Over the last few years, social platforms have cemented themselves as the kings of the web. As it currently stands, 72% of British adults use social networking sites; with the average person having five accounts and spending around one hour and forty minutes browsing these networks every day, accounting for 28% of the total time spent online. And according to predictions published earlier this year, this is expected to rise even further with social media penetration reaching one third of the world’s population by the end of 2015.

Research has told us time and time again that using these channels to engage customers can increase loyalty and revenues, so it remains paramount that organisations are investing further resources into them. While there is no single “right” platform to do so, as consumers are more frequently on the hunt for useful content, online communities are leaping to the forefront of successful customer engagement strategies today. However, if you decide to develop one – as with any other channel – you need to give it the attention it deserves to develop and grow. What is more, you need to ensure it sits at the heart of your organisation’s customer service ecosystem.

Strike up a deep and meaningful two-way conversation

Connecting with customers through a community is a great way to understand their preferences, opinions, and feedback on products and services. Many leading companies use these member-provided insights to improve product design and functionality. In turn, customers get to share knowledge and valuable content that is informative and helps them with their buying decisions. Providers of complex software systems have blazed the trail in using communities as a platform for facilitating peer-to-peer customer support. A good example of this is the Kaseya community, where members can help each other out with technical queries, often almost in real-time, whilst avoiding the more standardised customer service process. Another example is healthcare technology provider HealthStream, which uses Telligent’s ideation functionality as a means to crowdsource ideas on new product enhancements directly from end users.

Strengthen relationships

Though effective communities require brands to relinquish a degree of control over the customer relationship, this need not mean their experience is diminished. Indeed, as consumer trust in brands is on the wane, the relevance of more informal peer-to-peer communication has risen. Advice from social sources is often perceived as more impartial and therefore more trustworthy. This offers an invaluable opportunity for brands to enhance their credibility, balanced with some control over the outgoing message. Research by Ipsos Mori shows that it can pay off to acquire engaged and opinion-leading customers as these so called ‘new influencers’ can be regarded as useful barometers of customer opinion.

Encourage transparency

Communities offer a central place for customers to discuss products and services, and it is within this environment that future purchase decisions will be highly influenced. A recent study by Verint found that two in five customers will write a positive review following a good customer service experience.

Further research by the UK’s Competitions and Market Authority (CMA) revealed that 54 percent of UK adults read online reviews, and 62 percent are likely to be affected by positive ones. Therefore there is a huge opportunity for brands to benefit from community based reviews.

By having transparency of both customer and prospect views, errors and evolving issues can be dealt with quickly before they escalate. Access to shared consumer insight in near real-time can deepen your knowledge of the customer, strengthen relationships and enhance brand credibility. When investing in online communities, organisations must ensure that they are designed to encourage transparency, deliver the value-added content that consumers want and sit at the heart of their customer engagement ecosystem.

 

By Rob Howard, Vice President, Social Communities, Telligent, a Verint company

 

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