Social customer experience management: Definition, benefits, examples
Companies today can’t afford to ignore social media in their customer experience. Here's how you can start socializing your CX today.
Depending on what you read, social media sites like Meta (Facebook), Twitter, and Instagram are either dying on the vine or enjoying record numbers of new users. Despite the conflicting reports, one trend is clear.
While users – especially young people – are still hooked on social media, they’re turned off by traditional sites overloaded with political rhetoric, bad behavior, sketchy privacy policies, and unsolicited AI-generated ads. This is giving rise to a host of new social media offerings that cater to millennial, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha desires for more meaningful and genuine online connections and content.
Marketers – who are expected to spend upwards of $268 billion on social media ads this year – should monitor this trend closely and consider carving out budget for contenders that challenge the status quo.
Taking on Twitter: New microblogging sites
One of the key trends we’ve seen in the past year is upstarts taking advantage of the public relations challenges confronting Twitter since Elon Musk acquired the company last October and subsequently laid off more than 2,000 workers.
Here are some of the new social media sites challenging the troubled, 17-year-old platform.
Hive Social
Hive Social is a microblogging service and mobile app that combines features from other concepts like Myspace, Instagram, and Twitter into a simple and easy-to-use interface.
Although it doesn’t have ads or business accounts, brands use it to post links aimed at driving traffic back to their own sites. Hive’s considerable base of 1.5 million users makes this marketing activity worthwhile.
Mastodon
Mastadon, a free decentralized microblogging network, launched a few years ago, but has reportedly attracted thousands of turned-off Twitter users. Because no one person owns it, Mastodon has the feel of a site that’s built for mass communities, which naturally appeals to idealistic young people.
Also, because it uses minimal data, doesn’t share information with third parties, and talks about data usage and the risks of using the application, Mastadon is seen as unusually transparent and privacy conscious.
However, marketers should be aware that while the app has about 2.5 million active users, many of them coming after Musk’s Twitter acquisition, new downloads have slowed to a crawl in recent months, and it can be complex to use.
Post
Launched by Noam Bardin, former CEO of the Waze navigation app, Post differentiates itself by offering better content moderation and the ability to write posts of any desired length – so long as it involves real people, real news, and civil conversations.
Its founders have nostalgia for the day when social media was fun, didn’t make you angry, and wasn’t full of internet trolls. Post so far appears to be limited in its ability to take on new users and has had a wait list at times. Still, it’s one to watch.
Substack Notes
In April, Substack, an online publishing platform that supports email newsletters, unveiled a new feature called Notes. The new social media service allows Substack writers to post snippets of content, share ideas, and start discussions with readers.
While Notes are similar to Twitter, a key difference is that paid subscriptions support the Substack network instead of ads. Substack claims more than 35 million active subscriptions to its writers; more than 2 million of those are paid.
“Our goal is to foster conversations that inspire, enlighten, and entertain, while giving writers a powerful growth channel as these interactions find new audiences,” Substack’s founders wrote.
“Many of us have grown so used to talk of hellsites and doomscrolling—while wondering if social media is driving us mad—that we have forgotten that the internet can be good,” they added.
True
Another one of the newest social media platform, True launched last August offering ad-free, tracking-free, fee-free private spaces. Instead of going after Twitter, True differentiates itself from Facebook by emphasizing how your family information and pictures don’t have to be shared with the world. Rather, you have the choice of posting information and images in public or private spaces.
Similarly, no private threads can be found through online searches or data-gathering services. This level of privacy will almost certainly appeal to younger people, making True an eventual marketing activity channel. Right now, though, it reportedly only has about 10,000 users.
New pic-sharing apps aim to give Instagram a run for its money
Instagram remains wildly popular with more than 2.35 billion monthly active users. But success often encourages other to try and improve on your model – or displace you altogether.
Here are a few apps playing in Instagram’s ballpark.
BeReal
A French photo-sharing app, BeReal has reportedly already attracted more than 20 million daily active users worldwide. The app sends users notifications each day encouraging them to share photos taken with their phone’s front and rear cameras. You get two minutes to do this, a timeframe intended to ensure people post authentic glimpses of their lives.
Not surprisingly, the combination of digital cameras and genuine outcomes has made BeReal a favorite among Gen Zers.
Dispo
Originally called David’s Disposable in Apple’s App Store, Dispo is a photo-sharing app that digitally simulates the experience of disposable cameras by making users wait for images to develop.
Users get to try out different camera experiences and get some fun filters and editing tools to boot. As of last August, Dispo’s user base was still relatively small with about 8 million downloads and 1 million monthly active users, but it’s still one to watch.
Lemon8
Launched in 2020 by TikTok’s parent company, Byte Dance, Lemon8 is a video and photo-sharing social media platform that surged to more than 17 million worldwide installs after its U.S. and U.K. introductions in February.
Lemon8 calls itself a “content sharing platform for a youthful community.” Some describe it as Instagram and Pinterest rolled into one for a Gen Z-type audience.
Poparazzi
Ad-free Poparazzi is positioned as an authenticity loving, “anti-selfie,” photo-sharing app. Instead of hosting pictures people take of themselves, like Instagram, Poparazzi encourages users to take pictures of their friends and post them to the friend’s profile. Only users you follow can do this, and you’re notified when they do it; it’s your own pre-selected paparazzi.
Just one year after its March 2021 debut, Poparazzi hit more than 5 million downloads, of which 95% are reportedly aged between 14 and 21. Marketers may have a tough time figuring out how to plug into Poparazzi, but likely will do so through clever use of influencer friends.
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Staying power: Old(er) social media sites hold their own
A few established social media platforms don’t seem all that vulnerable to newcomer competition and continue to gain ground. Two are especially strong.
Around since 2002, LinkedIn excels in its niche as a hub for professional connections, finding jobs, business news and analysis. In fact, last year, it generated $14.5 billion in revenues, a 26.2% year-over-year surge.
Instead of advertising products, marketers use LinkedIn to drive thought leadership and brand awareness, generate leads, promote company events, and publish articles, blogs, and other content.
TikTok
Since its launch in 2016, users – especially millennials and Gen Zers – have downloaded more than 3 billion video snippets of dance challenges, comedian schtick, travel advice, and other binge-worthy entertainment. Last year, TikTok was the second-most downloaded app globally – second only to Instagram.
78% of TikTok’s fans use the apps for entertainment purposes, while 35.1% use it to find information and get product recommendations – replacing Google as their search engine of choice – making it one of the most relevant platforms for marketing.
Western governments, however, are threatening to ban the app over cybersecurity concerns related to TikTok parent ByteDance’s ties to the Chinese government. Montana on May 17 passed the first statewide ban on the social media site.
Determining whether any of the up-and-coming social media platforms is an opportunity for your brand requires lots of evaluation and experimentation. Keep in mind that social media channels can come and go. Creating effective social channel strategies starts with a deep understanding of your customers.
