Social media 'gives voice to consumers'

14:05 24th February 2010

Digital marketing professionals have been advised that social media gives consumers a channel to air their views.

Geoff Galat, vice president of worldwide marketing for customer experience specialist Tealeaf, said social media has given a "powerful voice" to consumers who did not previously have as many opportunities to offer their opinions on products and services.

"Brands need to ensure that they take steps to improve online customer experiences so that they remove the problems in the first place as well as monitoring what is being said," he commented.

Mr Galat added that businesses face the challenge of meeting increased customer expectation levels.

Handling the way customers tell people about their experiences badly could negatively affect a business, research has found.

A survey by the Consumer Forum found more than 80 per cent of people tell friends, family or work colleagues about their positive or negative experiences with brands.

This means brands must be careful how they manage their customer service, especially relating to the use of social media channels.

The survey also found more than 30 per cent of people thought online customer service was better than other methods, meaning social media could become a popular way to handle consumer feedback.

Recent research from dotCommerce discovered most businesses have no presence whatsoever on social media websites.

Only 12 per cent of companies used more than one social media website to get their message across.