Using social media in customer service
I am moderating the European innovation agencies taskforce analyzing the use of e-portals in the agencies. (Innovation agencies are for example Tekes-Finland, Enterprise Estonia, Vinnova-Sweden, Research Council of Norway) One thing we analyzed in our work was the use of social media as a tool to interact with customers. The issues and results we encountered are general and relevant to all organizations so I hope you find this short summary useful. The first thing to decide is what the organization wants to do with social media. There are four levels: - Not to use social media - "One way" communication - Gathering feedback - Two way communication and customer service. I would argue based on the Estonian market that government institutions and innovation agencies are leading the way here. If for example the Estonian Police has a Facebook page to discuss general traffic and security issues then most businesses use social media primarily for marketing purposes only. Th...