The Importance of Monitoring Your Social Media

In today’s world, even if your business is only open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., your social media is open 24 hours. This is an important fact to remember when it comes to valuing your customers. Customer service is one of the most important aspects of running a business, so maintaining your online customer service plays a major role in how your business is perceived by customers.

Customers who have bad experiences are more likely to tell their story on social media in order to express their dislike for how they were treated by a brand. A recent example of this is shows just how important this is, as one customer was willing to pay $1,000 to let his displeasure with British Airways be heard.

After the airway had lost his luggage and apparently wasn’t able to track it down, he decided to promote a tweet to the followers of @BritishAirways saying, “Don’t fly @BritishAirways. Their customer service is horrendous.” He would get a response some time later that read as an apology and stated that the British Airways Twitter feed is only open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., to which they received more backlash.

Eventually, the airline issued an apology and the luggage was found. This is a great lesson on how not to handle a crisis through social media. There have also been great examples of brands revitalizing themselves through social media efforts.

The keys to monitoring your company social media are to listen, have timely responses and make sure the customer feels you are going out of your way to make sure their experience is your priority. Are there any strategies you’ve seen to help improve social media customer service? 

Published on: September 24, 2013