Nearly One-Fourth of Companies Now Provide Customer Service via Facebook

A new study released today by MarketTools, Inc., a provider of software and services for enterprise feedback management (EFM), revealed that 23 percent of companies provide customer service and support on Facebook, with 12 percent providing customer service and support via Twitter.
The study also revealed that although 34 percent of the executives surveyed stated that they were aware of customers using social media to comment on or complain about their company and its products, less than one-fourth of these executives said that their companies “always” respond to these customers.

The MarketTools study also revealed a disparity in the way companies think and the way they act in regards to customer satisfaction. Although 95 percent of respondents believe that satisfied customers are very important or extremely important to their company, only about one-third (36 percent) have formal voice of the customer (VOC) programs in place to collect and analyze customer feedback. And of those companies with formal VOC programs, nearly half (45 percent) solicit customer feedback on a quarterly or less frequent basis.

Some additional highlights from the study include:

-- 33 percent of executives surveyed said that their companies have a greater focus on using social media as a channel to capture customer feedback when compared to this same time last year.

-- When asked what areas of the company are active in social media, 44 percent of those surveyed cited public relations, 42 percent cited corporate marketing, and product marketing and customer service/support were each cited by 34 percent of the respondents.

-- Of the 68 percent of companies that have an active presence in social media, 48 percent have an active presence on Facebook, 24 percent on Twitter, and 17 percent on their own company blog.

-- 22 percent of those surveyed stated that their company’s CEO regularly participates in social media on behalf of the company. Facebook is the social media channel of choice, used by 68 percent of the CEO’s, followed by 44 percent who participate on the company blog, and 35 percent who participate on Twitter.

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