I am going to presume that the last time you looked at your smart phone it wasn’t to check for a missed call or text.

Most likely you were checking one or more of your social media outlets: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, etc.

Companies these days are astute to their consumers daily habits and thanks to companies like Facebook, they perhaps know even more about their likes, dislikes an such.

Studies in the past year have show 72% of all internet users are now active on social media and it’s not just the young people:

•     Age 18-29 year olds have an 89% usage

•     Age 30-49 bracket sits at 72%

•     60 percent of 50 to 60 year olds are active on social media

•     In the 65 plus bracket, 43% are using social media

I’ll never forget in 2011 the time my former, social media savvy boss sent me a text regarding a customer complaint. Since I was the customer communication specialist for the company, I was surprised the customer didn’t contact me or our office.   I thought, what complaint? I checked the email, voicemail messages, etc.  She explained that an alert/word search she had set up on her Twitter account brought the tweet to her attention. When she glanced at the customer post she noticed the issue.

Sometimes customers don’t want to hassle with calling or emailing out of fear they will be ignored, run into conflict or have their time wasted.  It becomes much easier for them to complain or vent on social media platforms.

After getting her information from twitter post I contacted her.  Or I freaked her out. She seemed surprised when I called regarding the issue. Nevertheless, the issue was quickly resolved and to add we fostered a new and improved customer relationship!

Social Media Contact Produces Results

• Of the 68% who were contacted following a negative social media posting,
• 34% deleted their original negative review
• Another 33% turned around and posted a positive review
• And 18% became a loyal customer and bought more customers.

These figures mean that 85% of customers who posted a negative review of a shopping experience and were then contacted by the retailer wound up taking an action that was positive for the retailer.

Two-thirds (67%) of them took an action through social media directly negating their original negative posting.  All equating to customer retention!

Social Media Statistics

Here are some quick facts showing the tremendous role of social media in today’s business world, as per 2013 Social Media Marketing Industry Report:

1. A significant 86% of marketers said that social media was important to their businesses.
2. By spending as little as 6 hours per week, 64%+ of marketers see lead generation benefits with social media.
3. 75% of marketers reporting positive results in terms of traffic increase as one of the major benefits of social media.
4. A significant 89% of all businesses that have a dedicated social media platform as part of their marketing strategy reported an increase in their market exposure.
5. More than half of marketers who have used social media marketing for over 3 years reported an increase in sales over that period.

Social media is no longer just a part of casual social communication; if you have a business it’s time to get innovative with social media. Perhaps thin about creating a “social media care department.”