Responding to social media comments on your eCommerce posts and ads is critical. 74% of consumers rely on social media to help them make purchasing decisions. 71% are more likely to make a purchase based on a social media referral.
While the design and copy of your posts and ads are important, the comment section has equal swaying power. An amazing customer endorsement can fall flat if your brand didn’t comment with a grateful reply. And a customer complaint can have a less disastrous impact on a shopper’s purchasing decision if you reply and seek resolution with the customer.
But customer service agents and social media managers can’t prepare for everything. Sometimes, comments will catch you off guard. The below tips can help you craft the perfect social media customer service response every time.
1. Take time to fully understand the context
While responding quickly is important, you don’t want to rush your response as you might miss an important element.
For example, if someone asks about the nutritional value of a product, you might quickly offer a canned response. But if you consider the context of the ad, which talks about weight loss rather than speed of cooking like your other ads, this might help you highlight more relevant product details.
Helpdesk tools can help here too by giving you the full picture of a customer’s history with your brand, so that you know if you’re replying to a frequent or new customer, and respond accordingly.
2. Craft your response following these guidelines
When you’re sure you’ve got all the contextual information required to respond, you can go ahead and craft your response.
- For product questions answer the question clearly, and back up your answer with real, specific product details and information.
- For positive reviews thank the customer in a way that matches your brand voice, and let them know you’re here for them if they have any questions.
- For negative reviews, empathize with the customer, accept their feedback in a mature way, share the potential resolution, and divert the customer towards your helpdesk, knowledge base, or customer service team (as appropriate).
- For contentious issues you might need to run your answer by your PR or communications team, especially if the topic is about sustainability, equity, diversity and inclusion, or the founders’ political beliefs or actions.
3. Respond to the comment and tag them
When you’ve got the right response, go ahead and comment. Don’t forget to tag the person you’re responding to. If the social media commenter brought up an important customer support issue, you should create a ticket for the comment thread in your customer service software.
4. Make sure customer support sees the issue through to resolution
If it’s an important issue (the customer wants a return or hasn’t received their product in the mail), you should do one follow up comment and tag them to make sure they saw your response.
Follow these guidelines to social media customer service, and you’ll gain new fans while deepening your connection with your current customers.
