A Simple Simple Short Shot
Twitter gives brands a new social media tool
Customer support accounts let people engage online with businesses on mobile and desktop.
In a very smart move, Twitter is aligning themselves as a place for businesses to connect with their customers. Arguably, this is already one of the best uses for the platform (next to up-to-the-second news gathering) because individuals can reach out to companies without having to track down phone numbers, customer support channels or even websites. Capitalizing on this, they’ve added a couple tools that will hopefully make Twitter an indelible force for both brands and users.
The two big changes to benefit brands:
- Customer service visibility:
- Indication that the account provides support.
- Support hours can be added to the profile, letting users know when they can expect to hear back, reducing frustration.
- Customer service capabilities:
- A prominent button on the profile page messaging easier to find.
- Brands can receive direct messages from anyone, not just followers.
- Theoretically, less loud, undirected complaints smeared across Twitter.
The two big changes to benefit brands:
- Customer service visibility:
- Indication that the account provides support.
- Support hours can be added to the profile, letting users know when they can expect to hear back, reducing frustration.
- Customer service capabilities:
- A prominent button on the profile page messaging easier to find.
- Brands can receive direct messages from anyone, not just followers.
- Theoretically, less loud, undirected complaints smeared across Twitter.
However, brands need to be aware:
- Just because people can privately connect with customer service doesn’t mean they will. Sometimes people want to complain loudly, vehemently and publicly.
- Customer service accounts are yet another account to maintain, and you have to ask yourself, is it worth it?
- With so many brands launching multiple accounts will this only add to the clutter?
