Social Trends Survey Finds Care is the New Marketing

This article was originally posted on Sprinklr’s blog.

Social media has completely changed the nature of customer care. As we’ve increasingly seen over the last few years, consumers are harnessing social channels — particularly Twitter — to research products, talk to brands and share opinions.

To understand the social customer care trends we can expect in 2019, Sprinklr and Twitter partnered to analyze millennials’ consumer habits, identify customer care preferences and highlight how social customer care can affect purchase behaviors.

Survey highlights:

Majority of Twitter Users Rely on Social for Customer Care

Customer care is no longer just answering phone calls and transferring people to the right department. Your customers are using social to talk about you, ask for help, and provide feedback — and the onus is on you to hear them and respond.

A majority of millennial Twitter users — 70.67% — say they’ve used social media to comment on the quality of a company’s customer service.

Social Care Directly Impacts Purchase Intent

Care is the new marketing. Today, the way you care for your customers determines what they say about you and if they (and those they talk to) buy from you.

Sixty-seven percent of Twitter users say they’ve decided to purchase a product because of an interaction with a brand on social media. Twitter users are also 11% more likely than users of other social channels to make a purchase based on a brand interaction via social.

Millennials Prefer Social Due to Rapid Response Times

Long wait times, dropped calls, repeating a single problem dozens of times — traditional customer service is frustratingly slow. That’s why customers flock to social media channels seeking a quick response.

Nearly 40% of Twitter users have sent a complaint or comment to a brand via social media because they thought it would elicit a quick response, and nearly 40% also thought other people on social might be able to help them find a quick solution.

What Others Say About You Matters More Than Ever

Customers who dislike your customer service are going to share their experience via social, which can influence the purchase decisions of others.

The bottom line is that poor customer service can, well, harm your bottom line: 73.7% of millennial Twitter users are less likely to buy from a brand that has received negative comments from consumers on social media.

For Millennials, Personalization is Key

As customer expectations continue to grow, personalization is the No. 1 way that brands can improve customer service on social media channels. This is particularly important for Twitter users: 62.48% say increased personalization of responses is the top way brands can improve customer care on social media.

Millennials Expect to Increase Use of Social to Contact Brands

Social is now one of the first touchpoints for customer care; a customer is likely to contact your brand’s social media channels before picking up the phone. This presents brands with the opportunity to rapidly resolve issues and personally connect with customers.

Fifty-nine percent of millennial Twitter users expected to increase their use of social to contact brands with comments or questions.

Your Takeaway? It’s Time to Deliver Effective Social Care

“Building brands with a great reputation is all about working hard to deliver the best care possible,” says Kenny Lee, head of Partner and Demand Marketing at Twitter. “Listening to every brand mention, responding in a timely manner, taking responsibility for issues and communicating proactively with engaging content are all part of a strong care strategy. Brands don’t often have the opportunity to interact with customers in a personal, human way — but with Twitter this connection is possible.”

In 2019, care is the new marketing, and what customers say about a brand matters far more than what a brand says about itself. The challenge (and massive opportunity) is that what a customer says is a direct result of the level of service you provide.

Great service gets rewarded; poor service goes viral. Strong, influential relationships are built on trust, and trust requires a strong social care toolset. Sprinklr’s care solutions enable brands to serve customers across channels at scale, to know who they are, what they’re saying, where
they’re saying it, all within an integratable, collaborative, unified platform.

Methodology

The survey was conducted online by Toluna Group on behalf of Sprinklr in December 2017. The respondents were 1,255 U.S. adults ages 18–34 who all use social media, including 528 who use Twitter. Respondents were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Toluna surveys, and a filter was applied to screen out anyone who didn’t use social media.

About the Author | Jim Tomanchek

Jim Tomanchek is the senior director of business development at Sprinklr.