August 27, 2013

Who Are the Most Socially Devoted Companies on Social Media?

Social media has turned the customer service sector upside down. While in the past customers picked up the phone to speak to a customer service representative, today’s 21st century customer takes to social media platforms to blast their service providers when frustrated.

In fact, close to 57 percent of customers will take matters into their own hands over social media before taking any further action. Moreover, according to a 2012 Accenture Global Consumer Survey, one in five consumers switched providers in 2012, with 67 percent describing a customer service issue as their reason for leaving.

For companies that slack in regards to service, an angry customer can be an absolute nightmare. Rage-induced rants can been seen, read and shared by millions of users. However, all hope isn’t lost, as some companies have made it their duty to be socially devoted to customers – and this strategy is paying off. 

Recently, Socialbakers released its “Social Customer Care” report for the second quarter of 2013, which highlighted the most socially devoted companies based on three pieces of criteria. This included maintaining a dialogue with followers, responding to at least 65 percent of questions received and responding to followers in a timely fashion.

While the telecom sector took the top spot last year coming in at 37.3 percent, this year’s recipient of “the most responsive award” goes to the airline sector coming in at 52.6 percent, followed by finance with 41.7 percent and telecommunication with 35.9 percent. In terms of individual companies, Tesco came in at number one, followed by Virgin Media, Vodafone and American Airlines. With the exception of American Airlines, the top companies were all UK brands.

“Companies on Twitter had a bit more of a struggle this quarter coping with the increase in questions, clearly showing the need for more resources in social care,” noted Socialbakers CEO Jan Rezab.”You must be where your consumers are!”

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves: currently, 80 percent of Twitter users expect a response to a customer service question within a day. However, just 40 percent of tweets aimed at the 25 largest online retailers are answered within this timeframe. Therefore, it’s critical for companies to step up their social customer service game for fear of losing not only customers, but also damaging their good reputation.




Edited by Brooke Neuman




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