Social Media First Choice for 1 in 5 Consumers

The public is increasingly turning to social media to voice complaints or have complicated situations resolved, according to new research.

18% of the 1,000 UK adults surveyed said that they would use social media as first preference to complain to a service provider. The same number turn to social media when a complicated problem arises and, perhaps surprisingly, 14% turn to it first in a crisis situation.

Social media would also be first preference for 13% of respondents to request information, and 14% to make a booking. The research also suggested that almost 29% of consumers would move their custom elsewhere if they encountered poor service.

Companies may need to reassess where social media sits within their organisation, moving prime responsibility to the team best equipped to handle customer enquiries – most likely the customer services team, rather than marketing.

With many consumers now perfectly comfortable using the communication channel in a variety of situations, even complicated ones, businesses must take social media seriously or risk a permanently damaged reputation. This means ensuring social media is fully joined up with other contact channels for a seamless customer experience.

“Due to the varied nature of enquiries being presented, we believe that it should be managed predominantly by the customer services function – who are experts in handling multichannel customer enquiries day in day out, rather than the marketing department. But what’s crucial is that customer services and marketing work closely together and not in isolation. Real-time customer feedback must inform and direct marketing communications, therefore it’s alarming to see so many cases of a clear disconnect between these teams,” said Chris Cullen, Head of Sales and Marketing at Echo Managed Services.