Businesses and brands can benefit hugely from using social media marketing to boost sales, increase engagement, and create brand awareness. With the right content, there are many ways brands can make use of social media platforms. However, many organisations could also consider creating a customer service strategy using social media platforms. Here are our tips for getting started: 

Define your social media platform - offer a dedicated social platform where customers can reach your team and you can answer the most commonly asked questions. Don't spread yourself too thin, start with just one social platform initially so you can help to provide better service for your organisation. You should consider whether you want to keep it within your existing social platform or create a dedicated customer service account. This should align with your social media marketing strategy to ensure you are meeting your objectives. 

HubSpot, for example, have a dedicated Twitter account where they answer any issues or questions relating to their product. 

Define your parameters - promote working hours and how customers can contact you to help to improve the service you can deliver. Consider adding information about your opening hours, how requests can be sent and any information customers can provide when contacting you. 

Waterstones Bookshops, for example, have a dedicated Twitter account and outline their available hours and what they can help customers with. 

Train your team - whether you choose to have a dedicated member of staff who looks after all customer service enquiries or a whole team, ensure you have a schedule in place to manage the process effectively. There is nothing worse than ignoring a customer enquiry, so make sure your team is fully trained and equipped to respond promptly. 

Manage a crisis - you cannot keep everyone happy, however, knowing how to handle a crisis, whether it's a complaint or something that has gone wrong for a customer, will help you manage the customer's expectations and resolve the issue faster. Ensure you have the relevant crisis management procedures in place so you can resolve, escalate a problem and solve to provide great customer service. 

Outsource - social media marketing can be a full-time job. From creating content, generating sales, and engaging with your audience, it can take become difficult to manage internally. Consider outsourcing to our social media marketing agency in London who can manage your social media profiles and provide customer service to your clients.