Why the Future of Social Media in the Contact Center is Visual

Regardless of channel, customers expect quick responses. If not, they will try another channel, or go to a competitor. Another general expectation of customer service is personalization. Customers will acknowledge any organization that has gone the extra mile to meet them on their channel of choice, and taken their preferences into account.

In order to meet these expectations and leave a positive impression on customers, organizations must take more than a half-hearted approach to incorporating social media into their customer engagement. Only by integrating social media channels completely can organizations ensure a highly responsive, personalized, and seamless user experience, while avoiding creating data siloes.

The high expectations of social media customer support come with high reward if organizations integrate channels effectively.

Social media enables organizations to be truly omni-channel, which is crucial to delivering top-notch customer engagement on every channel. In addition to social media allowing organizations to tap into a wider audience, an omni-channel contact center with social media is much more time- and cost-effective than all-phone agents. Agents can be productive, and respond to social media questions and comments in between calls – even after hours, with 24/7 Artificial Intelligence (AI) support.

To learn more about the benefits of incorporating social media as a channel in the contact center, read our thought leadership article: ‘Why Social Media Integration Is A Must’.

Today’s customers have little time or patience to provide long explanations, or draft highly detailed descriptions. Sharing an image or a video is an incredibly simple way to communicate a situation or a problem. Using photos and videos, consumers can get to the heart of their problem instantly. This then allows customer support staff to identify and verify issues, and even to solve customer problems, much faster than through a lengthy written or verbal account.

Simplicity pays. 76% of consumers are more likely to recommend a brand because it provides simpler experiences and communications.[1] Therefore there is value in visuals, which is why organizations must take their digital experiences to the next level if they want to meet customer desires. To do this, contact centers need to leverage visual social media channels.

Facebook and Instagram – both of these photo and video sharing social networks exceed 1 billion active users worldwide.[2] Moreover, they are the top 2 platforms where consumers follow brands.[3] Use of these channels is skyrocketing, and not just by Millennials and Generation Z. According to Sprout Social, the Baby Boomer generation has increased its social media use over the past year by 54%.[3]

The current generation of social media is undoubtedly visual, and will continue to be so. For this reason, organizations must look to thoroughly integrate visually-driven social media channels into their customer engagement. This will in turn ensure organizations deliver seamless experiences, build loyalty, and drive business growth.