Best Practices for Managing Customer Care on Social Media in 2025
Brooke B. Sellas
Leading Digital & Social Care Consultant | International Speaker | Digital CX | Social Media Listening | Contributor to CMSWire
Customer care on social media is more critical than ever before.
Social media has transformed the way brands interact with their customers, turning it into a vital channel for customer service. Whether your brand is large or small, offering excellent social media support can be the difference between retaining loyal customers or losing them to competitors.
Seriously, though. We aren’t eager to give brands a second chance when they mess up!
As we head into 2025, managing customer care on social media requires more strategic planning, better tools, and a well-trained team.
So, let’s get into the nitty gritty and unpack the best practices for managing customer care on social media.
Why Social Media Customer Care is Essential in 2025
Remember when social media was just a place to share photos or funny cat videos? Today, social media is a vital customer service channel.
That’s because we shop on social now. We research brands. And yeah, we go there to complain … a LOT! With over 4.7 billion users worldwide, many customers now expect instant replies and solutions to their problems through social platforms.
This shift is pushing companies to make social media support a top priority.
According to data from Sprout Social, 76% of consumers notice and appreciate when businesses prioritize customer support?on social media.
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To remain competitive in 2025, you must ensure that your social care strategy is fast, effective, and human-centered.
Key Challenges Facing Social Media Customer Care
Before jumping into the best practices, let’s focus on the challenges many businesses face when implementing customer care on social media.
From what we’ve seen at B Squared Media, common obstacles include:
Most importantly, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday behind us and Christmas, Boxing Day, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and more right in front of us,? each one of the four items listed above become a critical part of your holiday sales plan.
A Sprout Social Survey shows that this holiday season (2024), 57% of consumers plan to use social media for customer service as often as they did in 2023, with 35% expecting to use it even more.
Furthermore,?a staggering 89% of consumers say social media impacts their holiday shopping decisions.
Understanding these challenges allows you to build a proactive plan for delivering superior social care. So, let’s get into it!
Our 13 Best Practices for Managing Customer Care on Social Media
1. Respond Quickly to Customer Inquiries
Speed is the name of the game in social media customer care. Studies show that customers expect a response within an hour of reaching out on social media.
Brands that respond quickly not only resolve issues faster but also enhance their reputation.
How to Improve Response Times in Social Media Customer Care:
If you don’t have the capacity for any of the above, consider our Care Squared Training!
2. Personalize Your Interactions
While automation can help with efficiency, nothing beats the power of personalized customer care. Customers don’t want to feel like they’re talking to a robot.
In 2025, brands should make an effort to address customers by their names, acknowledge past interactions, and tailor responses to each individual’s situation.
For instance, using a CRM that integrates social media history can provide valuable insights into the customer’s preferences, allowing for more meaningful interactions.
3. Train Your Team on Empathy and Problem-Solving
Empathy is a cornerstone of excellent customer care on social media.
According to our research (and this blog post), brands that show empathy in their responses are more likely to win over frustrated customers.
It’s vital to train your team not just in technical knowledge but also in emotional intelligence. Customers want to feel heard and understood. When they sense genuine care, they’re more likely to remain loyal.
4. Use the Right Tools for Social Media Management
Having the right tools is crucial for managing customer care on social media. The market is full of tools designed to help brands monitor conversations, track response times, and manage customer data.
Tools like Sprout Social, Sprinklr, and Zendesk are excellent choices for integrating social media support into your overall customer care strategy.
These platforms allow you to handle multiple channels from one place, making it easier to respond quickly and efficiently.
5. Monitor Conversations Beyond Direct Messages
Many brands focus solely on mentions or direct messages when providing customer care on social media, but a significant portion of customer feedback happens indirectly.
Customers may discuss your brand without tagging you, so it’s important to use social listening tools to track untagged mentions and keywords related to your business.
Platforms like Mention or Brandwatch can help you keep an eye on these conversations and ensure no customer goes unheard.
Additionally, I encourage you to check out our free social listening workbook!
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6. Set Up a Self-Service Knowledge Base
In 2025, self-service will continue to be a popular option for customers who prefer to solve issues on their own.
Start by creating a knowledge base, Help Hub, or FAQ section that’s accessible through your social media profiles or website. You can reduce the number of inquiries your team has to handle by allowing customers to search for frequently asked questions before they reach out.
Ensure that this content is easy to navigate and regularly updated.
According to Zendesk, 69% of customers want self-service options to resolve issues without the need for human intervention.
7. Leverage Data-Driven Analytics to Improve Social Care
Analytics are essential for enhancing the performance of social media customer care.
Using data-driven insights can help brands optimize response times, identify common issues, and tailor their social media care strategies.
Check out this post, where we highlight the importance of tracking key metrics such as …
Brands that leverage these insights will have a significant edge in improving customer satisfaction.
8. Optimize Social Media Profiles for Customer Service
Many customers go directly to a brand’s social media profile when they need assistance. Duh, right?!
However, even though we all practically know this, few brands have their profiles set up for support. Optimizing your social profiles for customer service is a critical step to ensure smooth communication.
As we’ve suggested before, it’s important to provide clear contact options, pin helpful posts or FAQs, and ensure that your response times are visible. For example, check out the pinned posts for Instagram ideas below from Your Template Club.
By making it easy for customers to find the support they need, you reduce friction and enhance the customer experience.
9. Incorporate Social Care into Your Customer Experience Strategy
Integrating social media customer care into your broader customer experience (CX) strategy ensures a seamless approach to service.
By aligning your social care with other customer service channels, you can create a more unified and consistent experience across all touchpoints.
I urge you to think about how aligning teams and tools across social media, email, phone, and live chat can improve efficiency and customer satisfaction. Not just for 2025, but well beyond!
10. Master the Art of Social Media Response
Crafting the perfect social media response requires a balance of speed, empathy, and precision.
Whether it’s a complaint, inquiry, or praise, every response should be crafted thoughtfully, ensuring that it aligns with your brand’s voice while addressing the customer’s concerns effectively.
And, if you haven’t already, check out our 25 copy and paste scripts you can steal!
11. Be Proactive, Not Just Reactive
Effective customer care on social media is not just about responding to problems; it’s also about anticipating them.
By regularly posting tips, updates, and FAQs on your social media channels, you can prevent common issues before they arise.
For example, if you know that a product update has caused confusion, address it upfront with a detailed social media post.
Important notice: We’re working on a software update to address [issue] which will be released as soon as possible. Stay tuned here [link] for details.”
This type of proactive communication can build trust and reduce the volume of inquiries your team handles.
12. Handle Negative Feedback with Care
Negative feedback is inevitable. However,?how you handle it can make all the difference.
When customers leave complaints on social media, respond publicly and acknowledge their concerns. Then, try to take the conversation into a private message to resolve the issue.
Furthermore, we’ve found that public apologies combined with private resolutions can turn unhappy customers into loyal advocates. And if you have five minutes? Check out our post on how to avoid the most common social media customer care mistakes.
13. Incorporate Feedback into Continuous Improvement
Creating feedback loops in social care is a must for any brand that wants to stay connected with its audience.
At its core, social care is about keeping an open conversation where every interaction offers valuable insights.” ~ Brooke Sellas
The process involves actively gathering feedback from all social touchpoints, including comments, reactions, shares, direct messages, and even complaints. This feedback helps you understand what your audience values, struggles with, or expects.
By analyzing this information, your company can adjust sales and marketing strategies in meaningful ways. Whether it’s …
… feedback loops ensure that the approach stays relevant and audience-focused.
These loops act as a real-time gauge of customer sentiment. They enable brands to move from reacting to problems to anticipating needs, addressing concerns before they escalate, and aligning their efforts with audience priorities.
Done well, feedback loops strengthen trust and build a sense of community, turning social care into a meaningful driver of loyalty and connection.
Ready to Crush Social Care in 2025?!
Managing customer care on social media in 2025 requires a combination of speed, empathy, and technology.
With the right strategies in place, brands can turn social media into a powerful customer service tool that builds loyalty and boosts their reputation. Whether it’s personalizing interactions, using cutting-edge tools, or proactively addressing common concerns, these best practices will help you navigate the ever-evolving world of social media customer care.
By following these guidelines and continuously adapting to new trends, your brand can stay ahead of the competition and create memorable experiences for your customers.
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AI Integration | Marketing Agility | AI Thought Leadership | Global Speaking
2 个月Brooke, it's interesting to see how social media is shaping holiday shopping decisions. Investing in customer experience is definitely the way to go!