Why Social Care is Increasingly Important

Social Care – or customer service on social media – is becoming increasingly popular, and the numbers show that it is equally important.

Today, roughly 1 in 3 online adults prefers to engage in Social Care with a brand than to reach out through conventional customer service channels (i.e. phone).

Conventional customer service is time consuming. For the brand, it is an expensive practice that we have learned to accept. For the customer, it can sometimes be difficult or a nuisance. In fact, 48% – nearly half – of consumers say that they will leave a company website if they do not receive proper assistance.

With these numbers in mind, it is hard to deny that Social Care is an important feature to include in your social media strategy. Below are a few of the reasons why Social Care is increasingly important to offer to your customers.

People Want It

In an age where critics point out that face-to-face communication is diminishing, there is no proof more clear than the preferences of consumers. Over one third of consumers would prefer to tweet a brand than to sit on the phone and wait for a call to be answered. What’s more, people want their issues addressed right away.

Studies show that a shocking 71% of consumers want their issues addressed within 5 minutes of reaching a company. When you are dealing with conventional forms of customer service, achieving those goals can become expensive. But it can be detrimental if a brand ignores it; 92% of consumers have left a brand because of poor customer service. Though it may seem like consumers prefer robots, they still want to be treated like a human. A respected customer is a happy customer.

It’s Good for Business

Here are the real reasons why Social Care is so important. When people get what they want, they spend more and stay loyal.

As noted above, nearly half of your site visitors will leave if they cannot get the information or assistance they are looking for. On they other hand, people who receive strong customer service on social media spend, on average, 21% more. That’s a major difference!

Customers who receive good social media service also recommend your brand to others. Over 70% of customers, in fact, will recommend a brand based on the good service they have received.

With a good Social Care program in place, everybody wins. A respected customer is a happy customer, and a happy customer is a loyal customer, and loyal customers keep us in business!

Do you engage in Social Care? How has it worked for you? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!