Socially Devoted? A Challenge to Be More Responsive on Facebook

So your company is on social media. You have a Facebook page, a Twitter presence. You dabble with Pinterest and have a blog. But what happens when someone asks a question about a product, upcoming release or the implications of that new research study? Do you reply? Or is it radio silence? A few months ago, the folks at SocialBakers, after conducting a study that found that Facebook page admins ignored seventy-percent of the questions they received, challenged companies to open their Facebook walls to a productive dialogue. So what happened?

Be More Socially Responsive

Socialbakers asked that companies respond to at least 65% of the questions received via social media and to do so as quickly as possible. To help motivate companies, they rewarded the ones who successfully participated with a certificate. Despite the early success, four months later, has anything changed?

A followup survey conducted in September, examining which brands are The Most Socially Devoted in Q3 2012,  showed considerable improvement in social customer care, with 48.1% of customer queries being addressed by the companies surveyed, as opposed to only 30% in June. What does this sixty percent increase mean exactly? It seems to suggest that not only have social media managers started facilitating productive dialogues with their fans, it shows that sticking with it may have revealed additional benefits not before experienced.

The following infographic illustrates the results and impact that socially devoted companies have experienced.

While this is great, it’s only the beginning. It isn’t just Facebook on which you need to be socially devoted -- it’s all social media, all touch points of the customer experience. Perhaps all companies should resolve to be responsive to their customers no matter where questions are asked.