Social media platforms dominate the customer service sphere these days, serving as ideal channels for real-time service. However, of all social media channels, none seems to be as conversation-centric and fast-paced as Twitter. Unlike other platforms, Twitter most closely resembles traditional chat but bears additional features which have made it so popular and effective for customer service: hashtags for optimized searches and communication, easy picture and video attachments, and customized settings for scheduling tweets. Other platforms may offer similar features, but one might argue that the rapid nature of Twitter presents a double-edged sword: pressure on agents to respond faster than they might on other channels, yet tremendous opportunity to use Twitter as a super-efficient channel for delivering optimized, real-time service at a minimal cost. Twitter itself has recognized its great success as a customer service tool and further potential, publishing in 2015 a best practices guide for brands to fuel their success on the platform as well as offering new data products and functionality to support brands on their customer service journeys. Here are five distinct ways in which Twitter customer service is revolutionizing the customer experience.Real-time, personalized customer service. Twitter’s real-time nature allows customer service agents to respond as quickly as tweets are received for a highly personalized experience. In addition, some brands choose to manage multiple Twitter accounts to greater service customers, such as accounts specifically designated for customer service inquiries or recommendations. Such brands ensure that customers are directed to the right place without wasting time while giving them opportunities to voice their opinions and be heard.Customer behavior insight and metrics through advanced tools. Social listening tools as well as Twitter’s new suite of data products and functionality provide valuable insight into customer behavior and analytics vital to sales and marketing strategies. Such metrics allow for new sales opportunities as brands are empowered to engage proactively with current and potential customers, analyzing tweets to both better understand customer needs and devise marketing strategies to drive sales. Companies may observe topic trends across tweets, the degree of customer service team responsiveness, and customer behavior to establish best practices for sales and customer service.Proactive problem-solving and marketing strategy. The combination of analytics and real-time interactions enables customer service agents to proactively engage customers. If multiple customers are tweeting about the same technical issue using a common hashtag, for example, analytics will allow companies to track it and resolve the problem proactively as well as monitor products and services to prevent further issues. Brands can also tweet resolutions to problems or make announcements regarding sales, and social listening tools may provide brands with key data regarding what potential customers are looking for. If a Twitter user poses a question about finding a cheap flight to New York, for example, social listening tools can provide such data to an airline’s customer service Twitter account and lead the company toward a potential customer.Enhanced brand visibility. Twitter customer service may magnify a brand’s visibility and is further able to do so at a faster pace than other social media channels to match a rapidly growing user base. McKinsey & Company found that companies using Twitter for customer service may resolve over 95% of cases for the 300 million plus users on the platform. The potential for customer service is therefore rising steadily, with the 2015 Twitter playbook for customer service citing a 68% increase in the number of U.S. adults using Twitter for customer service in 2014.Proven customer satisfaction. According to McKinsey & Company, tweets targeted at major brands’ customer service Twitter accounts have increased 2.5 times over the past two years, with the potential for 97% customer satisfaction. Indeed, 85% of customers who have a positive customer service interaction are likely to recommend a brand to others. According to the Twitter playbook, 83% of customers with a personalized interaction on Twitter were satisfied with their experience, and 77% of customers satisfied with a Twitter customer service interaction were willing to recommend the brand to others. These telling statistics prove once again that the human touch still matters in customer service and can go a long way toward garnering brand advocates (who just may tweet their satisfaction).With its conversational nature, advanced technical features, and ever-growing popularity both inside and outside customer service, Twitter customer service is rapidly transforming the definition of great customer engagement. Learn about the Vocalcom social customer service solution for Twitter.
