of the former and more of the latter?

Social Media, though often thought of as a “channel” is really more of way of communicating on a broad scale: it involves collaboration and sharing between customers, companies, employees, policy makers…everyone. Narrowed down to business, managing conversations on the social web–by which I mean “understanding and engaging in business processes that drive more of the conversations you want and less of the ones you don’t”–begins by recognizing that the application of social technology reaches across your entire company.

This tip focuses on customer care, and shows you how different approaches to customer service drive very different conversations from the perspective of the customer.

Continental Airlines (now United Airlines), The Teaching Company and Mercedes Benz of Austin staff their respective service departments so that calls are answered promptly. Expedia takes a more economical approach, in line with its elected business model. There are no “rights” or “wrongs” here: All of the brands are leaders in their respective businesses.

However, the actual product or service outputs–expressed in conversations recounting customer service experiences–are different. That difference shows up in recommendations, which of course connects customer service practices right back to marketing. The social web encompasses all, and so as a marketer it’s critical to design and implement your social media programs from that perspective.
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This tip pulled from a longer story from Dave Evans’ ClickZ column.

Dave Evans is the VP of Social Strategy at Social Dynamx, an Austin, TX-based firm involved in the processes that link customer service and the social web. Dave is also the author of best-selling “Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day,” as well as “Social Media Marketing: The Next Generation of Business Engagement.” Dave is a regular columnist for ClickZ, a frequent keynoter and leads social technology and measurement workshops with the American Marketing Association as well as Social Media Executive Seminars, a C-level business training provider.

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