Twitter and customer service

This article was published in the online magazine Frankwatching.nl in November 2010.

What are multinationals Tweeting?

Use of Twitter as a communication tool by multinationals is still in its infancy. That is the conclusion of a worldwide study of Twitter usage by ten large companies from the Fortune list of the world’s ’50 Most Admired Companies’. Although many companies have multiple Twitter profiles, not many of them set up their profiles professionally and the individual profiles are often quite different in terms of tone and content. As a consumer, should you be at @toyota_europe or @toyota_EU?

The T-Mobile affaire caused a media storm that has already lasted for several weeks and shows no signs of letting up. By voicing his complaints regarding the second largest mobile telecom service provider in the Netherlands via his Twitter account, Van ‘t Hek immediately received the attention he wanted from the T-Mobile customer service, along with a solution for his problem.

The power of social media in the hands of consumers who want answers to their questions and solutions for problems is not really new. Comcast, the American cable and Internet giant, is one of the first companies to have been confronted with that power. Comcast learned its painful lesson and is now recognised as a leader in the use of Twitter as a customer service channel. Large companies in the Netherlands, including KLM, are also following suit with a stronger role for social media in customer communication. But just how serious are these companies about social media in reality?

International Twitter study

A worldwide study executed by the UXalliance reveals that Twitter as a communication tool for large international companies is still very much in its infancy. In the context of World Usability Day, the international network of user experience professionals studied use of Twitter as a communication tool by 10 of the world’s ‘50 Most Admired Companies’ in 17 countries.

More than 300 Tweets in 17 countries

The objective of the study was to find out how Twitter is used by large companies to communicate with customers. Is Twitter only used for this purpose at global or corporate level, or do individual country sites also have their own Twitter accounts? And how do large companies use their Twitter accounts?

To find answers to these questions, more than 300 Tweets (containing questions, comments, complaints and suggestions) were sent to local Twitter accounts in 17 countries. The study also looked at how easy it was to find the right account and how quickly and carefully companies responded to Tweets, when they did respond...

Toyota Twitters best

The research revealed that there are is little uniformity in the way in which different large companies integrate Twitter into their communication (& social media) strategy. An even more striking revelation is that large companies have done very little to standardize the use of global and local Twitter accounts or the relationships between those accounts within their own organisations.

In the research findings, the companies are ranked according to their Twitter performance. With a score of 6.9, Toyota rolled out of the research as the best of the bunch, while BMW landed at the bottom of the heap, with a score of 4.3.

Twitter ranking for studied companies (Source: UXalliance)

Reactions and Twitter profiles

The researchers primarily assessed use of Twitter in large companies based on how quickly and thoroughly companies responded to Tweets, but they also scored the companies on how easy or difficult it was to find the right Twitter account and how recognizable the accounts were. There was a huge difference from company to company and from country to country.

Responses to Tweets

60% of the Tweets were not answered at all. 12% were answered within 12 hours. Of the ten companies studied, BMW received the lowest scores, in all countries in which it operates, with a response rate of less than 20%.

Response times for studied companies (Source: UXalliance)

Twitter profiles

The researchers found the biggest differences in the way in which the companies presented themselves on the Internet with their Twitter accounts. Unfortunate account names, multiple accounts in a single country, poorly written bios and inconsistent branding and logos leave consumers in uncertainty regarding the authenticity of the accounts. Read further to find out where Sony, Toyota and Microsoft go wrong in their profiles.

The Sony profile

The difference between @SonyNederland and @Sony_NL is not clear at first glance to the consumer. With just 5 Tweets and 5 Followers, the latter account does not like an official Sony account. But the same is true of the @SonyNederland account. Although the Twitter profile for this account mentions ‘Sony/press’, the Sony website makes no mention whatsoever of Twitter. Despite its profile problems, Sony did end with fourth place in the overall Twitter performance ranking.

The Toyota profile

The Twitter names used by Toyota in Europe are as unclear as the Twitter names used by Sony Netherlands. The difference @toyota_europe and @Toyota_EU is completely unclear, aside from the fact that the first account is maintained by Colin Hensley and the second by Alain Taverriti.

The lack of clarity in profile names forces consumers to waste valuable time trying to find the right place to go with their questions and problems. The problem is aggravated in Toyota’s case by the fact that the two profiles send consumers to two different websites. @Toyota_EU sends its innocent consumers to the media website of Toyota Europe, a site meant for media professionals that requires users to log in before they can see anything. @toyota_europe, which bills itself ‘Toyota’s European Headquarters Twitter Account’ sends consumers to the far friendlier Toyota blog ‘Aim: Zero Emissions’. How’s that for confusing!

The Microsoft profile

Microsoft ranked fifth in overall Twitter performance, despite the fact that they have put a decent amount of effort into standardizing their worldwide and local accounts. The worldwide account @MicrosoftHelps is matched by similar accounts in each country (e.g. @MicrosoftHelpt for the Netherlands). Thumbs up for Microsoft!

First of all, the name is well chosen, if you are looking for help from Microsoft. Second of all, the bio tells consumers that they are dealing with the ‘official account for Microsoft Customer Service & Support’. Clarity!

The profile also links to the Microsoft support site (and vice versa) and even gives Twitter opening times (in certain countries, but more on that in a moment).

Twitter support staff are listed by name in the profile and staff sign their Tweets with their initials (e.g. ^BK), giving consumers the idea that responses are from a real person, Brian in the case of ^BK.

Unfortunately, the hint of uniformity is deceptive in the case of Microsoft and Twitter. The Dutch Twitter profile, for instance, does not mention opening times and the design and style of the Dutch profile is completely different from the design and style of other Microsoft country profiles. In terms of look and feel, the Dutch profile is completely different from the French and Brazilian profiles, while the French and Brazilian profiles are almost perfect matches.

A lack of uniformity in profile content and style, a lack of clarity in profile naming and the complete lack of a response in far too many cases combine to leave consumers confused.

What should consumers be able to expect?

Profiles: Customer Service versus Corporate Communications

Profile pages often fail to describe the role that Twitter plays in the organization. Of course, there are exceptions.

Profile pages often fail to describe the role that Twitter plays in the organization. Of course, there are exceptions.
Microsoft, with Twitter support accounts and integration with local support sites, makes clear what consumers can expect from its Twitter strategy: customer service. When a consumer asks @MicrosoftHelps a question, the consumer should be able to expect an answer, as the same is true of questions submitted via e-mail to Microsoft’s support organization.

Unfortunately, the consumer cannot expect a quick answer to questions asked of @Microsoft, 'The official Twitter page for Microsoft consumer products and your source for major announcements and events'. The ratio of Followers (approximately 5,000 when this was written) to the number of people followed by the account (approximately 150) would appear to indicate that communication between Microsoft and its consumers is a one-way street, at least as far as Twitter goes.

This is even more true of the recently launched Twitter account Microsoft News, 'the official Twitter account for Microsoft Corporate Communications'. This account follows 286 people, while it has 150,000 Followers. This is quite obviously a ‘broadcast-only’ Twitter account.

Obviously, there is a difference between a customer service Twitter account and a corporate Twitter account. The fact that the two types of accounts respond differently to Tweets (in which the accounts are mentioned) is only logical. The published research findings do not make this distinction, however. The report compares customer service Twitter accounts and other types of Twitter accounts like apples and oranges.

Toyota scores, with a random response…

While Microsoft tells Twitter users about the role their Twitter accounts play in the organization, Toyota, ranked top in overall Twitter performance, leaves consumers completely in the dark on this score. Consumers who want to get in touch with Toyota via Twitter will find no information on the Toyota website to help them achieve that goal. But all is not lost: official Toyota accounts can be found using the search function on the Twitter site. The dialogue below is used in the published research findings to illustrate Toyota’s Twitter performance:

• Researcher in Tweet to @Toyota_EU: I’m trying to find out how to get my iPhone working with the integrated carkit in my Rav4. Tips?
• @Toyota_EU: Sorry, gotta check that! Am more used to dealing with media info requests than with carkits :)
• @Toyota_EU: Check your iPhone compatibility at the website and let me know whether you get it to work! (via Direct Message)

Alain Taverriti, who maintains the @Toyota_EU account and is more used to dealing with media info requests than carkits, had the decency to respond to the question and to offer a solution - quickly. Good work on Alain’s part of course. We can also applaud Toyota for hiring an employee with this type of dedication. Still, this random exchange says absolutely nothing about Toyota’s Twitter communication strategy.

Response times

Despite its apparent lack of a clear Twitter communication strategy, the researchers ranked Toyota number 1 for overall Twitter performance. Response times were a heavily weighted factor in overall Twitter performance and Toyota responded to Tweets within 2 hours. Response time is a strange measure of performance when you consider the fact that Tweets can be send from anywhere at anytime of the day or night. Alain clearly answered the researcher’s Tweet during office hours. That’s clear in any case.

Companies cannot afford to pay people 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to answer tweets, which means that we cannot expect to receive a response within two hours from a local account for a Tweet sent in the middle of the night. A response time of less than two hours is just not possible for these Tweets. The number of workdays it took the companies to respond to Tweets would have been a more realistic measure of their Twitter performance.

Social media monitoring

The report does not look at social media monitoring. Tweets that mentioned a given brand or product, but were not sent to a specific account were ignored in the study. That is unfortunate, since Tweets that say things like ‘product X from company Y is a terrible product’ often contain the most valuable information.

Companies obviously do not have to respond to these Tweets, but they can cull important information from them. T-Mobile, for instance, was able to respond adequately to the Tweets issued by Youp van ‘t Hek, because it was able to monitor Twitter.

Monitoring Twitter, as well as other social media, is an important part of any company’s social media performance. By plucking the cabaret performer’s Tweets out of the air on Twitter, @tmobile_webcare was able to gather the information it needed to contain the damage.

Lack of clear guidelines for Twitter usage

One of the most important questions that the study was designed to answer was whether communication with consumers via official company Twitter accounts was efficient and effective. The answer to this question is no: it is not efficient or effective enough.

The biggest problem appears to be that ‘the industry’ has not issued clear guidelines for Twitter-based consumer communication and that there are not many companies that can be considered a good example of a company that uses Twitter efficiently and effectively to communicate with its consumers. The medium may just not be mature enough yet for that. And we would be premature if we were to attempt to make a final assessment of the performance of any particular company in the area of Twitter usage.

One thing that the research makes perfectly clear is that there is plenty of room for improvement in the way in which companies present themselves on Twitter.

Microsoft seems to be moving in the right direction:

• Microsoft makes a clear distinction between Twitter accounts with one-way communication and Twitter accounts that encourage interaction;
• The relationship between Microsoft’s corporate website, marketing and communication website, local support sites worldwide and all of the associated Twitter accounts is clear;
• Microsoft has tried to give its Twitter accounts a consistent look & feel, bio, URL and links, location indication and language.

Characteristics of Twitter company profiles

Depending on how the company plans to use Twitter in its social media landscape, there are certain general guidelines with which Twitter-based company profiles should comply:

The characteristics of different types of Twitter accounts for companies (Source: User Intelligence)

1. A corporate Twitter account (@Company) is used to send out corporate Tweets (in English), containing announcements, key annual figures and press releases to a large number of Followers. This account follows a very limited number of people. This account does not send out answers to Tweets.
2. One or more local Twitter accounts (@Company_Local) are used to send out Tweets that are relevant to local Followers. The accounts are uniform in terms of visual style and communication and are recognisable as part of the parent company. These accounts may also follow a number of people, e.g. opinion leaders. These accounts may occasionally reply to Tweets, where relevant, but they do not get involved in a dialogue.
3. Local Twitter accounts are used to actively engage in dialogue with consumers. These accounts may be customer service accounts (@Company_Local_Help) or simply an alternative to the standard contact form. These accounts actively initiate dialogue with consumers ('Contact us' rather than 'Follow us'). These accounts follow a large number of people.
4. All of the above Twitter accounts have a clear description of the purpose of the account in the account bio, with a clear indication of the type of communication in which the account engages (e.g. ‘only sends Tweets’, ‘dialogue’, etc.) and helpful items such as opening hours.
5. All of the company’s Twitter accounts should be recognisable and make an authentic impression. The accounts should include links to the company website and the company website should include links to the company’s Twitter accounts.

Finally...

Use of social media (particularly Twitter) is on the rise. The rise of social media gives people like Youp van ‘t Hek a stage on which to display the power of consumer. Companies need to think about the role of social media in their customer service strategy and their online presence. Companies that do not are at risk of being trampled by the competition because they are missing out on an enormous treasure trove of valuable (marketing) information.

Companies that want to weather the social media storm must employ Twitter as an integral part of their online strategy and social media landscape. And this is particularly true of larger companies (like T-Mobile). After all, the bigger the company, the bigger the target!

The UXalliance research report can be requested by e-mail at aimeeuxalliance [dot] com.