Twitter just released a 126-page playbook which details how to accelerate customer service and engagement via tips, interviews and case studies. Andrew Hutchinson (@adhutchinson) of Social Media Today, describes how Twitter is a good example of how to add value to your brand once you’ve gained a following. Although many companies already use Twitter, this recent release offers entrepreneurs an edge in crafting the most efficient tweets for their target audience.  

“As noted in the introduction to the playbook, according to Social Bakers, more than 80% of customer service requests on social are happening on Twitter, with a more than 2.5X increase in the number of Tweets to brands and their customer service usernames in the past two years.”

These are significant figures. Twitter is using its playbook to help companies improve customer experience and satisfaction, attain major operational savings and create more service-to-sales opportunities.

Brands that have focused on social care capabilities have an 18.8% lead over brands who don’t. That should get people’s attention, especially when you consider small businesses really need a boost in their first couple of years of operation.

At the core of the book is a seven step guide to successful customer service on Twitter:

Seven Steps to Customer Service on Twitter

Set Your Strategy

• Step 1: Set your vision

• Step 2: Size and prioritize your opportunities

• Step 3: Define the customer service experience

Define Goals and Measurement

• Step 4: Set goals and performance metrics

• Step 5: Establish the measurement mechanism

Move to Action

• Step 6: Operationalize your strategy

Build Capabilities to Scale

• Step 7: Iterate and Innovate

Each step is expanded upon, followed by descriptions of what each phase of the customer journey looks like. Phase three will resonate with a lot of companies seeking to understand and connect with their customers more. An example is given of Hilton, which offers people travel tips, even if they’re not staying at one of their hotels. This strategy is at the core of an effective social media campaign: you need to start a dialogue with your audience, not just to sell them your product, but build a long-term relationship.

I strongly urge anyone navigating Twitter for the first time, or even bona-fide tweeters, to take a look at this playbook. It can be directly downloaded and the wealth of knowledge is invaluable. Twitter is a great example of how, as a company, you can directly use data to create valuable marketing tools for your customers -- something we’re really into here at Near Me!