It’s 2025, and social media is (for better or worse) a staple in just about everyone’s lives. Social has long been more than just a place for brand awareness and engagement—in the past five years or so, it has become a primary customer service channel for companies large and small. Customers are turning to platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and sometimes still X (though we don’t recommend it) to get quick answers to their questions, voice their concerns, and expect real-time interactions with businesses. Yet, despite the growing importance of social media as a customer service tool, many companies still leave this responsibility in the hands of interns or junior staff.
That can be a costly mistake.
Before we get into more about using social media as a customer service channel, first, a few statistics you may find interesting:
Social Media As Customer Service: The Data
- 71% of consumers are more likely to buy from again and recommend a company to their friends based on social media responses.
- 76% of customers expect a reply within 24 hours.
- 88% of customers are less likely to buy from a brand that leaves complaints unanswered on social media.
These numbers make one thing clear: ignoring, or mismanaging, your social media customer service can directly impact your bottom line. As a publicly-visible medium, your social profiles represent you, even if you aren’t the one sitting in the driver’s seat.
Why Social Media Customer Service Needs Experienced Hands
While it might seem like a simple job to handle a few comments and messages, social media customer service requires skill, strategy, and experience. Here’s why:
1. Brand Reputation is On the Line
As we mentioned, social media interactions happen in public view. A single misstep, unprofessional response, or ignored complaint can go viral, damaging your brand’s reputation. An intern or junior staff may not have the crisis management experience to handle complex customer issues effectively.
2. Customers Expect Speed and Professionalism
With 76% of people expecting a response within a day (and many within an hour), companies need trained professionals who understand customer expectations, brand voice, and issue resolution best practices. Companies also need to provide those fielding social media requests the proper tools and systems to resolve issues when they do occur.
3. Social Media is a Sales Driver
Studies show that effective social media customer service can increase revenue per customer. Responding quickly and efficiently doesn’t just solve problems—it builds trust and loyalty, leading to more conversions and repeat business.
4. Complex Issues Require Expertise
What starts as a simple comment can escalate into a brand crisis if not handled properly. Understanding how to de-escalate situations, move conversations to private channels, and provide professional responses is essential.
The Solution: Investment in Social Media As Customer Support
If social media is a primary customer service channel, it should be treated as such. That doesn’t mean, however, that every business and non-profit in the country needs a full-time, dedicated social media staff.
It does mean that you should reconsider handing over the keys to the kingdom to the CEO’s high school-aged niece, either. Think of social as accomplishing multiple goals, marketing and customer service, and develop processes and trainings for social media staff to handle both. In many cases, we have seen success with businesses having a less experienced social media manager put in charge of content development, while a staff member on the sales or support staff fields customer support requests.
As a digital marketing agency, Screechy Cat Media offers support for social media in a variety of ways. For smaller businesses and nonprofits, we can develop content, create monthly or quarterly content calendars, and work with your team to develop customer support protocol for social media. With larger organizations, Screechy Cat Media offers retainer packages starting at $500 a month, which includes content development and a content calendar, as well as a number of hours to allow for daily social media management.
Final Thoughts
Social media is where your customers are, and from what we have seen, it’s where they expect quality customer service. So why leave it to the person on your staff with the least experience? Instead of treating social media as an afterthought, prioritize it as a vital part of your customer experience strategy. Your reputation—and your revenue—depends on it.
