Twitter has suspended several prominent journalists who report on the tech and media industries late on Thursday, without explanation.
The journalists affected at the time of writing include Mashable reporter Matt Binder, as well as the New York Times' Ryan Mac, CNN's Donie O'Sullivan, the Washington Post's Drew Harwell, prominent commentator and former anchor Keith Olbermann, and independent journalist Aaron Rupar, who had nearly 800,000 followers at the time of his suspension.
Some of those journalists, including Harwell, had shared reporting about the suspension of rival social platform Mastodon's Twitter account; others, including Binder, had shared screenshots or tweets showing either the suspended accounts of other journalists, or others' reporting on Elon Musk.
"I was banned on Thursday night immediately after sharing a screenshot from CNN's Donnie O'Sullivan moments after he was suspended," Binder said in a statement provided for this story. "The screenshot was an official LAPD statement regarding the incident Elon Musk was tweeting out about last night which led him to suspending ElonJet and its creator Jack Sweeney. I did not share any location data, as per Twitter's new terms. Nor did I share any links to ElonJet or other location tracking accounts."
ElonJet, an account which used publicly available data to track the movements of Twitter CEO Elon Musk's private jet, was banned, un-banned, and then banned again this week. Sweeney, the college freshman at the University of Central Florida who ran the bot account and several others tracking the jets of prominent public figures, also had his personal account suspended alongside his other bot accounts. (Musk last year had attempted to pay Sweeney $5000 to take down the ElonJet bot.)
Also this week, Twitter updated a policy limiting the sharing of "live location information" on the platform, and Musk tweeted that a car carrying his young son had been "attacked" by "a crazy stalker". In the tweet, Musk directly linked the publicly available information shared by Sweeney's bot account to the incident and stated that legal action against Sweeney had been initiated.
Other journalists had also shared the LAPD statement about the incident, but had not had their accounts banned at the time of writing.
Mashable has reached out to Twitter for clarification regarding the journalists' bans.
The other day, I saw something unexpected. After a customer issue, my dad’s immediate and first reaction was to get help through social media. He was having issues with a company’s web app and his first thought wasn’t to call their support line, or even leverage their web chat, instead it was to message them on Instagram. We often think social media belongs to Millenials and Gen Z, but everyone is using it. And if you haven’t equipped your business with the technology that enables seamless social media interactions, you’ve already taken on a lot of risk.
Developing strong relationships with your customers is the key to both short and long-term success. Relationships drive brand loyalty, and brand loyalty is what keeps your business growing. Social media is built on the kinds of conversations that create deep relationships. You have to be primed to take advantage of that. But social media is complex. Without reliable, top-tier technology, your teams won’t be able to manage all of the complexity of a sophisticated social strategy. A good tech stack is your best friend in social, no matter what department or function you’re working in.
Keep in contact with your audience
Most businesses aren’t ready to accept that social media is the preferred channel for consumers. But over half (54%) of global customers have a more favorable view of brands that address support needs on social media. Even with stats like that, businesses still want to direct customers to support lines or emails. That’s understandable and certainly much easier to manage. Phone lines and emails are channels we have a long history managing and that we can easily direct to the relevant department. Meanwhile in Social, we don’t have that same luxury because we can’t control how, when and where messages come from.
And that’s because your customers don’t see your business as neatly broken up into sales, customer support and marketing teams. They see your business as one entity, and it’s easy to message that entity on Facebook. As business leaders, our job is to understand and meet our customers’ desires, and right now our customers desire a seamless social media support experience.
Just like phone and email technology makes it easier for us to route requests to the people who can answer them, social media tech stacks can do the same. Investing in social media enablement technology makes sure that both your teams and customers have a seamless experience from start to finish. Technology can segment your messages into leads, questions and complaints so the right person is always ready to send the right reply. Technology also keeps track of every message you receive, so every message gets a reply, so you are better equipped to help this customer in the future, and so you can use the data to inform your future decision-making.
Reach out in real time
Social media is the only marketing channel that gives you instant feedback. Every view, like and comment is a data point that can tell you how well your campaign is performing. With those results, it’s hard to see how any other channel could beat it. Any campaign you create with traditional media–whether that’s television, billboards, radio or print–should be supported by a social media campaign so you can see the impact and make adjustments in real time.
Social-first marketing strategies give you the power to be truly data-driven. But you can’t harness that data without technology. Knowing that 10,000 people have interacted with your business on social in the past week is nice, but it doesn’t help you make decisions. You need to be able to drill down into those interactions to find their action items. Your quantitative data–like engagement or post metrics–will show you the impact of your campaign while your qualitative data–like the content and sentiment of the replies or mentions–can tell you where you’re succeeding and where you need to shift the course. Without technology by your side to help you interpret it, they’re just numbers.
Connect through conversations
Any relationship is built through conversations. For brands, those conversations have traditionally been one-sided. But social media gives your customers a voice–and it’s your responsibility to listen and interact. Commenting on, liking and responding to your audience’s content is a key strategy for socially sophisticated brands. By showing you care about the things your audience cares about, you inspire brand loyalty and trust. But once again, scaling this strategy is impossible without technology.
As your social media presence and team grows, it’s imperative you have the technology in place for them to succeed. They’ll need a single source of truth to keep track of comments and interactions with customers. That’s not something they can do natively in a platform or with a less sophisticated social media management solution. Being a leader means equipping your team for success. And as the complexity of your strategy grows, they’ll need a tech stack to simplify it.
React to changing conditions
We’re all feeling the effects of market and consumer shifts right now. It can sometimes feel impossible to know what’s going to happen next. But social media can be a leading indicator of what’s to come for your team–if you know how to use it.
Social data is some of the most powerful data we have access to. It’s an aggregation of billions of peoples’ thoughts, opinions, anxieties and joys. Social data holds the answers to your business’s most important questions. Whether your team is focusing on investor relations, sales, research and development or HR, social data can help them make data-driven decisions in real-time.
Teaming up with technology
When you’re facing economic headwinds, you have to react quickly. You can’t do that without support. Sometimes that support comes from your team but other times, it comes from technology that solves the problems you didn’t even know you had.
Social media represents one of the largest business opportunities of our lifetimes. The relationships it builds–and the dividends those relationships pay–can’t be overlooked. Businesses that are ready to take on the challenges and complexity of social media are primed to win, and businesses that aren’t will be left behind.
First, ‘social media manager’ emerged as the new marketing job title. Then, ‘influencer’. Now, the ‘content creator’ era is here.
Content creators are a not-so-secret superpower for extending your brand’s or campaign’s reach. In a recent creator report, Sprout Social’s listening tool found that the conversation on Twitter around content creators increased 35% year over year since 2017. That’s a lot of chatter around a quickly-growing title.
And businesses are catching on. Our research found that 74% of marketers planned to spend at least a quarter of their social budget on creator partnerships in coming months.
It’s time to include creators in your social media marketing strategy. If you’re thinking about bringing one or more onboard, writing a stellar content creator job description will help you attract the right candidate. And this article is your starting point.
What type of content creator role are you hiring for?
A content creator does exactly what it says on the box—they create content. But that’s a broad category full of possibilities.
“The role of ‘content creator’ can differ for brands depending on their needs and how they see content playing its own role in their overall marketing,” says freelance content creator and marketer Jayde Powell. “A content creator is literally someone that creates content, and because there are many types of content and ways to create them, I think that needs to be clearly outlined.”
because people use ‘content creator’ and ‘influencer’ interchangeably, brands oftentimes feel the creators they hire need to have an online presence and/or a lot of followers.
Before you write your content creator job description, ask yourself these three questions:
1. What goals do you want to achieve by hiring a creator?
Broad goals, like generating more engagement and reaching new audiences, matter.
But get specific, too: What kind of content do you want a creator to focus on? For example, Instagram Story posts, TikTok link in bio inclusion and brand shout-outs on YouTube are a few of the top content formats marketers plan on partnering with creators to make, according to our Creator Economy report.
As Jayde put it, “A brand may want to hire a content creator that specifically makes short-form videos for their social media channels. Another brand may want its content creator to write copy or design graphics for their print campaigns. Specifying what kind of content you want will help determine if someone’s even qualified for the role. ”
Narrowing this down will help prospective talent decide whether they’re a good fit for the role, which will help you hire a creator proficient in the type of content that will best achieve your goals (more on this below).
2. Do you want a freelance creator, or an in-house one?
In-house and freelancer content creators aren’t mutually exclusive. But they do have unique selling points.
Freelance creators can extend your reach into new communities through a trusted voice. Their content will most likely live on their channels, not yours.
This is particularly valuable for new product launches or campaigns you want to create buzz around—one of the benefits of “unboxing” or “reveal” content, which 42% of marketers partner with creators to make.
Be ready to work with them on a contract, and be realistic about pricing. If you want great content, pay accordingly.
In-house content creators provide more support for your daily posts and channels. With bandwidth as a number one challenge for social teams, it makes sense that 25% of marketers hire creators to reduce the burden of content creation.
3. What type of specialty are you looking for?
At the time of writing this article, there were over 2,000 LinkedIn results in the US for “content creator” job postings.
But not all of these content creator job responsibilities are the same.
Here are a few roles to consider:
TikTok content creator
With the rise of this platform and short-form video, TikTok content creators or specialists are becoming more and more common.
When to consider: You want to grow your presence and audience on TikTok and diversify your short-form video content on the platform.
Industry-specific content creator
Part of the draw of working with content creators is their ability to cultivate a community around themselves or a subject they are passionate about.
This extra level of being “in-the-know” gives your content an authenticity boost while connecting with a new audience that shares the same passion about your industry.
This posting is outdoor lifestyle specific…
…while this one seeks creators passionate about music.
When to consider: You want to reach fans in a specific industry, or you need someone who is deeply knowledgeable about your industry, product or service.
Social media content creator
Chances are, if you’re seeking a content creator, they’re creating content for social media.
But this title is worth considering—especially if you’re not hiring a creator with a platform-specific focus.
When to consider: You’re looking for a super social-savvy creator to enhance your social campaigns, reach new audiences and build connections with your community.
Skill-specific content creator
From short-form videos to memes, creating different types of assets involves different skills.
Creators might specialize in:
Short-form video
Long-form video
Photography
Graphic design
Copywriting
Content writing
The below position is seeking content creators who are specifically proficient in writing and optimizing content.
When to consider: You’re looking for a content creator with a laser focus in your preferred content format.
Senior-level content creators
A higher-level content creator might lead ideation with other creators, manage content projects and have more proven experience.
This posting mentions that the senior content creator will “ideate content approaches with other creators, strategists, designers and stakeholders.”
When to consider: You’re building an in-house team of multiple creators and want one person at the helm.
Typical content creator job responsibilities
A creator’s responsibilities will depend on what your company and team need and want to achieve with this role.
And be warned: One of the biggest pitfalls businesses fall into is creating descriptions that are either too vague or overloading the responsibilities.
As Jayde puts it, “Oftentimes, I see a lot of asks in job descriptions that go beyond creating content, like asking creators to make content and publish it on their channels. I’ve seen others where the brand will ask them to respond to comments. While a content creator may have the skillset of a social media manager, designer, writer, videographer and/or photographer, that does not mean they should be doing all of the above.”
With that in mind, let’s get into some of the most common skills listed in content creator job descriptions.
Ideate, capture and post visual content: This can include photos, memes, videos and graphics. But there’s typically a heavy video focus in creator roles. After all, 66% of consumers think short-form video is the most engaging type of content according to The Sprout Social Index™.
Deep understanding of social platforms: Especially important for platform-specific content creators. But for anyone crafting social content, knowing each platform aids in creating more impactful content and even achieving wider distribution.
Staying on top of trends: Jumping on trends helps creators grow their own reach and presence, and does the same for your brand.
Creative storytelling: At the end of the day, content needs to tell a story. And content creators are storytellers by nature.
Cross-team collaboration: This might include working with several teams on story development or to receive feedback.
Familiarity with key KPIs: When working with in-house or freelance creators, leaning on performance reporting is a must when proving ROI.
Creators may also be asked to serve as “the face” of a business. While this isn’t always required, if this is what you want, be upfront about it.
Speaking from experience, Jayde put it best: “I like to know how often my image, voice or likeness will be used in the content. Specifically for video content, if I’m expected to be the “face” of the brand on a particular channel or if my voice will be used regularly—that will impact my rate and how I want my contract to be defined.”
Typical job skills and experience to add to your content creator job description
Keep in mind: The skills your creator will need all depend on your goals, preferred content and the capacity at which you want to hire them.
Here are some common skills and expertise you’ll find in content creator roles.
Filming and editing: A must if your ideal content creator is creating photos and videos.
Keyword research: Relevant for creators you want to hire to write landing pages, blog posts and written web content.
Proficiency with specific tools: If you use specific software, like Sprout Social for publishing and scheduling, reporting and collaboration, include this in the job description. Making this a nice-to-have rather than a requirement opens you up to candidates you can train to use your software. Intuitive platforms with accessible support, like Sprout, make it easy to learn quickly.
Ability to work independently: “Working with little supervision” comes up often in the spirit of giving your creators creative freedom—both in-house and as freelancers–and also reducing overall burden on the business.
Experience building a community: While some job postings have a personal follower count requirement, building community isn’t always about numbers. Creators with experience building a smaller, yet highly-engaged community can sometimes be more valuable than a large following with little engagement.
Knowledge of and passion for the brand or industry: A nice-to-have for some, a must-have for others. Take this Blizzard job posting for a World of Warcraft creator. To get content that will truly resonate with this niche audience, their ideal creator candidate will have deep knowledge of this game, in-jokes about its world and more.
Communication skills: Communication skills are vital for creators who need to communicate your brand’s mission and story. But they also need to communicate clearly with your team and stakeholders to secure buy-in.
Experience with and deep knowledge of social media: Social media content creators must understand how social platforms they’re creating content for work in order to market your brand successfully.
Ability to work with short deadlines: Be respectful of your creators’ time and don’t set unreasonable due dates. But also remember that when creating content around trends or for a campaign, timeliness matters.
Back to basics: Additional best practices for job descriptions
Crafting a social media content creator job description may be new to you. But that doesn’t mean you should skip including best practices in your posting.
These tried-and-tested best practices can be extremely helpful when it comes to attracting the best fit for your brand and team.
Here are three bonus tips that go beyond simply listing tasks in your description:
Have realistic expectations for your role
Just because someone can “do it all,” doesn’t mean they should—especially if your salary doesn’t match up to the expectations.
Similarly, offer the appropriate compensation. For example, you might think you should hire freelancers to avoid hiring a new person, but familiarize yourself first with what a freelancer with the skills you need will actually cost.
Start by evaluating the type of content and partnership you want out of this role. Then, prioritize the relevant content creator job responsibilities, and whether the pay and title match up to the role you’ve outlined.
You can also require a portfolio of work. Referencing the past work of a prospective employee helps you understand whether or not they’re the right fit for the position.
Regardless of in-house or freelance status, it always pays to be upfront and transparent about… well, pay.
As Jayde puts it, “I think it’s important to clearly state how much the pay range is for the person in this role and how they will be paid. Is it a salaried position? Are they to be paid monthly? If the content creator will be hired as a contractor or freelancer, will they be paid per asset or hourly? Having these ‘musts’ in the job description will help brands find the talent that fits best for the role.”
Communicate your values
Working with partners that align with their values is huge for creators and brands alike. According to Sprout’s Creator Economy report, 41% of brands partner with creators to promote their brand values.
Partnering with a creator who shares your values means reaching an audience who also shares them. And company alignment with personal values has become more important to consumers than it was in 2021, according to The Sprout Social Index™.
Share your values in your job description. Highlight what’s important to your brand and your mission.
Your internal efforts reflect this as well. If your brand prioritizes DEI initiatives, make this clear in your job description. In Sprout job descriptions, we highlight DEI initiatives and even include transparent progress reports on our efforts.
As seen in Sprout job descriptions:
Sprout Social is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and an Affirmative Action Employer. We do not discriminate based on identity— race, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, sex (including sexual identity), age, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, veteran or military status, unfavorable discharge from military service, genetic information, sexual orientation, marital status, order of protection status, citizenship status, arrest record or expunged or sealed convictions, or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state, or local law. Learn more about our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in our 2021 DEI Report.
Outline the type of campaign and the kind of content you want to support it
Anyone can create a job description that simply lists what experience someone needs and what they’ll be doing.
Write a content creator job description that highlights the value they’ll bring and, better yet, how your new hire’s work will contribute to your brand’s growth or mission.
For example, this Warner Music U Rep content creator position mentions what the role entails and highlights how the responsibilities will bring value to the content creator they hire.
Write a content creator job description to find the best talent for your team
So what content creator roles are appealing to you? In-house? Freelance? TikTok-specific?
The right creator for you will depend on your industry, team and content needs. Use this article as a jumping off point to start crafting your content creator job description, then build on it.
Twitter's founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey is reflecting on how things turned out with the social media platform he was integral in creating, which now belongs to Elon Musk.
In both a tweet thread and newsletter post (on Twitter's now-defunct Revue newsletter platform), Dorsey addressed the Twitter Files, the internal company documents being reported on by Musk's handpicked writers Matt Taibbi and Bari Weiss. Dorsey's name and emails have come up a few times in what has already been released.
So far, the Twitter Files have mainly shown internal communications between employees at the company, in which they debate about specific pieces of content, whether that content violated Twitter's rules, and what punitive action to take on those tweets or users.
In his post about the active direction in which Twitter carried out its content moderation policies, Dorsey sounds regretful. Basically, it seems as though he wishes he'd just let Twitter become an anything-goes hellscape.
"This burdened the company with too much power, and opened us to significant outside pressure (such as advertising budgets)," Dorsey wrote. "I generally think companies have become far too powerful, and that became completely clear to me with our suspension of Trump’s account."
Dorsey's proposed solution lies in these three principles:
Social media must be resilient to corporate and government control.
Only the original author may remove content they produce.
Moderation is best implemented by algorithmic choice.
At first glance, some of these principles sound reasonable, but the reality is that they're not that easy to carry out in practice because you're dealing with human beings. For example, how would Dorsey deal with death threats, publishing of a user's private data, or child sex abuse material if only the original poster could remove it? His beliefs stem from the idea that everyone on the internet is acting in good faith, which is clearly not the case.
Dorsey somewhat addressed these concerns by saying takedowns and suspensions "[complicate] important context, learning, and enforcement of illegal activity." But this conflates a multitude of issues. If there is some broader context or lesson, then surely moderation policies should take that into consideration on a case-by-case basis. Not everything has to be publicly visible for social media platforms to alert law enforcement of potential illegal activity.
Obviously, as a for-profit entity Twitter made choices so that advertisers wouldn't stop spending money on the platform. However, many of those decisions were also driven by users of the platform themselves who did not want to interact with racism or harassment.
Dorsey even brings up one such instance of harassment in his piece: Elon Musk's recent targeting of Twitter's former head of trust and safety Yoel Roth.
"The current attacks on my former colleagues could be dangerous and doesn’t solve anything," Dorsey wrote. "If you want to blame, direct it at me and my actions, or lack thereof."
Roth recently had to flee his home after the Twitter Files narrative painted him as its major villain and Musk not-so-subtly insinuated that Roth was a pedophile due to a disingenuous read of his college thesis.
So how would Dorsey's principles help someone like Roth? "Algorithmic choice," an ideal solution proposed by Dorsey, would just enable Roth to stick his head in the sand and avoid seeing the threats and harassment on his feed. It wouldn't stop other social media users from upending his life because they could still choose to view content about Roth.
"The biggest mistake I made was continuing to invest in building tools for us to manage the public conversation, versus building tools for the people using Twitter to easily manage it for themselves," Dorsey said in his post.
Really, Twitter should have done both. Users should have more control over what they see on social media and how they use a particular platform. But platforms have a responsibility, too. Twitter was correct in putting filters on certain accounts that still enabled users to share posts to their followers but not, say, promote those posts in the trends feed. But Twitter should've also let users know if their accounts had been hit with such filters, as well as why and what they could do to fix the issue.
Going strictly by Dorsey's stated principles, it appears he wishes Twitter had a system in place which simply shifted culpability from the corporation and onto its users. And that, Mr. Dorsey, is the opposite of taking responsibility.
Twitter has suspended the popular bot account @ElonJet, which tracked the movement of Elon Musk's private jet. The account was created by Jack Sweeney, a freshman at the University of Central Florida.
So long for now, @ElonJet, victim of Elon Musk's "free speech" Twitter.Credit: Mashable Screenshot
The @ElonJet account would simply share data that's made publicly available by the Federal Aviation Administration. Sweeney runs automated Twitter accounts that track the whereabouts of various celebrities and CEOs, such as Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos. Those accounts have not been suspended by Twitter.
Elon Musk has voiced his disdain for the @ElonJet account for a while. Back in January, well before he even signaled he was interested in acquiring Twitter, Musk reached out to Sweeney in hopes of getting the account removed. Musk offered the college freshman $5,000 to take down the account. Sweeney declined but came back with a counter offer of $50,000 or a new Tesla. According to Sweeney, Musk said he'd consider it but never responded again after that.
"My commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk," Musk tweeted on Nov. 6.
It seemed like that could've possibly been the case, at least for a little while. Then, on Dec. 10, Sweeney posted a message he said he received from an anonymous Twitter employee.
"On “Dec 2 2022 your account @elonjet was visibility limited/restricted to a severe degree internally,” Sweeney quoted the Twitter employee as saying.
Sweeney then included a screenshot of an internet Twitter message from its new VP at Twitter Trust and Safety, Ella Irwin, requesting that the team "please apply heavy VF to @elonjet immediately"
After posting these leaked messages, Sweeney shared that the restrictions on his account seemed to be removed, citing a public Twitter tool that checks for various levels of shadowbanning and account filtering.
By Wednesday morning, however, @ElonJet was suspended.
It's unclear why @ElonJet was suspended. Sweeney confirmed the account's suspension and posted a screenshot of the "permanent suspension" prompt he sees on the account.
Mashable would reach out to Twitter for comment, but the company no longer has a comms team since Musk laid off seemingly everyone in the department.
Elon Musk has voiced his support for "free speech" as the reason he acquired Twitter, and said he would moderate the website with those principles in mind. It's a bit hard to claim that, and also suspend an account that shared data made publicly available by a government agency.
Social media customer service has become a consumer staple. There’s no going back on it now.
Say goodbye to the era of phone queues or endless email chains. Today’s consumers are commenting, tagging and sending direct messages. Immediate and accessible, social media provides a much-needed direct line between buyers and businesses.
Of course, what streamlines work on the consumer’s end can create some internal confusion if processes don’t adapt to keep up. Is your business ready to tackle high-volume service events across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more? If not, we’ve got the tips and tools you need to get it done.
This guide breaks down how brands can create a seamless social media support strategy. We’ve also gathered some of our favorite takeaways from brands providing great customer service across social.
“Customer service” and “customer care” are often used interchangeably, but they aren’t the same.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty, let’s make a quick distinction:
Social media customer service is the reactive support you offer your customers across social networks like Facebook and Instagram. Customers can request assistance via DM, a review site or through their own social posts. The time it takes to triage that request and respond appropriately is what makes a superior customer service experience.
For example, this customer reached out to the Spindrift social team on Twitter about a potentially sold-out product at 8:39. Spindrift responded promptly and enthusiastically at 9:07. In less than 30 minutes, Spindrift created a wow-worthy experience.
Customer care is about proactively meeting your customers’ needs. In terms of social customer care, that means:
Having a self-service help center
Educating customers about your product via social content
Interacting with customers consistently (even before they make a purchase)
Having answers and information on-hand before someone reaches out
Offering personalized service that goes beyond automated responses
If you’re looking for customer care inspiration, turn to Brooklinen. The direct-to-consumer bedding brand excels at proactively connecting with customers, even when they aren’t directly tagged or mentioned.
we're so happy to hear you're loving your sheets! thanks for sharing the love 🫶
In short, social customer care is differentiated from service in that it starts before a customer reaches out to you about a product or service. That includes both responding to complaints and rewarding compliments.
What does good customer service on social media look like?
Great question!
Social customer service standards are constantly changing as network features evolve and people find new ways to contact the brands they love online. Staying up to date on what wows consumers today means staying on top of the social media trends that drive the most engagement.
That said, some fundamentals will never go out of style. These tips transcend networks because they’re simply standards of great customer service translated for an online audience.
Providing the best customer service on social can look like:
Keeping response times low: According to The Sprout Social Index™ 2022, more than half (57%) of consumers expect a response on social media within 12 hours. Tools (like Sprout’s Inbox Activity Report) can provide a holistic average of your response times across network so you can ensure they’re in line with consumer standards.
Going beyond business hours: Don’t worry; you don’t need to have your inbox staffed 24/7 to pull this off. There are customer service chatbots that support automated away messages. Use these tools to properly set expectations with customers contacting your brand at night and over the weekend.
Making it easy: The best customer service creates little to no friction on the customer’s end. Pull this off by establishing a digital primary point of interaction. If you can’t solve the issue on social, direct them to another chat or ticket support solution. Customers seeking assistance online aren’t interested in dialing a call center.
Staying human: Your customers are people, who want to be treated like a person by a person when possible. Human touches, like personalizations and greetings, go far when providing service on a digital channel.
6 ways to provide great social media customer service
Let’s say you have a basic social media support strategy in place, but you want to increase your efficiency. Below are some ways you can take your approach from good to great.
1. Conduct a social customer service audit
There’s no sense in making changes for the sake of it. For a truly effective process revamp, conduct an audit of what’s currently working with your social media customer service strategy and what’s not.
A simple SWOT analysis can provide meaningful insights into where and how you can improve. What about your process is going well? Where are there roadblocks or bottlenecks? A candid conversation with your team will reveal where changes can be made.
For example, if you’re managing a high volume of messages split across multiple networks, it may be time to level up to a tool that aggregates them in a single location, like Sprout Social’s Smart Inbox.
In addition to incoming mentions, the Smart Inbox can pull branded keywords to cast a wider net on online conversations. That will help you find indirect mentions and other key terms for your brand quickly and easily. Sprout’s chatbot functionality also lets you keep an eye on chatbot-based conversations in the Smart Inbox, so a human team member can jump in when needed.
2. Create an internal tracking system
Good customer service creates a feedback loop that improves processes and products.
You need a way to monitor common issues that should be addressed at a company level, such as correcting an ongoing problem in your shipping process or identifying a recurring product defect. You also need to generate reports to make sure your plan is succeeding. It can be as simple as a spreadsheet.
The Tag feature in Sprout allows you to tag incoming messages with any created tag, such as “feature request” or “product complaint.” This way, you can quickly run a report on these tags to see what’s trending.
Any service report you generate should also include how quickly you can respond and, if enabled, how pleased someone is with your service. This feedback loop encourages you to continuously improve your quality of service.
3. Use canned responses for consistent, speedy replies
If you’re looking to standardize your social customer care responses and address more customers ASAP, canned responses can do the trick.
Canned responses are saved messages support reps can roll out when responding to customers. Rather than write every reply from scratch, canned responses provided an approved, brand-friendly starting point. These replies can cover anything from general “thank yous” to specific concerns.
Create various customer service response templates based on your customers’ frequently asked questions. Check out this round-up of direct message templates for inspiration if you need a starting point.
4. Standardize your brand’s customer service voice
Having multiple people manage social media means that there’s more chance of your voice getting diluted.
You want your social approach to be cohesive across promotions, posts and service responses. It’s possible to have a “pun-tastic” attitude for original Tweets and a more conciliatory tone for customer complaints. Alternatively, you could go the Discord route and incorporate conversational cues directly from your audience.
However you approach it, document and create a brand voice strategy, so everyone on your team knows how to represent the brand on social media.
5. Document an escalation management strategy
There may be times when you can’t resolve a situation in the public sphere. Those instances call for a documented escalation management strategy.
Outline what types of situations should be escalated to a private channel like DMs or ticket support. For example, if a conversation gets contentious or personal information needs to be shared, it’s probably time to take things off the feed.
Hello, Mauricio. Thanks for the mention. Please send us a DM on our Twitter support page so we can assist you further.
Refer here: https://t.co/O7rI15uCPI
This will help ensure that reps only handle challenges within their wheelhouse and that customer issues are solved quickly and efficiently.
6. Uncover crucial customer conversations with monitoring and listening
Social listening is becoming increasingly crucial for the sake of social customer service.
With so many conversations happening via social, keeping track of every mention is often chaotic. That’s why so many brands today rely on monitoring and listening tools to uncover:
Brand mentions that aren’t directly @tagged (or misspelled brand mentions)
Competitor mentions related to your business, such as call-outs or comparisons
Compliments and shout-outs that could result in more positive customer sentiment
Listening is also invaluable for uncovering your customers’ frequently asked questions. For example, you might notice an uptick in volume about a specific feature or bug. You may realize that customers are stuck on the same few product features or questions. Tracking these changes via listening and writing canned responses to address them is a win-win for your social team.
Gathering voice of customer data gives you a more comprehensive understanding of what your customers want and need. A listening tool makes the process much easier.
3 Brands that provide great customer service on social
Now that you know the basics of providing stellar social media customer service, let’s check out some examples. Here are three brands that have mastered the art of creating lasting customer connections on social:
1. MeUndies
At MeUndies, the average time to first response on social is just under 20 minutes. That’s impressive, but it’s astounding when you account for the fact that they received more than 12,000 messages in just two months.
Providing high-quality service quickly is no easy feat, but it’s essential to delivering on the MeUndies brand promise. Social Media Support Coordinator TK Lynch believes doing so on social is key to meeting customers where they are.
“We want to create an experience that doesn’t feel like you’re dealing with a customer service representative. Social allows us to create a customer experience that’s personable and casual, while still being effective.”
To create these experiences, the MeUndies team relies on the Sprout Social Smart Inbox. The tool consolidates all inbound messages—including DMs, mentions and comments—within a single stream.
For a business managing an Instagram following of more than 481,000, that’s huge.
2. Grammarly
More than 30 million people worldwide use Grammarly to punch up their personal and professional writing. Many turn to social media when they have questions or feedback on the product.
The Grammarly social customer care team recognizes this as not only an opportunity to provide excellent customer service but also as an opportunity to collect meaningful consumer insights. However, synthesizing feedback from more than 13,000 messages per month is no easy feat. To pull it off, they use Sprout’s Tagging feature.
“Once a month, we combine tagging insights from Sprout with Zendesk reports to create a deck that gets shared across the organization,” says Emma Hanevelt, Social Media Insights Analyst. “It’s how we keep others up to date on trends and opportunities we’re seeing in customer support.”
These reports make social media customer service data a cross-functional resource that informs product and service improvements. It’s no wonder many of their customers sing their praises on and off social.
Aw, thanks for your tweet! We're thrilled to hear that it's making a difference in your writing. 🤗
The 2020 holiday season was not easy on any retailer, and Solo Stove was no exception. Amid a supply chain crisis, their team of nine worked tirelessly to address all the inbound emails and calls. Unfortunately, they still received some criticism on social media.
However, their team was able to take this experience and turn it into a launchpad for a new social media customer service strategy. Solo Stove Community Manager Katelin Keeling expanded her role, shifting from a solo operation to leading a team of three social customer care agents. Together, they address customer feedback from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
These additional staffing resources and updated processes worked wonders on their brand health. “So many people write reviews that they were helped on social media, and their experience was so positive it turned them into a true believer of Solo Stove.”
And we thought we had to reinvent the wheel… we’re glad you think so Brian! 🔥 https://t.co/HO3st2PxN0
Brands today can’t wing it when it comes to social media customer service. Without a plan or the proper tools, you’re inevitably letting your customer’s questions and concerns fall by the wayside.
Use the tools and tips above to help ensure that you’re actively listening to each customer and responding promptly. Remember that you have to walk before you can run. Attempting to implement multiple process changes at once might set you back instead of driving your strategy forward.
If you haven’t already, check out this roundtable featuring social experts from Subaru of America and Sprout Social. They’ll walk you through everything you need to know to take your social customer care strategy from reactive to proactive.
The metaverse is the new internet frontier and popular brands are taking advantage of this evolving technology. Once companies finally understand what the metaverse is, how can they stand out among the many multiverses of metaverses (try saying that two times fast)?
In this article, we’ll discuss how top brands are approaching metaverse brand activations and industries making the largest strides. We’ll also give you a list of metaverse examples across industries to help inspire your strategy.
Metaverse brand activations: What they look like today
There are a lot of ways brands can join the metaverse, but most metaverse brand activations involve one or more of the following technologies:
Virtual, immersive environments via metaverse platforms like Roblox or Decentraland
Mini-games
Augmented and/or virtual reality experiences
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and other cryptocurrencies
QR codes
This isn’t an all-encompassing list, but they’re the most common. Top brands use these technologies to carry out phygital marketing. Phygital marketing combines digital and physical tactics to curate unique experiences for consumers.
For example, Frito-Lay’s FIFA World Cup campaign leveraged the metaverse for a phygital experience. Consumers scan a QR code on a snack bag to join the Pass the Ball Challenge for a chance to win prizes, including an NFT. After scanning the code, users are prompted to take a selfie, which is placed on a digital soccer ball.
We're celebrating FIFA World Cup 2022™ w/ the "Pass the Ball Challenge". Fans across the U.S. can purchase specially marked FIFA World Cup Frito-Lay products for the chance to win a trip to the World Cup final! 18+ Grand Prize entry deadline: 11/10/22. More details below 👇🏽 pic.twitter.com/pVAV7QjHQE
Some companies are also considering working in the metaverse, using VR technology for employee engagement and meetings for remote workers.
Industries making strides in the metaverse
As with any new technological innovation, there are early adopters making strides in the metaverse. Here are a few industries that are already making their mark.
Real estate
In the metaverse, real estate aficionados are trading cryptocurrency. People are buying and selling properties on metaverse platforms including Decentraland and the Sandbox, which is the largest metaverse real estate platform. Some plots even sell for millions of dollars.
EveryRealm, a metaverse real estate investor and advisory firm, paid $4.3 million for land in the Sandbox to develop Fanasty Islands, a collection of 100 one of a kind private island villas.
Fashion
With a forward-thinking, creative culture, it’s no surprise the fashion world was one of the first industries to embrace the metaverse. Luxury fashion brands like Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana have launched exclusive digital clothing and NFTs to establish themselves as trailblazers in the metaverse. Even mass market brands like Pacsun have made heavy investment in connecting with audiences in the metaverse.
Pacsun kicked off its holiday marketing season with the PacVerse campaign. The PacVerse follows the success of the brands presence within PACWORLD on Roblox and Pacsun the Game, which was launched earlier in 2022. The brand extended experiences in PACWORLD with a holiday twist, offering features like a gift shop. Real-life experiences include in-store initiatives and a rooftop screening in Los Angeles.
The holistic campaign stretched across all of Pacsun’s digital and social channels including exclusive content on YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat and Discord. The campaign also leans on creator marketing, tapping Brooke Monk, Mathieu Simoneau and virtual influencer Miquela.
Then there’s decentralization autonomous organizations like the Metaverse Fashion Council (MFC) who are actively curating events and cultivating professional networks for the metaverse. MFC founded and hosted the first Metaverse Fashion Week.
Retail
Big-box retailers have also created metaverse brand activations. Macy’s created a virtual version of its annual Thanksgiving Day Parade. The event featured five NFT project galleries and allowed users to vote on a parade balloon NFT, which will be turned into a physical one at next year’s event.
Target held several metaverse activations in 2022. In June, they hosted a Pride month activation to celebrate and amplify LBGTQIA+ voices. In October, they brought the viral #GothTarget to the metaverse via Meta Horizon Worlds to celebrate spooky season.
The retailer also enables users to envision home decor and furniture in their homes with a virtual reality feature on their shopping app.
Alcohol
Miller Lite became the first brand to create a bar in the metaverse, but other brands in the alcohol industry are helping people enjoy a cold one in this emerging digital space.
Corona tapped in on nostalgia for its 2022 holiday marketing campaign by centering its iconic 1990 Christmas ad, “O’Tannenpalm” (below).
The O’Tannenpalm Tree Lot virtual experience offers users a chance to explore a Corona-themed holiday wonderland using augmented reality. For example, users can place a virtual holiday palm tree in their own spaces, along with several interactive features. The beer brand also plans to host giveaways.
But this isn’t the only AR experience Corona has offered. Last year, they launched Plastic Reality to showcase plastic footprints and sustainability tips.
Music and Entertainment
Similar to the fashion industry, the music and entertainment industry was one of the first adopters of metaverse marketing. Popular artists like Ariana Grande and Megan thee Stallion have hosted concerts in the metaverse.
IHeartMedia plans to host several events in their metaverse concert arena. The media company kicked off the launch of IHeartLand with a two-part performance by Grammy-nominated singer Charlie Puth, which was followed by a real life album release party. Beyond concerts, users can snap selfies on a red carpet and play mini-games.
Metaverse examples: Expanding across industry lines
The forward-thinking culture of the fashion and gaming industry has allowed social media leaders and marketers to lead the way for brand activations in the metaverse. However, there is an opportunity for other industries to break into the metaverse as well.
Here are some metaverse examples from brands across various industries:
1. Food: McCain Foods
McCain Foods partnered with Roblox and Bored & Hungry to launch Regen Fries as a part of the #SaveOurSocial initiative. The goal is to educate and engage younger consumers about regenerative agriculture and issues facing the farming community.
With Roblox, the potato manufacturer created the Farms of the Future game, which allows players to grow potatoes using regenerative farming methods. When players apply regenerative methods like planting cover crops or rotational grazing, they are rewarded in the game.
Bored & Hungry is the world’s first NFT-backed restaurant group and provided the real life portion of the activation. In October and November 2022, the restaurant served Regen Fries at its flagship location, along with several pop-up shops in London and Toronto. These limited-time potato pop-ups serve as an example of how brands can merge real-life experiences with the metaverse.
🟢 ALL SYSTEMS GREEN 🟢
Introducing REGEN FRIES, the world's first sustainably farmed french fries brought to you by Mccain Foods! Come by to be the first to try them throughout November
— Bored & Hungry | Home of America's Best Burger (@BorednHungry) October 28, 2022
2. Sports: NFL
The NFL and long-term partner Visa created the NFL Zone, a destination within Fornite Creative, a sandbox game. The NFL Zone features two mini-games based on virtual tailgating experiences and other popular Fortnite activities. As an official NFL sponsor, Visa has a virtual stadium in the game.
The NFL has plans to launch a content series with several creators across sports and gaming. The league also plans to leverage the social media following of NFL players to increase awareness.
The NFL Zone is one of many metaverse activities the league has adopted. The goal of this activation is to create a social hub to engage with Gen-Zers and nurture a new generation of football fans—a demographic the league has often struggled to attract.
3. Finance: Mastercard
Mastercard held a multi-channel campaign with Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever to spotlight Black-owned small business owners. They launched an immersive experience via Meta Horizon Worlds to connect consumers with small businesses through activities designed to bring their brand stories to life.
The heroes we see every day running small businesses inspire the heroes of tomorrow. Because when you see the superhero you can be, that’s #Priceless.
This activation builds on Mastercard’s previous diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, including the Strivers Initiative, a platform dedicated to supporting Black women-owned businesses.
4. Footwear: Snap x New Balance
Snap and New Balance released a lens that uses speech recognition and augmented reality to give gift recommendations from footwear to accessories. The Holiday Gifting Concierge Lens has several modes for users to explore. In the worldview mode, users experience an AR unboxing that displays a recommendation.
Although you can’t click a link while using the lens, if you go to New Balance’s Snapchat profile and go to “Shop,” users can view items for sale and receive a link to their website to purchase.
Learn from brands in the metaverse
There are two key takeaways for brands exploring metaverse strategy going into 2023:
1) Prioritize accessibility
Even when targeting niche audiences try to avoid complex requirements to join the brand activation, like cryptocurrency or blockchain technology. You want a wide range of consumers to feel compelled to interact or play.
2) Consider a blended reality experience
What makes phygital marketing alluring is the ability to offer unique opportunities or perks that wouldn’t be typically available. Consider how your brand can merge the digital and physical.
