If you’re a ‘set it and forget it’ kind of social media marketer, recent statistics published on Inc. (via Column Five, survey data from Bazaarvoice) may have you thinking more strongly about getting involved in audience-initiated conversations and reviews.
To cut to the chase, investing in social media customer service support and responding to consumer feedback can have a dramatically positive influence on purchase intent, not just for the consumers you interact with, but also the consumers that later view those interactions.
Following are a few stats to support the importance of responding to your audience:
Shoppers who read brand responses that offer to refund, upgrade, or exchange products are 92% more likely to purchase
Offering refunds, upgrades or exchanges reduces the perceived risk of making a purchase decision.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Invest time in social listening to identify opportunities to provide customer service, and have a plan in place to resolve issues as quickly and directly as possible (you’ll see the benefit of this in the next stat).
Shoppers who see brand responses that provide closure to an issue, versus requiring additional actions, are 27% more likely to purchase
If prospective consumers can be witness to customer service issues through to resolution, it will give them an increased level of confidence that the brand will stand behind and support their products and/or services into the future. It will also give consumers insight into your customer service process, assuring them that if they have any future need for service that they will be well taken care of.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Provide the fastest and most direct customer service solutions possible, even if it costs more at a per-interaction level (of course you will need to calculate real costs and make a proper judgment for your business). This can ultimately yield greater returns by way of increased customer acquisition and reduced human resources required for customer service issues. If you can resolve an issue directly online or on social media and bypass a more traditional customer service phone line, do it.
When brands respond to product misuse with guiding explanations, shoppers who see the review responses are 186% more likely to purchase
Responding to reviews that exhibit common cases of product misuse can reassure otherwise trepidatious prospective customers that the quality of your product is sound.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: Don’t let reviewers who are misusing your product negatively sway the purchase intent of future consumers. Offer those reviewers top-tier customer service to resolve their issues, but also take time to explain how proper use of your product can avoid recurring problems for any prospective consumer that could later be perusing reviews.
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Clearly, there is tremendous opportunity to be had by responding to your customers’ reviews and providing top-tier customer service support, not just for purposes of customer retention, but also for acquisition.
What efforts do you make to set the record straight in negative reviews of your products?
How do you monitor what your customers are saying about your products online and on social media?
Do you have any success stories to share of when responding to a customer complaint yielded a positive result?
Source: http://socialmediatoday.com/rgbsocial/2388001/increase-purchase-intent-through-social-media-responsiveness
