Social media customer service might seem like a terrifying, risky & even foolhardy prospect to many businesses on the surface, and there's a good reason for it.
Usually, people will reach out to your brand on social media if they have a problem or a concern with your brand or products.
If you end up in a bad or a poorly received public exchange, it could then turn public opinion against your company, and you will end up losing customers.
But the opposite scenario is equally real & has an even bigger potential.
If you can handle a customer issue on social and generate a positive customer sentiment, you can gain new customers and garner more interest in your brand.
And this is not just an empty statement. There are many well-known brands that are time & time again known for providing outstanding social media customer service.
In this post, we'll look at some amazing social media customer service examples & what makes them great at social customer service.
Starbucks - Just A Sip Away
Along with the infamous Pumpkin Spice Latte & Chai Tea, Starbucks is one such name that goes synonymous with excellent social customer service.
Starbucks was one of the first companies to truly embrace the concept of social customer service, and they have been at it since then. The company has perfectly embodied its motto of being modern, hip & empathetic in their social customer service strategy.
The company takes all customer complaints, feedback & queries seriously and is very quick in responding.
Their social media team is highly regarded for their quick & courteous responses, making it easy for customers to ask questions about store offers, drink menus, etc. & even raise complaints as well.
Even though they're a huge company, the company still prioritizes customer feedback & even has a dedicated website.
This open communication results in higher customer engagement and gives them valuable feedback to improve their drinks and services.
What We Can Learn From Starbucks
Starbucks is an excellent example of giving customers what they want before they complain about it. The company goes beyond solving problems & knows how to keep making their customers come back for more.
Netflix - And Chill?
Netflix is one of my favorite brands to follow on social media. The company has a stellar record of providing excellent customer service & customer interactions.
The company is super attentive and responsive when anyone reaches out to them with queries or concerns. And that's not it.
Their social team refrains from using the standard corporate language and knows how to speak in their customer's language.
Since social media is famous for sharing micro-entertainment stuff such as jokes, memes, etc., their social media engagement strategy is built around it.
Netflix and chill? No, really. pic.twitter.com/ezcZ7V0peN
— Netflix (@netflix) July 22, 2015
The result? Whenever Netflix responds with something funny or witty, the audience re-Tweet it, re-share it, making the company appeal even more.
What We Can Learn From Netflix
Netflix has struck a great balance where customers always feel they are at the center of the conversation, yet Netflix is the one that gets all the praises at the end.
Their approach of being witty, humoristic & clever might not work for every brand. Still, it has helped Netflix become a benchmark for customer-centric social media customer service.
Spotify : Not Just Great In Streaming
Spotify is one of the very few brands that has won an award (a Webbys) for its excellent social media customer support.
The company has a dedicated customer support handle on Twitter, which quickly jumps to rescue if a customer complains on Twiter.
And that's not it. After solving a customer problem, the Spotify Cares team sometimes includes a link to an appropriate song, ensuring the exchange with the customer ends on a positive & cheerful note.
Thanks. We'll get this reported. Great detective work! https://t.co/h4RjvZivok /SZ
— SpotifyCares (@SpotifyCares) August 21, 2019
What We Can Learn From Spotify
We often emphasize the fact that you can always turn around a conversation with a negative sentiment into a positive one.
Spotify excels at this but only since they are pretty responsive & quick. This gives Spotify leverage to steer the exchange positively after solving the customer's issue.
Nike: A True Powerhouse
Nike is an all-out powerhouse when it comes to social media. The brand is not only good at marketing on social but excels at social customer service as well.
Their customer service account on Twitter (@NikeService) offer support seven days a week and in seven languages (English, French, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Japanese & German).
Whenever a customer mentions Nike's primary Twitter handle or complains about Nike products & services, @NikeService quickly jumps in to resolve customer queries.
The company also prefers taking customer complaints to a private medium such as Twitter DMs.
Their social team is exceptionally patient and ensures the customer feels heard & the issue is resolved as quickly as possible.
What We Can Learn From Nike
A nasty public exchange with an angry or frustrated customer can put your brand in s lousy limelight. Steering the conversation to a more private medium avoids a public fallout & lets you help the customer is the best way possible.
Also, ensuring every customer feels cared for should be a key priority of your social media customer service strategy.
TakeAway
You might be tempted to think that only these big brands can afford to dedicate time & resources for providing dedicated support, but that is not the case.
Setting up a smart social customer service strategy would allow you to do the same as well.
If you're starting, native tools such as Tweetdeck or Facebook Creator Studio would be enough to provide social support.
But if you're scaling up & need much more than what the native tools offer, i'd generally recommend Statusbrew.
Statusbrew's Social Customer Care tools make all your customer interactions seamless, personal, and efficient. All your conversations from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTuber, LinkedIn, GMB are synced & available in a unified inbox.
You can quickly reply to all your conversations with your team & even automate it. You are also able to calculate the ROI of your social support efforts with in-depth Engagement & Team reports.
Try Statusbrew for yourself, or book a free demo with us to understand how Statusbrew can work for your business.
If you have a favorite brand that does social media customer service well, let us know in the comment section below.
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