Community Forums – The Unsung Hero in Social Support

Community Forums – The Unsung Hero in Social Support

Social Customer Service has become an X-Factor in developing lasting relationships with customers. But while 1 in 3 users prefer contacting brands through social channels over the phone for customer service, are they really the best social channels for consumers to resolve their issues?

According to data in this new infographic from HP, communities/forums are really an under-appreciated channel for customer service. Research shows as many as 40% of their customers are using this often overlooked form of social support to resolve their issue.

So why should you want to consider community forums or support sites for your own brand?
Consider the context.
While on Twitter or Facebook, an individual might see a friend in their social network encountering a problem with another company and reach out to help them, but those requests are few and far between. Community forums and support groups empower others to share knowledge freely and often. As HP reports, 37% of brand advocates want to help others make smart decisions.

Instead of waiting for those all-too-perfect moments of spontaneity through social, why would you not create an ecosystem where individuals WANT to help each other?

Additionally, forums are usually highly indexed by search engines, and with 90% of users going to a site before calling or contacting support, you can imagine a significant amount of search traffic contributing to the path of discovery online for a customer’s answers.

Do you use any community support platform or other type of forum-style product for your site? What types of interactions are you seeing yourself? Share with us in the comments below.