Responding to Social Media Inquiries (Digital Friday/Process)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing.  Today is Digital Friday and we are going to talk about how to avoid a social media pitfall.

There is an emerging customer experience concern arising throughout all forms of social media.  Businesses are developing social media inbound marketing campaigns, creating content and pushing it out.  As a result, inquiries come in via Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn from people who are interested in that content.  The problem is many businesses are not responding to these inquiries.

Consider the implications.  Your goal is to create awareness and generate excitement about your product.  Then you let customers or potential customers down by not responding to their inquiries.  It’s critical to create a system so you can respond to your customers.

First, create a process to collect all the inquiries and ensure you capture everything that comes in.  Two, respond, make sure you reply to everyone who has taken the time to contact you.  I don’t recommend auto-reply.  I believe each response should be personalized and you or someone else in your company directly engages that customer.

Next, follow-up promptly.  Responses should be immediate if possible, for the best customer experience.  Example:  If someone is shopping, has a question about your product in that store and sends an inquiry, responding instantly would create a great impression in the mind of that customer.

Lastly, leverage this type of interaction to build relationships because it is going to lead to increased opportunities for sales in the future.

Personally taking the time to respond to inquiries as quickly as possible is an opportunity for you to really distinguish your brand in the minds of your customers.  Remember, it’s equally important to respond to comments that are negative as well.

If you are conducting an inbound marketing campaign, ensure responding to the inbound inquires 100% of the time is a priority.  You may not always be able to achieve that, but that should be your goal.

Thanks for tuning in to Digital Friday.  Join us next week for Smart Monday.  To discuss an online or face to face service engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com.  I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing and we’ll see you next time.