Connected consumers expect brands to respond to queries in an agile manner, with greater emphasis on quicker resolution. Close to 40% of customers want brands to respond to online messages within the hour, with 79% of them expecting a revert within 24 hours. Offering unique social media engagement and interacting with fans may not be enough for online audiences who increasingly want faster response-times.
Customers also expect high-quality interactivity with brand profiles and can switch to another organization’s offering based on poor service times. The brand’s relationship with a customer can be impacted significantly when they are unable to gain timely resolution. Additionally, brands need to respond faster to engage new customers that are considering opting for their services.
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Enhancing brand loyalty with customers
Brand loyalty is one of the most important aspects of online brand building, which is why enterprises opt for quality online reputation management services. Listening, monitoring, and interaction tools allow brands to highlight specific customer conversations and proactively engage with them instantly. Customers are more likely to remain loyal to a brand with whom they have a relationship with, which can be impacted directly due to delays in responding.
Faster resolution also ensures lower attrition within the customer base. This is a significant factor in ensuring long-term relationships with buyers, that might switch over or leave negative online reviews about the brand. In fact, a significant factor about how a customer feels about a brand is influenced by their immediate last interaction. In about 72% of cases, past experiences can rebuild or diminish relationships and perception about a brand’s offerings.
Additionally, it is important to focus on community-building and being active in participating in industry groups. The company can be perceived as passive or not connected when they are slow to respond or are inactive in live conversations. Brands can be instantly more agile if they increase their turnaround time and become more real-time and aware.
Managing the messaging holistically
Online conversations about brands are occurring at a scale larger than ever. Prospective buyers are reviewing online recommendations, product reviews, community opinions, and customer testimonials. The informed buyer wants to know as much as they can about a brand’s offering, especially for larger ticket size products. It is important for brands to respond to live conversations much faster, to manage the messaging about the brand holistically.
Brands can shape their perception online by being proactive and showcasing trust within the buyer community. In fact, 62% of customers may cease to continue favouring the brand if they view significant negative sentiment about the firm online. Brands need to ensure that they are presenting themselves in the best light possible and managing their perception in real-time.
The shift towards chatbots, AI, and new technologies
Customers are used to interacting with chatbots and AI-based technologies that can accurately assess their requirements. Whether it be for recommendations, responses, or customer service queries, new communication technologies have made brands omnipresent across the online domain. Customers are used to near real-time turnaround times from brands, especially when engaging on social media.
Listening and interaction tools have streamlined customer engagement significantly, making it easier for brands to communicate with customers faster. Industries are quickly adopting these leading monitoring and tracking tools to gain clarity on online conversations at-scale. Brands need to adopt these tools as a core part of their social media listening strategy.
In conclusion
Lower turnaround time ensures customer retention, loyalty, and brand equity development within the online sphere. Conversations are tracked and isolated to specific instances, and stories gathering virality are monitored much more quickly. Customers online are already used to interacting with chatbots and AI-based technologies and are starting to expect near real-time engagement with brands at-scale. Brands can opt for Germin8 social listening to monitor and analyse ongoing conversations at-scale and boost their response times significantly.
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