Latest / Social Media Marketing with Fexingo: Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Platform Strategy / How Brands Are Using Social Media for Customer Service
Transcript
- Lucas: So Luna, I want to talk about something that every brand says they do, but very few actually do well: customer service on social media. Luna: You mean like when someone tweets a complaint and the brand replies 'DM us'? That kind of thing? Lucas: Exactly. But it's gone way beyond Twitter. Now it's Instagram DMs, TikTok comments, LinkedIn messages—the inbox is the new call center. And the brands that get it right are seeing serious loyalty gains. Luna: I've definitely noticed that. I complained about a lipstick shade on Instagram once, and the brand replied within the hour. I was shocked—and I bought three more shades. Lucas: That's exactly the point. There's a stat from a 2025 Sprout Social study: customers who get a response on social spend 20 percent more with that brand over the next year. It's not just about fixing a problem—it's about building a relationship. Luna: Twenty percent? That's huge. So what does 'getting it right' actually look like? Is it just speed? Lucas: Speed is part of it, but the real shift is about deciding when to reply publicly and when to take it private. A lot of brands default to 'DM us' for everything, and that can actually backfire. Luna: When would you want to keep it public? Lucas: When the response itself creates goodwill. For example, a customer posts a photo where the product looks damaged. If you reply publicly saying 'Oh no, we want to make this right—DM us a photo and we'll send a replacement,' other people see that you care. It becomes free positive PR. Luna: But if the complaint is really specific or sensitive—like a billing error or a privacy concern—you definitely don't want that in the public feed. Lucas: Right. And that's where the private DM comes in. But here's the thing: a lot of brands treat DMs like a black hole. You send a message and never hear back. That's worse than not responding at all, because now the customer is waiting. Luna: So what's the benchmark? How fast should brands be responding in DMs? Lucas: HubSpot did a study last year and found that the average response time on Instagram DMs across all industries is about five hours. But the brands with the highest satisfaction scores respond within one hour. Some are even aiming for under 15 minutes during business hours. Luna: Fifteen minutes? That requires a dedicated team, not just the social media intern. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the investment. Look at a brand like Glossier—they have a whole team called 'The gTEAM' that handles social customer service. They're known for responding to every single comment and DM, and it's built insane loyalty. Their customers feel like they're talking to a friend, not a corporation. Luna: But for smaller brands, how do you scale that without a huge team? Lucas: There are tools now. ManyChat for Instagram and Facebook DMs, or Reply.ai for chatbots that handle common questions and escalate to a human when needed. But the key is that the human handoff has to feel seamless—if a bot can't solve it, a real person should jump in within minutes. Luna: Right. Because nothing frustrates me more than talking to a bot that can't understand my issue. Lucas: Exactly. And there's another layer: social listening. Brands that are proactive about customer service are monitoring mentions when they aren't tagged. So if someone posts 'Ugh, my order is late' without tagging the brand, the brand still sees it and reaches out. Luna: That's a fine line—it could come off as creepy if not done right. Lucas: Totally. The tone matters. You can't say 'We saw your post.' You say something like 'Hey, we'd love to help with your order—feel free to DM us so we can look into it.' It's public outreach but framed as an offer, not surveillance. Luna: What about TikTok? The comments there are wild. How do brands even keep up? Lucas: TikTok's different because the comment section is part of the content. Some brands lean into that and reply to comments with video responses. Chipotle does this really well—they'll reply to a complaint or a question with a short video from their team. It's entertaining and personal. Luna: That's smart because it also drives engagement on the original video. More comments, more replies, more algorithm love. Lucas: Exactly. On LinkedIn, the game is different again. It's more about professional service—answering questions about B2B products, helping with integration issues, that kind of thing. But the same principle applies: respond quickly, publicly when it helps, privately when it's sensitive. Luna: Is there a downside? I feel like once you set that expectation, you have to keep it up. Lucas: That's the risk. If you reply instantly for a month and then suddenly go silent, customers will notice and feel ignored. Consistency is everything. That's why a lot of brands set clear hours in their bio—like 'We reply Mon-Fri 9-6'—so expectations are managed. Luna: And if you have a crisis? Like a product recall or a viral complaint? Lucas: That's the ultimate test. Remember when that small cosmetics brand had a lipstick that arrived broken? They replied to every single comment, sent replacements, and even posted a video showing how they improved the packaging. The whole thing became a brand win because they handled it on social, in public, with empathy. Luna: Yeah, I remember that. People were actually saying 'I want to order from them just because of how they handled it.' Lucas: Right. And that brings us back to the ROI. A customer who gets great social service isn't just likely to buy again—they're likely to tell their friends. That word of mouth is gold. Luna: I think a lot of brands still see social customer service as a cost center, but it's really a marketing investment. Lucas: Completely agree. And on that note—if these conversations about marketing strategy are something you find valuable and you'd like to support the show staying ad-free, we do have a way. It's not a big ask, just a small gesture if the show's been helpful to you. Luna: Yeah, it's really simple. You can buy us a coffee at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That's it—no tiers, no perks, just knowing you're helping keep this going. Lucas: And honestly, every bit helps. Now, back to the topic—I want to talk about how brands are actually measuring the impact of social customer service. Because if you can't measure it, it's hard to justify the investment. Luna: What metrics should they be looking at beyond just response time? Lucas: The big one is 'customer effort score'—how easy was it for the customer to get their issue resolved. Low effort correlates with higher retention. Also, track the sentiment of the conversation over time. Are people leaving the conversation happier than when they started? Luna: And I imagine repeat purchase rate among customers who had a social service interaction is a key metric too. Lucas: Absolutely. Some CRM tools can now link social interactions to purchase data. So you can see: customers who DMed us last quarter spent X percent more this quarter. That's the kind of data that gets the CFO to approve a bigger social service team. Luna: Alright, so the takeaway: reply quickly, decide wisely between public and private, use tools to scale but keep the human touch, and measure the downstream revenue. Sound about right? Lucas: That's the playbook. And if you're a marketer listening, the best time to start is today. Even if it's just one person answering DMs for two hours a day, it's a start. Luna: And maybe reply to that one complaint that turned into a viral moment for that small cosmetics brand—you never know where it leads. Lucas: Exactly. Until next time, keep the conversation going.