In the digital world that we live in, customers turn to Social Media to engage with businesses and more often than not, they expect a response… almost instantly. It can be hard to stay on top of all the notifications, especially if you’re active across multiple Social Media platforms, so the key is to prioritise your responses.
Ideally, you’d look to respond to engagement in chronological order, but if there is a time-sensitive post, this should be bumped to the top of your list. Comments or enquiries that need to be prioritised are any negative ones. As much as we’d love to hope all customers are completely satisfied, Social Media tends to be the place consumers turn to if anything isn’t up to scratch.
Facebook and Instagram have a super helpful feature that allows businesses to set up ‘quick replies’ for their Inbox so that if a customer submits an enquiry and you’re not currently active, they still receive something back from you. Instagram and Facebook quick replies will manage customers’ expectations in terms of getting a response.
To set up quick replies, follow these five steps.
- Login to your Facebook account and then head over to your Facebook page. Then, go to ‘Inbox’.
- First Name (of the recipient)
- Surname (of the recipient)
- Full Name (of the recipient)
- Facebook Page Link
- Website
- Phone Number
- Email Address
- Address
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
If you choose to turn FAQ’s on, when a customer visits your Inbox, they will be prompted to send a question which may help initiate a conversation. You can add up to five FAQ’s to your menu, but only four will be displayed at the beginning of the message. Automated responses are sent as soon as someone submits a question.
Contact Information
You can customise your response to send additional contact information such as a number for WhatsApp or Instagram link. It’s only worth doing this if you’re more likely to be responsive through these channels than your Facebook Page; otherwise, you’re sending customers from platform to platform instead of responding which could lead to frustration.
Location
Respond to customers requesting the location of your business by tailoring your message to include your address and additional information they may find helpful such as parking or the closest public transport.
Job Application Received
Suppose you have listed a job vacancy on Facebook and someone responds. In that case, you can customise an automated response to thank them for their interest and manage their expectations when it comes to getting back to them with a follow-up.
Appointment Reminders
The appointment feature on Facebook helps your customers make a booking without having to leave the platform. What’s even better, is Facebook can send customers an automated reminder via Messenger or Text the day before their appointment. Appointment reminders should decrease your chances of a no-show.
Appointment Follow-Up
You can also choose when to send a message following an appointment as a way of encouraging repeat business. An appointment follow-up asking customers to book again will only be relevant for businesses where repeat business is expected, perhaps if you’re offering a regular service. Alternatively, you could change the tone of this message to a post-appointment thank you.
Page Recommended and Not Recommended
If customers recommend your page publicly, you can set an automated reminder to follow up with them. The tone of this message can be customised to suit your business; for example, it could be a discount code, encourage them to book an appointment or simply a thank you.
You can also activate a message if someone publicly shares that they do not recommend your page. The idea behind this message will be to understand the customer’s experience and rectify it. Both of these messages are sent ten minutes after the review is shared.
