Social media should be handled by the customer service department, says Peter Flanagan, sales manager for SA at Genesys.
"Most company employees have no idea who is responsible for handling social media matters within their companies," says Flanagan, noting that social media could fit into many different departments, including marketing, corporate communications, PR and online sales.
In many companies, social media is seen first and foremost as a marketing exercise, explains Flanagan. "Most [companies] are still focused on the sales potential of social media, and to support this, social media activities - when they are managed - are handled by the marketing department," he says.
"A large percentage of organisations still do not connect social media operations with customer service operations," notes Flanagan, which leads them to miss out on the real value of social media, for the brand and the customers.
Social media is becoming a more popular platform on which to complain about brands, adds Flanagan. "When issues arise, the following scenario is all too common: A frustrated customer searches online for answers to a question. If a solution can't be found, they call customer service. While a discussion with customer service will resolve most issues, there are always some customers who will find the interaction only aggravates matters, and a vocal minority of them will take to social media to air their grievances. That number is growing fast."
Monitoring and responding to these social media complaints is a substantial and crucial job, he emphasises, adding that integration of social media duties across departments can be beneficial. "No one department needs to own social media interactions - each can use them to their own benefit, provided they listen, prioritise the need to respond, engage appropriately and then integrate the response across the enterprise, so, to the customer, all interactions are seamless, no matter whether they are dealing with sales, complaints, deliveries, enquiries... by phone, e-mail, Twitter or Facebook."
Integration is one of the four golden rules of social media management, he concludes. "Listen, prioritise, engage, integrate. Through true integration, companies don't only gain the ability to listen to consumer sentiment about their brands, but they can also prioritise these sentiments to determine the appropriate actions, engage with consumers as never before possible, and integrate the resulting interactions across marketing, customer service and various other customer touch-points, to deliver a truly satisfying customer experience."
Share