Providing customer service via Twitter, Facebook and other social media is one of the first steps savvy companies take. Studies show that about 84% of company social media use is geared toward providing customer service. Which is good and bad. If you're responding to a tweet that was positive about your business, you can respond to that pat on the back with retweets and a "thank you". But if it was a negative tweet, it's hard to turn around that bad situation, and doing so in public on Twitter and Facebook is painful.
Many leading companies now measure not only customer acquisition costs, but also customer loyalty and how much they engage with a brand. Firms that engage customers via social media realize a measurable boost in customer loyalty.
At TalkToTheManager, of course we want you to use our service so that customer complaints don't go public in the first place, but if they do, social media is a great way to address issues after the fact, even though the conversation (and the problem) is public.
Here's an informative infographic from Bluewolf on this new competitive battleground:
Thanks to TechJournal.org for the heads up.