Why is social media important in the customer experience journey?
The world of social media can be a noisy and confusing place. With 57% of the global population (4.55 billion humans) generating a daily cacophony of stories, tweets, TikToks, reels, pins and more, it can be challenging for brands to make sense of it all and show up. But let’s hit mute for a second and start to consider the critical role that social media plays in the CX journey and ultimately sales.
1. GETTING (AND STAYING) AHEAD OF YOUR COMPETITORS
We all know it’s tough out there, staying ahead of your competitors can consistently play on your mind. One major differentiator is your CX, and with social media now playing such a vital role in the lives of customers, a business’ social CX strategy should be seen as a priority.
For many brands, social media is the beginning of their customers’ CX journey and an important part of attracting customers, but it is also integral in creating a seamless omnichannel journey throughout. Research shows that people are willing to pay more and trust a brand (making them repurchase) if they have great experiences, and much more likely to be willing to share their data. Research has also found that as little as one bad interaction with a company is enough to stop many of us from giving them our custom ever again. As society transitions to a service-driven economy where the lifetime value of customers is of primary importance, it might be time to invest to improve your experiences and earn trust.
2. NOWHERE TO HIDE
Consumers are changing their behaviours towards brands on social media. Gone are the days of assuming that all disgruntled customer feedback on social media only occurred after they had exhausted all other means of traditional customer service. No, today’s customers are increasingly using social media at the very start of the customer journey. From requests, and queries to feedback, customers expect a slick and seamless experience from the get-go.
The quality of your social media strategy and management will have a significant impact on your brand perception. We’ve all seen or read about social media PR disasters going viral. Brands can blush and apologise but the damage can take a long time to recover from, if recoverable at all. The risks are even greater for brands operating even regulated industries like financial services, legal, healthcare, or alcohol where regulatory bodies can end up getting involved.
3. ARE YOU LISTENING TO YOUR CUSTOMER?
Digital listening is the process of seeking to understand what is being said about a brand, products, and services by monitoring online channels, unlocking valuable data. Yet some brands are missing a trick and continue to use the channel exclusively to push marketing messages rather than to listen, gather feedback and enhance the customer experience that will help build your business and value.
4. RISK AND REWARD
Yes, it is true that there is nowhere to hide but with risk, comes reward. Brands that successfully integrate social media into their CX journeys are reaping huge benefits. Recent research shows that customers are likely to spend 20-40x more with brands that respond to customer service requests on social media. When you compare that with brands who are not responding to customers on social media, you’re looking at a -15% swing in the opposite direction. With stats like these, it is hard to ignore or understate the powerful role that social media plays in the customer journey.
For brands, however, the challenge of getting the social media customer experience “right” is not insignificant. Knowing how to best deploy or build a brand through social media, the long-term investment required, how to generate meaningful content and engagement, the differing customer engagement expectations across platforms, the customer care response times, the complicated workflows, the technology, and the specialist team required to manage them and so on and so forth. Finding answers to all those questions can seem daunting.
As the old saying goes, the secret to getting ahead is getting started. To help you get started we’re offering brands a free session on their social media channels, to help brands identify immediate opportunities for improving their CX and performance of their social media efforts.
Interested? Let’s get a quick chat booked in.
CHAT TO US
Contact Owen Farrington, Managing Partner - Head of Digital
owen.farrington@krowgroup.com
