The essential guide to mastering support on social media

Let’s be honest. We all know that social media has become an integral part of our everyday lives. Studies have shown that on average, we spend up to 40 minutes a day browsing through different outlets, so it would only make sense that business owners would take these statistics into account. Offering support on social media is a clear must but it’s also important to talk about how to offer support in the right way, particularly when using a third party platform, such as Facebook or Twitter.

If you’re new to this idea, that’s okay! We’ll give you all the go-to essentials you’ll need to provide stellar customer support on social media.

Who are you?

Even in the days of social media, people are still looking for a real human connection.

Whether you prefer a more down to earth approach, or you prefer keeping it professional, it’s important to establish ground rules for language and energy. This is important as each conversation you have with a customer represents your business and leaves an impression. Whatever you decide, be true to yourself and to your brand. People value authenticity and will feel more comfortable chatting with you if they feel you are genuine.

It’s OK to not know the answer

Many business owners fear that lack of information equals being unprofessional. While this might be true to some extent, it’s more important to focus on giving quality support. After all, being human means we don’t know everything. It’s perfectly acceptable to get back to a customer if you’re not sure what to say in the moment. This is a better situation than impulsively giving false information which can lead to further problems.

Don’t be robotic

Some social media platforms such as Facebook offer what is called “canned responses” or “automated replies”. Creating a bank of saved responses is a great way to save you time and make your replies smarter. That being said, one should not abuse this tool as it can make you come across as too robotic. Just like any other browser extension or tool, this should be used within moderation to help you, not as your main method of communication.

Use social media manager tools

With the increase of traffic to your social pages, managing your messages, posts or comments can be a challenge. One way to keep everything organized is by using different social media manager tools that offer you the ability to respond to messages and posts, as well as to schedule content and overall manage your business page all in one place.

Plan ahead

When providing support on social media, it’s extremely important to decide ahead of time which topics you will offer support for. For example, certain topics such as billing are sensitive in nature and would be better discussed over the phone. If you are using a chatbot, you can set up a pop-up message that will let your customers know what topics they can receive information on and avoid unnecessary wait time or confusion. You can include your business’ phone number or email address for questions that might be a bit more tricky.

Be careful with the information you share

While using social media is a great way to communicate with customers, it’s also important to remember that these are all third party platforms. Each company has its own privacy policy and stores information differently, which is something that you as a business owner should be aware of. When chatting with customers, consider adding a disclaimer or privacy policy at the beginning of your conversation to avoid potential legal issues.

When things get heated, move to a private conversation

There are different ways to communicate with your customers on social media. If you do provide support through comments, posts or tweets, these conversations will be public and can be shared with fellow visitors. This is extremely important as certain topics are better off kept private for a variety of reasons. Whether it’s due to confidentiality or diverting potentially negative conversations away from the public eye, your customers’ privacy takes priority.

Ready to put these tips into practice? Wix Answers centralizes and optimizes your social media support!