CUSTOMER SERVICE ON TWITTER A SIMPLY MEASURED STUDY - MARCH 2015

Customer Service on Twitter - March 2015 #SimplySocial2

IntroductionWith 43% of the Interbrand 100 Best Global Brands maintaining customer service-devoted Twitter handles, the network is swiftly becoming not only a brand awareness mechanism and website traffic driver, but also a relied-upon way to address customer issues swiftly and appropriately.

And brands with a customer service presence on Twitter aren’t just sitting there and looking pretty: 31% of the Interbrand 100’s customer service handles tweet at least 10 times daily. Sixty-three percent (63%) have an average response time of under 8 hours—up from 53% for the same timeframe last year.

In this study, we analyze the top brands in the world and see how they use Twitter to interact with consumers and build goodwill towards their brands. We’ll identify the tactics that these brands use, the results they’re seeing, and lessons to be learned.

288 millionmonthly active users

500 millionTweets sent per day

are on mobile80% of users

Customer Service on Twitter - March 2015 #SimplySocial3

MethodologyThis study looks at the Twitter activity of the Interbrand 2014 Best 100 Global Brands.

At the end of each year, Interbrand ranks the top 100 global brands based on several factors, including market, brand, competitor, and financial data. In 2014, Interbrand included Twitter data as part of their ranking process for the first time.

The Interbrand 100 is an industry standard, and a standard for our Simply Measured network studies. We analyze this list because these companies are the best in the world at building and maintaining a brand, which is a prerequisite to a successful social media strategy.

Statistics cited in this study are based on data from 1/1/15 - 2/14/15.

All data was analyzed using Simply Measured’s industry-leading social media analytics and reporting platform.

THIS STUDY ENCOMPASSES:

173,174 Tweets by 43 brands

1,098,407 followers

162,691 mentions from 61,881 unique Twitter users@

Customer Service on Twitter - March 2015 #SimplySocial4

DefinitionsCustomer Service Handles Twitter handles dedicated specifically to customer service requests, independent of the brand’s main Twitter account. Examples include @NikeSupport, @AskAmex, or @AmazonHelp.

Total Mentions The total mentions metric is gauged by how many times a brand is mentioned – excluding Retweets. In this study, total mentions applies to only handles dedicated to customer service.

Total Responses Total responses are measured by the number of times a brand responds to mentions of its customer service @handle.

Response Time The amount of time it takes an account to respond to a Tweet. This metric can be measured by subtracting the time of the original inbound Tweet from the time of response.

Average Response Time The average of all response times among responded-to comments during a specific time frame; in this study, 1/1/2015 to 2/14/2015.

Response Rate Response rate is based on the number of Tweets responded to. It’s calculated by dividing the number of mentions responded to by the total number of Tweets that mention the brand’s handle.

Tweets Sent In this study, we’ve counted Tweets sent as the number of overall Tweets sent by a customer service brand handle, including responses to users who may have sent a Tweet to the regular brand handle.

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USER BEHAVIOR

More Twitter Users Are Mentioning Brands, More Politely Than You ThinkThe number of times that the Interbrand 100’s dedicated customer service handles were mentioned increased 41% year-over-year. Customers are increasingly turning to Twitter to express frustration at specific scenarios, and are more polite than you might think, frequently using words like “please” and “thanks.”

Key Findings• Interbrand 100 customer service handles were mentioned

162,691 times during the study time period, or 84 mentions per brand, per day. This is up 41% year-over-year. Among customer service handles that were active during the same period both years, mentions increased 16%.

• “Please” was one of the most commonly used words in Tweets mentioning the customer service handles of the Interbrand 100, appearing 16,108 times, in 10% of customer Tweets.

• Other popular words included “thanks” (appearing in 9% of Tweets), “already” (appearing in 7% of Tweets), “help” (appearing in 7% of Tweets), “contact” (appearing in 7% of Tweets), “error” (appearing in 6% of Tweets), “offer” (appearing in 5% of Tweets), “now” (appearing in 5% of Tweets), and “enrolled” (appearing in 5% of Tweets).

This chart shows how user mentions and brand responses have grown since last year for the Interbrand 100.

Total Mentions and Responses for Interbrand 100 Dedicated Customer Service Handles

Customer Service on Twitter - March 2015 #SimplySocial6

Takeaway Customers are using Twitter to resolve their issues more often, and are mentioning specific terms related to their issues, like “delivery,” “account,” “card,” and “app.” They are also using words like “please” and “thanks” more frequently than one might expect.

This word cloud shows the top words utilized in Tweets that mention the Interbrand 100 during the study time period.

Customer Service on Twitter - March 2015 #SimplySocial7

ACTIVITY: CUSTOMER SERVICE TWEETS SENT

Brands Are Increasing Their Customer Service Activity While the number of top brands active on Twitter didn’t increase year-over-year, the number of dedicated customer service handles for those brands did increase. The number of Tweets sent by brands with dedicated customer service handles also rose. This suggests that more and more brands are seeing Twitter as an effective means of resolving customer service issues.

Key Findings• The number of top brands with dedicated customer service

handles has increased by 19% year-over-year.

• @Replies account for 99% of sent Tweets from customer service handles.

• The number of top brands who send 10+ customer service Tweets daily has increased by 41%, the number of top brands who send 50+ customer service Tweets daily has increased by 43%, and the number of top brands who send 100+ Tweets daily has more than doubled, going from 7% to 15%.

Takeaway Brands are getting more acclimated to using Twitter for customer service purposes, and are consistently increasing the number of Tweets they send out.

This chart shows how the number of customer service Tweets sent has changed since last year for the Interbrand 100.

Customer Service on Twitter for the Interbrand 100

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ACTIVITY: CUSTOMER SERVICE TACTICS

Brand Response Tactics Vary WidelyCustomer service handles for top brands most frequently point users to online resources for resolving their issues, and least frequently direct users to direct message (DM) the brand.

Key Findings• 24% of responses from top brands direct customer service

queries to online resources, 15% apologize to users in their responses, 12% direct users to email, 9% request more info, 5% direct users to call their number, and only 3% direct users to DM.

• 80% of @AmazonHelp responses direct users to their site, 85% of @UPSHelp responses direct users to email, and 45% of @HSBC_UK_Help responses direct users to call a telephone number.

Takeaway Dedicated customer service handles for top brands use a wide variety of tactics to respond to customers, from directing users to websites to asking them to correspond over DM for more privacy-sensitive matters.

This chart shows the top tactics that Interbrand 100 dedicated customer service handles use, sorted by percentage of total Tweets from largest to smallest.

This chart shows the Interbrand 100’s top 10 dedicated customer service handles by the most mentions and their use of different response tactics.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

@HSBC_UK_Help

@AdobeCare

@AskeBay

@SamsungSupport

@UPSHelp

@NikeSupport

@AskAmex

@LumiaHelp

@AmazonHelp

Direct Users to Site Request More Info Direct Users to Email Diret Users to Call Direct Users to DM

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ACTIVITY: RESPONSE TIME

Top Brands Are Frequent, Speedy RespondersNinety-five percent (95%) of top brands’ customer service accounts send their responses within 48 hours when they do send a response, showing a commitment to quickly resolving issues on Twitter. A mere 5% of brands respond by the impressive one hour mark. Average response times remain largely unchanged from the same period last year.

Key Findings• 95% of brand responses come within 48 hours, 91% come

within 24 hours, 86% come within 16 hours, 63% come within 8 hours, 42% come within 4 hours, 23% come within 2 hours, and 5% come within 1 hour.

• The only notable change between average account response times year-over-year was a 12-point increase in brands who respond within two hours.

Takeaway Dedicated customer service handles for top brands are good at responding in a timely fashion to those who mention them on Twitter, with 91% of responses going out within 24 hours. There was no drastic change in average response times for top brands year-over-year.

This chart shows how the average response times for the Interbrand 100 have changed from the same period last year.

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ACTIVITY: RESPONSE TIME VS. EXPECTED RESPONSE TIME

Top Brands Do Well at Meeting Customer Expectations on Twitter Using a combination of our data on Interbrand 100 response times and Lithium Technologies’ data on customer expectations, we found that top brands are doing a good job of satisfying customers with service via Twitter.

Key Findings• 100% of customers who expect a response from a brand

within a few days are satisfied by the Interbrand 100.

• 86% of customers expect a response from a brand within 24 hours, and 97% of those customers have their expectations met by the Interbrand 100.

• 53% of customers expect a response from a brand within one hour, and 74% of those customers have their expectations met by the Interbrand 100.

• 33% of customers expect a response from a brand within thirty minutes, and 62% of those customers have their expectations met by the Interbrand 100.

Takeaway Dedicated customer service handles for top brands are good at meeting customer expectations on Twitter, doing the best at meeting customer expectations of a response within 24 hours to a few days.

This chart shows how Interbrand 100 dedicated customer service handle response times and customer expectations compare.

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ACTIVITY: TIME OF DAY

Most Mentions and Responses Occur During North American Business Hours Most dedicated customer service handle mentions and responses occur between 5 AM PST and 3 PM PST, showing a North American business day tendency by both users and brands.

Key Findings• The Interbrand 100 customer service handles receive the

most mentions and send the most responses between 8:00-9:00 AM PST.

• The Interbrand 100 has the best customer service response time between 5:00-6:00 PM PST.

• The Interbrand 100 has the worst customer service response time between 1:00-2:00 AM PST.

Takeaway The Interbrand 100’s most active time for both responses and mentions directly correlates to the North American business day. Dedicated customer service handles see the least activity and have the highest response time, predictably, in the middle of the night, with mentions rising and response times dropping from that point on.

This chart shows how activity for the Interbrand 100’s dedicated customer service handles fluctuates by time of day.

Customer Service on Twitter - March 2015 #SimplySocial12

INDUSTRY ACTIVITY

Technology, Financial Services, and Transportation Brands Are Mentioned Most Technology is the most well-represented customer service sector on Twitter. It also receives the most mentions and sends more responses than any other sector.

Key Findings• Eight technology Interbrand 100 brands have customer

service handles on Twitter. They received 45,636 mentions and responded 30,273 times in the study period.

• Technology, financial services, and automotive verticals have the greatest number of dedicated customer service handles, but are also the most well-represented verticals on the Interbrand 100 list.

• 100% of Interbrand 100 restaurant and transportation brands have an active customer service handle.

• Apparel and electronics brand categories have the fewest dedicated customer service handles, at two each. Their response rate is impressive, however, at 52%.

Takeaway Technology customer service handles like @MicrosoftHelps and @SamsungSupport drove the most user mentions and responses on Twitter during the given time period. Apparel brands @hm_custserv and @ZARA_Care and electronics brands @phillipscare and @SonySupportUSA received the fewest mentions. The restaurants category (@KFCCustomerCare, @starbuckshelp, @PizzaHutCares, and @Reachout_mcd) and electronics category (@phillipscare and @SonySupportUSA) sent the fewest responses.

This chart shows how activity for the Interbrand 100’s dedicated customer service handles fluctuates by industry.

Customer Service on Twitter - March 2015 #SimplySocial13

TOP BRANDS BY DEMAND, PERFORMANCE, AND RESPONSE RATE

@AmazonHelp Has Most Mentions and @UPSHelp Wins Lowest Average Response TimeAs a huge global ecommerce brand, @AmazonHelp received the most mentions during the study time period, and also boasted a low average response time, showing the brand’s devotion to keeping customers happy and coming back for more. @UPSHelp responds to customers most speedily.

Key Findings• @AmazonHelp received the most mentions among the

Interbrand 100 during the study time period, while also scoring one of the lowest average response times, coming in under an hour.

• @UPSHelp had the lowest average response time among the most mentioned brands, coming in just under 16 minutes.

• Among the most mentioned brands, @LumiaHelp and @NikeSupport boasted the highest average response rates at 76% and 75%, respectively.

Takeaway Of the top ten most mentioned brands in the Interbrand 100, @UPSHelp has the fastest response time, while @LumiaHelp and @NikeSupport boast the highest average response rates.

This chart displays the Interbrand 100’s top 10 most mentioned dedicated customer service handles.

This chart shows the Interbrand 100’s top 10 most mentioned dedicated customer service handles sorted by average response rate and response time.

Customer Service on Twitter - March 2015 #SimplySocial14

ConclusionTop brands’ dedicated customer service handles are being mentioned more frequently on Twitter. As a result, brands are engaging in customer service efforts on the network at ever-higher levels and with increasing success. Standout trends include:

• Customers are increasingly turning to Twitter to express frustration at specific scenarios, more politely than you might expect.

• Brands are getting more acclimated to using Twitter for customer service purposes, and are consistently increasing the number of Tweets they send out.

• Dedicated customer service handles for top brands use a wide variety of tactics to respond to customers.

• Dedicated customer service handles for top brands are good at responding in a timely fashion to those who mention them on Twitter, with 91% of responses going out within 24 hours.

• Dedicated customer service handles for top brands are good at meeting customer expectations on Twitter.

• The Interbrand 100’s most active time for both responses and mentions directly correlates to the North American business day.

• Technology brands represent the largest group of Interbrand 100 customer service handles on Twitter.

Growing a healthy customer service presence on Twitter requires meticulous measurement and vigilance. This effort is becoming a necessity as customers turn to the network more frequently to resolve their customer service woes and get answers to questions. Interbrand 100 companies are experiencing progress, challenges, and discoveries as they continue to experiment with customer service techniques on the network.

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