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Social media sites connect business and consumers

HARTFORD – Over the past decade, social media has opened new communications channels between consumers and businesses, and in the process these interactiv...
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HARTFORD - Over the past decade, social media has opened new communications channels between consumers and businesses, and in the process these interactive forums have become one of the primary avenues for consumers to seek customer service and for businesses to receive feedback.

Media-savvy businesses increasingly are turning to outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linked In, Pinterest and Google Plus, with their many millions of loyal users, as an integral part of customer-communications strategies. In response, more companies are dedicating resources to build and maintain a significant social media presence. Using a Frontier broadband connection, both consumers and businesses can employ social media sites as a convenient, easy-to-use service channel.

Facebook is overwhelmingly the social media outlet most consumers used to request information from business.

Many consumers exclusively use online interaction over more-traditional lines of communication For example a Research study at Arizona State University indicated Twitter users prefer their social medium of choice over email or a phone service line for contacting businesses, resolving issues and interacting with knowledgeable support staff. At Frontier we have found that consumers with a customer service inquiry prefer to contact companies through their social media pages instead of emails or calls to toll-free numbers. . We have a social media customer care team and they are on call 7 days a week from 8 in the morning until 10 at night to handle customer inquiries.

A 2014 survey of 1,000 consumers nationwide conducted by Accent Marketing showed that Facebook, not surprisingly, was the choice of 82 percent of social media users when requesting information or service from companies. Twitter was the runner-up with 30 percent of users turning to that platform of short, pithy word snippets for interaction with businesses.

Clearly consumers are relying more heavily on social media as a primary channel for customer service inquiries or providing feedback. Social Media has become a virtual focus group where consumers are able to give their opinion any time about any business. It’s also where they learn about new products and new campaigns and even social causes. It’s all just a click away. Facebook has been a real e-commerce driver and professionals are very active on LinkedIn with more than 364 million users in the first quarter of 2015. LinkedIn isn’t just for job seekers but companies are using Linked in as a recruiting tool. I know Frontier posts jobs all the time on Linked In and we post about job fairs and company news to Frontier’s over 21 thousand followers. We’re looking to hire right now in New Haven and we have posted on Facebook and Twitter. All these outlets provide useful links to jobs, to products, e-commerce sales and local businesses. Businesses recognize it and use it to communicate with their customers and potential customers. Just remember it is a busy travel time so make sure if you are using a public Wi-Fi connection to conduct any kind of business make sure you have logged into a legitimate network that doesn’t have malware and make sure you lock down your devices sharing capabilities so hackers can’t get your personal identifiable information

  • 47 percent of consumers cite Facebook as the fastest, most-effective social media avenue for solving a customer-service issue
  • 72 percent of consumers overall only want to interact with a business through comment on social media channels
  • Two thirds of consumers use Facebook to find discounts and promotions (80 percent of Baby Boomers)
  • More men (34 percent) than women (25 percent) use Twitter as their social media platform of choice to interact with a company with which they conduct business
  • 75 percent of millennials and 55 percent of Baby Boomers find posted comments on a business social media site from other customers or followers to be helpful

Paul Quick, Senior Vice President/General Manager, Frontier Communications

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