Companies Use Twitter to Provide Customer Service

With microblogging phenomenon, Twitter, celebrating its fifth anniversary, Virgin Media Business has released some interesting research.

It reveals that 35 per cent of organisations in the UK are using social networking sites as part of their external communications, with one in ten firms now tweeting regularly.

The poll of 5,000 UK businesses found that Twitter is most popular with legal organisations, with 12 per cent regularly using the social network for business purposes.

Twitter is the most popular social networking site for businesses in the North West, Northern Ireland and the North East, where it is used by 12 per cent of all companies. Welsh firms are least likely to use Twitter, with just 7 per cent currently signed up to the microblogging site.

Commenting on the social network's fifth anniversary, Phil Stewart, customer service director at Virgin Media Business said:

"When Twitter first launched in 2006 it would have been impossible to predict what impact it would have on the way that we all communicate. Millions of people are now using the site on a daily basis to share their thoughts, chat with friends and stay up-to-date with the latest news and celebrity gossip. However the site also has a serious side, with 35 per cent of UK businesses using it to engage with customers, provide customer service and promote products, services and job vacancies."

"But with 55 per cent of people in the UK expecting a response to an online complaint within 24 hours, according to a recent poll by the Institute of Customer Service, some businesses are finding that managing the plethora of inbound enquiries can be quite tricky. Companies need to take a multi-channel approach to customer service if they are to make sure that all customers receive a quick and consistent response, regardless of whether they chose to get in touch by email, Instant Messaging, social networks, or the good old fashioned telephone."

 

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