How to collect customer feedback using social media

Customer feedback can help you monitor your business, assess your product offerings, and even determine if your messaging is effective. Getting customer feedback doesn’t have to be difficult — in fact, you’re probably already using one of the most valuable sources of customer feedback: social media.

You can put your existing social media accounts to good use by collecting customer feedback in multiple ways.

Leverage social monitoring

While there are many ways to reach out to customers for feedback on social media, it’s also important not to overlook the value of social listening. 

Social listening tools like Linkfluence can automate this process, alerting you when people are discussing your brand. Alternatively, you can monitor your brand’s hashtag and keep a close eye on comments on your social media posts.

Social media monitoring has the added benefit of helping you spot negative comments and feedback early on. You can then take steps to remediate those issues by having real-time conversations and publicly demonstrating your dedication to customer satisfaction.

Start a poll

Most social media channels, including Instagram and Facebook, give you the option to create a basic poll. A poll gives users a more private way to submit feedback — as long as you set it to allow anonymous responses. Given that social media are, by nature, public, an anonymous poll lets your followers retain some privacy while still engaging on the platform.

Polls don’t have to be highly detailed — in fact, it’s often better when they’re simple and fun. A poll can be a great way to test a potential new design or service offering, giving you feedback before you’ve even launched the product.

Post a survey

You don’t have to stick to using social media polls, though, especially when you need more thorough, detailed feedback. Jotform’s feedback forms and surveys allow you to create custom questions so you get precisely the information you’re looking for.

Once you’ve created a form, you can share it on many social media platforms. You might choose to share the form link with followers, or you can embed forms on Facebook so your followers never even have to leave the platform. Embedding the forms makes filling them out more convenient — and that can increase the chances of followers taking the time to complete them.

Engage through Instagram Stories

When you’re getting ready to post on Instagram, consider creating a Story and asking your followers a question. When you have an engaged base of potential customers, you can get valuable insights from your followers’ responses to your questions. Consider asking a different question each week to create a dialogue with your followers while also collecting customer feedback.

Use-autoresponders

Facebook’s Messenger chatbot can be a powerful tool for gathering feedback. With the autoresponder feature, you can automatically message followers who comment on your posts. You might set up the bot to ask a question, ask followers to complete a survey, or even give them a discount code or prompt them to sign up for your newsletter.

The key to making this strategy effective lies in creating content that followers will comment on. This can take some trial and error, but the more familiar you are with your audience and the types of content followers respond to, the easier this process will be.

The bot also needs to be engaging to prompt followers to respond. Simply sending along a survey link out of the blue won’t be effective, so focus on ways you can get your followers engaged — like with a joke, a special offer, or some sort of attention-grabbing messaging.

Initiate conversations

While autoresponders can help you reach a broad audience, sometimes the personal touch is more effective. Direct messages give you a chance to follow up on previous conversations with a customer. This can be a good way to get feedback about a specific situation or issue. 

Plus, you’re showing that you truly value the customer’s support by reaching out to them.

Initiating this type of conversation through direct messaging may give you additional information about the overall customer experience, helping you identify ways to improve your business. Making this extra effort can also drive customer loyalty. 

Take advantage of live interaction

Your social media platforms have audiences who’ve already demonstrated that they’re interested in your business. What better way to harness that community interest than providing live, interactive opportunities?

Live streams are a valuable way to foster a sense of community while also letting you engage directly with your customers. You can host these events to celebrate new product launches, gather feedback on existing products, and so much more. Integrating live chats and Q&A sessions helps customers feel engaged and appreciated — and you get to ask specific questions and get valuable feedback in return.

Using social media accounts for feedback

Your social networks are a hub for customers and followers who are interested in your business. They’re also a valuable source of feedback and information. When you use them well, social media aren’t just for driving customers to your website. Instead, you can use these platforms for market research and customer feedback to build and improve your business.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels