Omnichannel brands understand the importance of using social media as a tool for customer service in the modern age, but how many are really listening to what their customers are saying? Many customer service experts would argue that monitoring social media sites superficially is not enough to really gain the critical feedback necessary to strengthening a brand. Rather, many brands are opting to employ social listening tools, or tools which identify and assess the massive amount of unstructured data on the Internet that reflects what is being said about a company and its products or services.The statistics show that social media is clearly a priority for brands, making such monitoring tools more necessary than ever. Social Media Today reports that 83% of B2B marketers invest in social media platforms to increase brand exposure; 69% to increase web traffic; and 65% to gain market insights. Furthermore, Markets and Markets has predicted that global spending on combined social monitoring, mapping, and management tools will rise from $2.2 billion to $17.92 billion by 2019. How can contact centers benefit from such tools?Monitor what customers are saying—consistently. Brands can take a thorough, consistent approach toward social media monitoring by keeping tabs on customers’ feedback across all channels. With social listening tools, companies may closely survey their brand’s reputation and devise strategies to increase brand appeal for greater customer loyalty.Be alerted to problems immediately. Another great benefit is that companies can track problems with their products and services as customers are discussing them online. By being alerted to possible issues as they arise, companies can take a proactive approach to customer service and prevent issues from growing into more serious situations, such as the need for a massive product recall. In addition, such information can be used as valuable insight for future product development.Give real-time customer service. As with any omnichannel brand, monitoring social media to provide better customer service is a must. Companies are able to deliver real-time customer support on all channels with monitoring tools while also using such tools for greater proactive engagement with customers.Devise better marketing strategies. Customers are often made marketing offers online, but do companies check to see if their customers (or potential ones) actually follow up? Social listening tools can be used to keep a close eye on customer responsiveness to brand offers and allow companies to decide which offers are working and which aren’t while gaining important insight into demographics. Brands may decide to make more targeted marketing offers based on the data they receive, and market research can be done to determine the top trends in the industry and see how competitors are reaching out to their customers.Understand the brand from employees’ perspectives. It is often said that happy employees are critical to the success of a company. For this reason, it’s important for companies to monitor and understand what their own employees are saying about the brand online—good or bad. Employees (current or past) can offer valuable insight into what needs to be improved for brand success, and human resources can get a better idea for staffing needs by analyzing the comments employees make online.With social listening tools, companies can take a methodical approach toward understanding their customers’ needs and revitalizing their brands with better customer service, excellent products or services, and proactive marketing and customer engagement. Learn about Vocalcom social customer service software solutions for a stellar customer service experience .
