Harnessing the power of social media is a worthy goal for any business operating in today’s reality, and that means having the will to actually interact with customers who use the medium to interact with companies. Among media organizations, DISH and Cox are the best.
The survey, from Socialbakers, looks at the percentage of customer social media inquiries that are actually answered, and also considers average response time. The communications sector is well represented on the top 10 list Socialbakers has created, but only two communications companies are in the entertainment sector.
Socialbakers
The survey producers measure responsiveness globally and note that US companies are lagging those of other nations, but have been improving rapidly. Looking at Facebook inquiries, Socialbakers found that as of June 2012 US companies were averaging only 22% when it comes to answering inquiries, and have pushed responses all the way up to 51%.
Socialbakers considers a company Socially Devoted if its answers 65%.
“It’s been great to see U.S. brands improve in this respect, using social media more aggressively as a customer service tool. That said, American brands still have a lot of work to do as compared to worldwide brands like KLM. As we continue to measure social media responsiveness, the good news is that we are seeing new brands recognize the potential impact of social engagement on their business,” says Jan Rezab , CEO of Socialbakers.
Here are the results for the US top 10:
| Resp | Resp | |||
| Brand | Fans | Rate | min | Questions* |
| T-Mobile USA | 2,738,525 | 96.11% | 61 | 2,135 |
| DISH | 3,522,277 | 88.34% | 54 | 1,788 |
| Boost Mobile | 633,411 | 91.77% | 101 | 1,694 |
| Best Buy | 6,726,276 | 79.14% | 257 | 1,308 |
| LifeProof | 111,248 | 86.96% | 905 | 1,287 |
| Sprint | 1,249,699 | 71.46% | 996 | 1,245 |
| Verizon Wireless | 5,048,084 | 67.68% | 462 | 1,075 |
| Applebees | 3,919,057 | 66.72% | 48 | 979 |
| Cox Comm. | 628,741 | 93.47% | 84 | 972 |
| Target | 21,770,541 | 74.74% | 238 | 893 |
| Source: Socialbakers | ||||
| * answered minus unanswered | ||||
RBR-TVBR observation: The numbers here provide valuable benchmarks. Look at your own social media interaction policy and the results achieved and compare it to this list of top users. Your goal should be to put up the kind of percentages that would make this list. Your company may not have the critical mass necessary to be included in such a national list, but you can certainly match the performance level at whatever scale you are operating.
