How to build customer relationships through social media
Whereas before platforms like MSN, Facebook and Twitter were mainly used by friends and family to keep in touch, multilingual social media is nowadays becoming increasingly important for companies as well. They can help businesses establish themselves as an expert in their field and niche. They can increase their visibility and build good relationships with their followers. The latter is especially important. If you are wondering how to build customer relationships through social media, please find below some
According to a recent study done by Convergys, nearly 75 percent of customers who heard about a bad experience from another customer via social media stopped doing business with the company in question. This shows how important brand image and reputation are, and how vital it is to put effort in customer relationships.
At the same time, social media can be a challenge to companies as they will have to be careful with what to post in order to protect their brand reputation. However, this challenge does not offset the advantages the different social media platforms offer. By implementing social media as part of a total communications strategy, companies are able to communicate and connect with potential customers and stay in touch with their existing contacts. People tend to look for doing business with persons instead of with just a company, and social media allows you to personalize your business.
In order to build customer relationships, it is considered important to regularly monitor all online activity. Make sure to respond quickly to relevant queries and complaints, and update the company profile with interesting news, developments in the industry, and other relevant information. Add to this regularly updating the profile, and you will be building customer relationships and staying in your customers’ top of mind.
The last but not least important advice is keeping an eye on what the public is saying about your company, and responding professionally to it when needed. Whenever you are about to get involved in angry dialogues, think about your online brand reputation and take the conversation offline to avoid any damage to it.
Embrace your customers online and take advantage of the possibilities that social media offers.