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Drive Customer Experience with Social Intelligence

With the advent of social media, smart businesses are equipping themselves with social strategies, not just to manage their online reputation, but to provide their customers with world-class customer service in real-time - something to truly write home about.

The internet has become a platform for consumers to express their opinions about products and companies. How important is social media? In a recent survey, How Social Media and Mobile Technology Impact the Customer Experience, Avaya found that 50% of consumers are more likely to buy a product from a company that they can contact via social media. In addition, 56 percent of consumers that actively use social media to interact with businesses feel a stronger connection to that business. Read the full survey here.

INTRODUCTION

Customer service has never been so public - whether it’s good, bad or nonexistent - social media provides customers with a megaphone to broadcast their experiences to the world.

In this ebook we’ll show you 5 ways to use social strategies to drive customer experience:

1 Listen and engage

2 Manage customer relationships with care

3 Use customer feedback to improve and solve problems

4 Learn who your customers really are

5 Reward your brand advocates

Drive Customer Experience with Social Intelligence

1 LIsTeN aND eNgage

Traditionally, if a customer received poor service or if they were unhappy with their product, they would simply walk out of a shop and never look back. Sure, they might complain to friends and relatives, but how far would their complaints really travel? How many times have you waited long periods of time on hold to speak to a customer service representative, and after speaking about your issue, hang up feeling dissatisfied with your service or the outcome?

Social media has transferred the power away from businesses and to consumers. The days of a single source controlling a brand’s reputation are long gone. With social media, consumers now have a public platform to share their voice with the world, and all too often with a negative tone. Consumer complaints which were once hidden behind letters and phone calls, are now on display for the world to see...including potential customers.

But don’t fret, all hope is not lost...there is a silver lining! Do you see it?

Marketers are now armed with real-time, honest consumer insights. By effectively listening to social media, marketing can now seek out these conversations, listen, engage, and develop strong, long lasting relationships with their customers.

2 MaNage CUsTOMeR ReLaTIONshIps wITh CaRe

Community Managers, Web Consultants and Online Customer Service Agents are just a few of the new titles in modern online customer service teams, and are increasingly present in businesses. Trained within the framework of the customer service department, they respond directly to customer requests and problems online.

Social Intelligence platforms help online customer service teams not only discover brand mentions and customer issues in real-time, but also provide a platform for routing customer issues to the appropriate department, to fix the issue at hand.

During the London 2012 Olympics, BT used Synthesio’s tools to track

customer sentiment relating to BT’s position as offcial supplier of Wi-Fi at the Games.The BT team were able to pick up on customer issues that would have otherwise remained unknown to them, due to the fact that while at the Olympic Village, customers would tweet their issues rather than contact call centers.

Drive Customer Experience with Social Intelligence

Connecting social media with CRM platforms and call centers can allow for fluid, connected customer support. Customers are increasingly turning to Twitter for customer service, but there is no way to ensure that they are not given undue priority over customers who are waiting in line for assistance at an airport, for example. When all touch points are connected, customers will be responded to equally no matter which channel they use, and customer service agents will be able to connect the dots between the various touchpoints.

3 Use CUsTOMeR FeeDbaCk TO IMpROve aND sOLve pRObLeMs

Innovative marketers see the value of crowdsourcing ideas, but they must also be able to dive further into the details and read between the lines. Marketers who evaluate the overall state of their unique marketplace through social listening and research will discover a lot more – often the ideas that have yet to be spoken or brought to the table.

Social media listening will uncover raw, unedited, unsolicited opinions about your

products and brand, that will arm you with the intelligence you need to improve products, services and marketing to create better customer experiences.

When Nissan first launched their electric car, the Nissan Leaf, they discovered that many consumers were wary of electric vehicles. The automotive company was determined to understand what was holding people back from switching from petrol, diesel or hybrid to this more environmentally conscious alternative.

Nissan commissioned Synthesio to monitor and analyze consumer conversations and discovered some key barriers to purchase: concerns over battery range and recharging infrastructures, question marks about running costs, and doubts about drive quality. They also discovered that people who experienced driving a Leaf, were much more enthusiastic about electric cars.

Test drives were therefore identified as a key lever for driving positive buzz online. Nissan provided the findings to their creative agencies and asked them to incorporate this new found social intelligence into their brainstorming and key messaging for a significant new marketing campaign promoting the Leaf. They went on to create a multi-market, integrated campaign called “The Big Turn On” – aimed at “turning people on” to the concept of electric vehicles, keeping the Nissan Leaf at front of mind for consumers, and generating appointments for 24 hour test drives.

Drive Customer Experience with Social Intelligence

4 LeaRN whO YOUR CUsTOMeRs ReaLLY aRe

Earlier we addressed how customer service teams can benefit by listening and engaging directly with their customers, but customer centric social strategies go much further than simple engagement. With deep social listening, marketers have access to a worldwide focus group. By analyzing and extracting insights from social conversations, brands can learn who their customers are, what their pains are, and what they really want.

Imagine the value this insight can provide. How do consumers feel about

your brand versus the competition? What are they really looking for in your product? What are their interests beyond your product or service? Do you know their hobbies, likes and dislikes?

By analyzing demographics, you can see who your community is, their location, age, gender, influence and more. With all these insights at your fingertips, you can gain a clear understanding of your customer base and prospects, to provide more targeted

messaging and tailor your products to suit your customer’s needs.

5 RewaRD YOUR bRaND aDvOCaTes

The idea of raving fans is hardly a new topic among customer experience professionals, but in this age of individual empowerment it’s one area that can’t be overlooked. Who wouldn’t love an army of advocates parading around their brand – retweeting content, singing praises on their blogs and raving about their favorite products and services on social media?

Developing advocacy around your brand isn’t going to happen overnight, and it’s not something that can be mass produced. It takes time and effort – and it all starts with building real relationships on an individual basis. Social media has given brands an unprecedented opportunity to seek out and respond to customers, solve problems and develop a true and human connection with their community – in real-time.

Drive Customer Experience with Social Intelligence

Brand advocacy goes beyond relationship building – brands need to continue nurturing their

relationships with their consumers and community to maintain long-lasting, two-way relationships with their advocates. But not all advocates are created equally, some will naturally rise above to the position of influencer.

Influencers are often considered thought leaders in a specific industry or topic. With a large following of people who respect their opinion, these thought leaders can influence public opinion and sway sentiment. According to Technorati’s 2013 Digital Influence Report, bloggers are the third most powerful online influencers of purchase decisions right after

retail sites and brand sites, with 31% of consumers stating that their decision to buy a product had been influenced by something that they previously read in a blog. Social listening will allow you to discover those most influential in your industry, then it’s up to you to connect with them.

CONCLUsION

In conclusion, today’s leading businesses are integrating social into their processes and communications thereby empowering their employees to act on behalf of the brand. Social media has become an imperative part of the overall mix, and more and more companies are injecting social into everything they do, further blurring the lines between marketing and customer service. By listening to customer feedback and building relationships with influencers, brands are able to jump in the driver’s seat and not only control brand messaging, but react and engage in moments of crises and influence brand perception.

abOUT sYNThesIO

Synthesio is a global social media monitoring company helping brands and agencies listen to, understand and engage with consumers worldwide. Synthesio helps clients cut through the social noise, focus on the conversations that matter most to the business, track and measure online reputation, collaborate and engage in real-time, and manage consumer relationships in one single, easy to use platform. By delivering social media data of the highest quality within 200+ countries & 50 languages, clients receive crucial insights into their market’s opinions, wants and needs, to drive real business value. Driving positive business change and building stronger relationships with consumers since 2006.