With an increasing number of people now shopping online, your digital customer support process is more important than ever, and Twitter can serve an important purpose in this respect. 

The quickfire, public nature of tweets often makes it a better channel for getting brands to respond quickly, and many people now seek to use this to advantage. That can have negative impacts, if your brand is in the midst of a crisis, and doesn’t have the answers that people are seeking. But it can also be hugely beneficial for increasing brand loyalty, facilitating greater connection, and delivering better results.

To help with this, Twitter recently surveyed over a thousand users in the US and the UK to get their insights into what they expect from customer service via tweet. Based on these responses, Twitter has outlined five key recommendations for brands:

• Create a dedicated support handle – Twitter says that 64% of respondents felt that brands with a dedicated support handle were doing more for their customers
• Make it known you have a support handle – Yet, at the same time, around half of respondents weren’t aware that official support channels existed for many brands, underlining the need for increased awareness around such
• Respond quickly and consistently – It likely goes without saying that people expect fast responses on Twitter – under an hour where possible
• You’re a human. Don’t be afraid to sound like one – 45% of respondents ranked ‘speaking in a human tone’ as important, so avoid the canned and automated responses
• Respond to people the same way they reached out – Some people will reach out via DM, others will seek to increase their leverage by calling your brand out publicly. Whichever way they choose, Twitter advises brands to respond in their chosen form 

The notes are based on the below findings, which are extrapolated from Twitter’s latest Customer Care report. You can download the full report here, or check out the summary below.