Brands are utilizing social media to share content, update their community, and interact with their customers in general. But many brands are watching their social hubs evolve into a destination for customers to ask questions about products, report difficulties and deal with issues that internal teams may not be prepared to answer. As brands grapple to develop communications plans or decide the best way to respond to complaints, communities can grow impatient and may perceive brands as doing nothing or responding incorrectly resulting in negative feedback. Given this situation, brands can’t afford to dive into social unless preparation is done.

To arm brands with tools for success, the seminar shared 5 best practices:

1 – Practice Active Listening
Make sure you actually read the posts and messages you receive from consumers.

2 – Respond, Rescue, Cross – Sell, Up-sell
Respond to a wall posting/email/message so they know a person is there. This improves any situation that needs it as well as creates potential to up-sell and create loyalty. Don’t be a brick wall.

3 – Look below surface and find actionable insights – not shallow sentiment
If there is a negative post or message, do some detective work to find out why the consumer “felt” this way.

4 – Don’t try to drink from the media fire hose
An immense number of tweets/blogs/messages are posted every day and it can be hard to keep up. Keep monitoring but make sure to use good filters to adopt changing content.

5 – Be ready to modify your approach and response time
There is no such thing as only one way. Be ready to adapt and change but more importantly, respond.

Social media is not only an ever-evolving conversation, but also a powerful customer service tool. Have you seen any brands that are doing a great job of utilizing social media to assist their customers?

Why is social media built for customer support? It allows one on one interactions in almost real time. It avoids automated response systems, support forums and 1800 numbers that provide more annoyance than answers. There is a built in community element – sometimes I get answers from the community surrounding the brand instead of the brand itself.

Agencies talk about customer service with social media a good bit – It’s an unavoidable topic amongst marketers because social media lends itself to support. We’re consistently seeing consumers bypass FAQs and automated messaging systems for real people and real answers. But agencies talking amongst themselves only goes so far. On the panel today, we heard from brands who were not just talking the talk, but walking the walk. Sure, Zappos was almost built around social media – But Comcast? Dell? HP? These brands fall into that “traditional” category… And they are making it work.

A few key takeaways:

- Customer Support is Still Too Siloed. This is a change that has to happen internally. Are PR and Customer Support one in the same? The panelists said yes. They said it was essential to create a workflow that allows for quick approvals and answers from the appropriate people. It’s internal structuring and it’s a change that HAS to happen. How to implement? They advise to start with putting TweetDeck on the CEO’s desk with a Twitter search about the brand.

- Get Feedback and Do Something. As a company, you have to invest in the way that you listen to consumers. The most important thing about feedback is what you do with it. Feedback is worthless unless you are willing to make changes and show your customers that you’re implementing their suggestions.

- Give Answers. It doesn’t matter if someone has 1 follower or 1 million followers, they are all your customers. Give them the answers they are looking for in the platforms that they are on. Take time to explain “why” and give them the whole story even if it is technical and/or boring. If they understand the “why,” they are much more likely to support your brand for the long haul. The Comcast rep said, “We can’t make cable free, but we can tell our customers exactly why it costs what it does.”

Agencies can only do so much. People in the audience representing brands were advised to look to agencies as consultants. As consultants, they can help you understand the space; They can come up with forward thinking ideas; They can teach you the appropriate social interactions. But in the end, the brand has to be willing to make changes and talk to the consumers themselves.

Yes, it’s difficult. Yes, it requires organizations to acknowledge and embrace the power of social media. But it’s not impossible. Customers aren’t going anywhere and neither is social media.

What do you think are the best ways for brands to active customer support through social media channels?

[Full panel notes generously provided by William Hertling here]