User Generated Content For Better or For Worse

User generated content (UGC) is great for businesses to build rapport with customers. One social media platform that comes to mind is Yelp, which is great for reviewing UGC for restaurants. Consumers can share thoughts, experiences, and pictures with other consumers, to give a better depiction of the restaurant. While a name is everything, a business no longer has to be judged by their name or storefront.

The downside of UGC is that businesses have no control over it. Businesses must always be on point for fear of a bad review, not that they shouldn't be to begin with. However, sometimes UGC goes beyond experience or food quality. When dealing with people it's important to remember everyone has emotions, personal preferences, and expectations. Sometimes, people let those three things interfere with really giving an honest review, and this is where the negative side of UGC comes into play for businesses.

Has UGC affected your business positively or negatively? Feel free to sound off in the comment box below!

It Takes Two

Social media is dramatically influencing a company’s relationship with its customers, here’s my reason why this is a good thing…

Some bigger businesses have the luxury of having nearly 24-hour social media customer service representatives on Twitter replying to tweets as fast as one could tweet them. These businesses are looking for both the good and the bad. By responding and retweeting to customers who provide positive words, the company is solidifying and building it’s relationship with that customer. You could even take it a step further and say by retweeting these good words, a company is providing positive information from loyal customers to perspective customers providing a strong foundation for the new relationship. When a company reaches out to negative reviews of themselves through social media, it can go a long way. For one, a company is showing that they care, making the customer feel validated in their feelings and cared about. Secondly, it gives the company a chance to rebuild the now broken relationship with their customer. 

The ability for a business to connect with its customers at any time via social media is a huge asset to the company. They are able to build, maintain, keep, and reaffirm their relationships all at once. It goes without saying that, no business could thrive without its customers. The value social media provides to businesses is exponential.

Customer Service in the Social Media Age

Hello, world!

My name is Brittney and I’m a Los Angeles native. Through my blog, I will be exploring how we as consumers can make companies meet our expectations through social media. In a world where you can’t talk to another human when you call a 1-800 number, companies are jumping at expanding their customer service departments through social media.

My personal experiences with businesses and social media have been through Twitter. I have interacted with various companies such as Bank of America and FedEx. Within 10 minutes of a tweet about a bad experience, I was contacted by a customer service representative who was willing to go above and beyond to reverse my poor experience. This is what I will be exploring in my blog, through Twitter and other social media platforms, along with the reasons for this.