
Social media customer service best practices
Master social media customer service in 2024! Learn best practices, tools, and tips to deliver fast, tailored, and impactful support across Facebook, Twitter, I...

LiveAgent offers ready-made social media customer service templates to efficiently handle complaints and mentions. Key tips include responding promptly, not deleting negative comments, and knowing when to take conversations offline.
Social media customer service is repetitive — the same questions and requests pop up over and over again. Typing out the same response every time is tiring, time-consuming, and overwhelming routine work that can be avoided by using pre-defined replies. Below are some hands-on tips along with ready-made social media service templates that you can adapt, personalize, and use whenever your customers turn to social media for customer support.
Nearly 70% of complaints made by customers on social media are ignored. Take advantage of social media monitoring tools that make it easier to keep track of all brand mentions, comments, and messages as soon as they appear.
Since social media is seen as an ‘always-on" platform, consumers naturally expect brands to respond as quickly as possible. According to a study by The Social Habit, 42% of consumers expect a response on social media within 60 minutes, and 32% expect a response within 30 minutes.

Deleting a negative comment in order to preserve your virtual image will only further frustrate a complainer and damage the relationship you have with them. The only exception is when comments clearly spam or in violation of posted community guidelines.
Use the right tone of voice that is tailored to match each particular case. Does the customer use casual language and slang? It might be okay to reciprocate. Does the customer sound frustrated? It’s better to use a tone that’s empathetic and reassuring. JetBlue is an example of a brand that does it really well.
In case of mass issues or outages, there is no need to respond to every message as it would be extremely time-consuming and ineffective. When many customers are affected by a single issue, it makes sense to provide only public status updates that will reach everyone.
Not every conversation on social media has to be public. Switching to private messaging works best when you need customer’s personal information (email, order number, etc.), a thorough explanation of the issue to assist them, or if the conversation is getting tense.
67% of consumers use social media networks like Twitter and Facebook to seek resolution for issues, and nearly 70% reported they have used social media for customer service on at least one occasion.
63% of consumers actually expect companies to offer customer service via their social media channels, and 90% of social media users have already used social media as a way to communicate with a brand or business.
When consumers reach out to a brand on social media, 40% expect brands to respond within the first hour, while 79% expect a response in the first 24 hours.
71% of consumers who have had a positive experience with a brand on social media are likely to recommend the brand to their friends and family.
One-third of all customer complaints are never answered, most of them on social media. Answering a complaint increases customer advocacy by 25%, while not answering a complaint decreases customer advocacy by 50%.
77% of Twitter users feel more positive about a brand when their Tweet has been replied to. Companies using Twitter for customer service see a 19% lift in customer satisfaction.
The best way to manage social media customer service is to connect it with your help desk software. As a result, your agents will be able to effectively and efficiently handle all kinds of inquiries from one interface.
In general, companies should aim to engage with and address customer comments on social media, as it demonstrates responsiveness and a commitment to customer satisfaction. However, it's not always possible to respond to every single comment. Companies should prioritize responding to comments that raise valid concerns, require assistance, or present an opportunity for meaningful engagement.
Negative comments from customers can affect the success of your business. If you're a company representative, you should handle negative comments on social media by acknowledging the complaint, providing a solution, and never taking things personally.
Good customer service on social media requires setting clear response times, separating customer service inquiries from regular posts, actively seeking feedback, and addressing customer concerns. Use templates for common queries, integrate chatbots for immediate assistance, and take complex conversations private if needed. Utilize tools such as Hootsuite or LiveAgent to streamline the process and constantly adapt strategies to meet evolving customer expectations. Analyze feedback to continually improve services. Always maintain a professional and personal tone.
Customer care is the provision of services to customers before, during, or after the sale of a product. On the other hand, it can also be a department within a company that is responsible for this.
LiveAgent is the most reviewed and #1 rated ticketing software for small to medium-sized businesses. Try it today with our free 30-day trial. No credit card required.

Master social media customer service in 2024! Learn best practices, tools, and tips to deliver fast, tailored, and impactful support across Facebook, Twitter, I...

LiveAgent's social media help desk integrates with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp, consolidating customer interactions in one inbox. Features includ...

Enhance your customer service emails with LiveAgent's ready-made templates. Save time, reduce errors, and ensure consistent messaging across various scenarios—f...