Social media networks have become an important platform for connecting with users and have developed into a means of high-impact, worldwide mass communication. Knowing this, brands are migrating their communications to these platforms. “According to Hootsuite’s Social Media Trends Report 2019, there are 3.48 billion active social media users, accounting for 45% of the world’s population,” explains digital marketing expert, Juan Carlos Mejía Llano.
Social media usability should be a part of brands’ positioning strategies. Yusef Hassan, an academic from the University of Granada, defines usability as “the discipline that studies website design to enable user interaction in the easiest, most comfortable, and intuitive way possible.” This also applies to social media networks. The end-goal is to offer users convenience. Brands are increasingly opting for 360° solutions that provide immediate customer service and information to users via social media. Some use cases you may want to consider for your brand:
- Immediate response: Users expect an immediate response to their social media messages, whether they are questions or complaints. An IBM study reported 33% of millennials will only wait one to three minutes for an answer.
To shorten wait times and improve process efficiency, companies can use digital tools such as artificial intelligence and chatbots to speed up their response times.
- Greater accessibility: Demand for immediate responses translates to demand for greater accessibility. Social media enables around-the-clock contact with people and, consequently, users’ expectation for 24-hour access to companies. This is why digital tools are useful to help consistently manage inquiry cases throughout the day.
- Integral and personalized experience: Users want to be heard and receive personalized services. It is the brand’s responsibility to put themselves in their customers’ shoes so they can offer empathetic, humanized, and personalized customer service.
By considering users’ needs and wants, brands can create an emotional connection with them. CRM tools help collect user data so companies can create strategies focused in offering unique experiences to each of their users.
- Foster trust: Communication should encourage trust, which strengthens relationships with users. The key to achieving trust is transparency, as this will position the company as an honest business—a quality highly appreciated by social media users.
Social media undoubtedly operates as an important means of communication in people’s daily lives. Brands should take advantage of these channels to improve their connections with customers and attract new users. These platforms are ideal for reaching their audiences and providing a superior experience, creating reliable customer bases and successfully driving the brand’s positioning.