Walk this way, Talk this way

There are many reasons why social media has seen such growth in recent years, but perhaps the biggest of these has been the transition from computer to mobile. Online is now the media of choice and with applications on mobiles helping more and more consumers to connect with their networks on the go.

As a result, we’ve seen online behaviour increase around the world - and East Africa is no exception to this rule, with the social media craze hitting Kenya like a storm.

It makes perfect sense, therefore, for organisations like KenCall to get involved in this space. From a call centre standpoint, social media has had and will continue to have an enormous effect on the relationship, engagement and the management of businesses, primarily as it offers a means of the customer experiences offered and building new relationships.

It’s no coincidence that virtually all major brands have harnessed the power of this phenomenon by incorporating popular platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube, to better engage with their customers. However, that’s not to say that everybody is using these tools properly.

Social Media has made it possible for businesses to have one-to-one conversations with customers, which means that businesses and brands are waking up to the reality of having to build relationships online. In other words, it’s not enough for organisations merely to have social media ‘presence’, as is the case with many businesses - participation is key. After all, it makes no sense to use social media tools without communicating with anybody. Social media demonstrates the need for businesses to walk the walk and talk the talk.

Another benefit of interacting with online users is that it allows businesses to understand and observe customer behaviour. For instance, KenCall creates customer profiles which have enabled a solid understanding of each customer’s preferences, needs and behaviours, and allows us to refine retention techniques on a personalised basis.

With this in mind, it is obvious that social media is not purely about having an online existence. Market research, crowd sourcing and social listening in particular can help to gain valuable insight into the current worth of a brand, or the effectiveness of specific campaigns or products.

However, this is new media, where there is democracy, transparency and freedom of speech. Companies need to determine a long-term multi-channel discussion strategy which will allow them to converse with one voice, while delivering consistent messaging, if they are to utilise social media effectively.