In this customer-centric, and for the most part, online culture, paying attention to your potential buyers is key. So, how do we keep our finger on the pulse of the ever-changing consumer? Feedback. Consistent, informative, and above all, fresh feedback. By using social media as the hub of customer feedback.
Today’s customers are active, curious, tireless in their search for the best deals and innovations. If you want to cater to your target audience’s needs, it is imperative that you stay up to date with the latest trends and be one step ahead. Based on the information at hand, think about what your customers would like to see next and surprise them with an offer that converts.
When you regularly assess customer feedback, using survey tools can also be a good alternative by providing you with the most value. If you focus on more extensive assessment, offering your customers an option to evaluate your product or service on your website can help you automate this process. Always remember that the data you gather from your customers helps you measure customer loyalty, provide better customer support, build new product features and develop new ones.
And the place where your potential customers spend most of their time is on social media platforms, commenting, doing quizzes, voting, answering questions; all you have to do is harvest the potential that will grow your business. And here’s the why and the how.
Benefits Of Collecting Customer Feedback
Before we get into detail regarding how you can collect data, let’s focus on the benefits, i.e., not only what you can do for your customer, but what your customer can do for you. This kind of information will enable you to:
- Make Netter Decisions – Notice what’s right, but also what’s wrong. Listen for suggestions, wishes, and questions and use them as the foundation of our future actions. If you receive several complaints or questions about the same issue, your next step should be towards improving both the products and services.
- Identify Customer Advocates – Those who openly like and support your brand are one of the best marketing tools as well as the most affordable. Do not hesitate to contact them, ask for testimonials or referrals so you can both boost your operations, and build healthier and stronger customer rapport.
- Build Brand Loyalty – Listen to both happy and unhappy customers. Solving problems and being there for them at their time of need shows you deeply care about the quality of their customer journey and reflect a very personal approach that results in retention. By being responsive, you show you care, and that’s what keeps your customers from turning to your competitors.
1. Social Monitoring Equals Careful Listening
Being present as a business on social media platforms means that your potential customers can give you a mention. This digital word-of-mouth marketing type is extremely beneficial and low-cost, although it may be time-consuming to go through all your mentions manually. Fortunately, there are platforms designed for monitoring and measuring the sentiment conveyed in online comments.
You can also designate a hashtag and inform your audience about it, so you can later keep an eye on the tag and all types of comments, good and bad. Put your ear to the ground for the key insights. It’s well worth the effort.
2. Survey With Facebook chatbots
Direct messaging is one of the most efficient communication channels. With the help of AI, you no longer need to burden yourself or your staff with spending hours engaging in written conversation. A Facebook comment bot, for instance, can do that for you. This little helper is perfectly capable of maintaining meaningful conversations. People have grown quite fond of chatbots, and for a good reason, too. Bots can address them by name, solve problems, give suggestions, and even joke around. Above all, they collect data and are available 24/7.
3. Instagram Stories
Insta stories have taken the hearts of all their users, businesses included. Apart from sharing photos and eliciting comments, stories have a multitude of options to collect customer feedback. Grab the attention of your visitors with fun stickers and engage them in polls and quizzes. Open-ended questions are a great way to get personalized, original feedback since customers have the opportunity to type the comment instead of just clicking on predefined options. Allow them to ask questions or use guessing games that are as much fun as they’re valuable for your business.
4. Create Polls And Surveys
This is a great way to get a better insight into your customers’ preferences. Applicable to most social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram stories, they’re fun to use and save a considerable amount of time compared to going over all the comments. Should you wish to create a more complex survey with multiple questions, manage one on your website. Share a link on your social media platforms and get abundant data to fuel your growth.
However, there is an issue interwoven with this approach, and that is response bias. Chances are you’ll get more positive comments than not, but you’ll surely get some negative ones too. Keep in mind that customers sometimes bend the truth and give up mid-survey, which can hinder your final analysis. This is why it is essential to get as many responses as possible, and social media is an excellent channel to expand the response pool and get a clearer picture.
5. DM Them
Private messaging is a very potent way of acquiring data. Its main advantage is that it helps build strong, personal relationships with customers. While monitoring your social media profiles, you’ll notice brand loyalists who gladly give you shout outs. Surprise them with a very personal, uplifting direct message saying hello or offering a small perk. Make them feel special because – they really are, and it definitely means a lot to them.
Remember that positive comments that don’t come directly from a brand’s marketing efforts tend to be trusted more by friends, family, and peers of the one posting. This is why you need to pay special attention to negative feedback too. Communicate assertively and show them you are willing to resolve the issue in order to ensure the best customer journey possible and loyalty to your business.
Over To You
Your customers have different opinions, and they need encouragement to share them. Once you show interest in their feelings, they’ll feel more comfortable and eager to express themselves. Social media channels are a great way to propel your business in a fun but useful way. So get on it and make those comments convert.
