Hootsuite CEO：改变企业社交媒体使用方式的五大趋势

    客户服务：社交媒体与手机齐上阵

    航空、互联网、有线电视以及许多其他行业都表示，把客户服务搬上社交媒体后，给他们带来了显著的效益。消费者的满意度之所以会增加，是由于社交媒体的客服体验更加人性化，同时也比“800服务电话”或通过电子邮件联系更加方便快捷。由于对话基本上都是公开的，因此有合理的理由发牢骚的顾客往往会获得更好的待遇，同时企业如果处理得当，也会很快在社交网络上得到认可。

    但这些好处也可能成为负担。很多客户信息非常敏感，不能在社交媒体上公开讨论。另外有些问题比较复杂，很难在140个单词的微博里完全解决。当然，也不是每家公司都想把不体面的事情公诸于世。不过，一些新的产品正在整合电话服务和社交媒体服务的长处，同时还能减少潜在的负面影响。

    明年有可能出现的一个新功能，就是所谓的“推文回电”链接。比如一个顾客通过Twitter反映了一个棘手的问题，一家公司就可以发送一条单独的链接。点开该链接，用户会得到一个单独的电话号码，可以直接联系到能够解决问题的某一位服务代表。一旦通话结束，该号码就会失效。

    通过这种办法，用户既能享受社交媒体带来的快捷的响应时间，又能享受到传统电话服务的隐私与全面性。另外企业可以继续提供独立的电话服务，以解决那些通过低成本的社交渠道无法有效解决的特定问题。

    最大的社交媒体创新或从“后门”而来

    云计算改变了软件和技术（包括社交媒体）进入企业的方式。过去一切都是IT总监说了算，但是现在，所有部门的员工都在积极寻找能让他们的工作做得更好的应用和服务。很多应用使用的免费增值模式使用户可以免费使用一些应用或服务的基本版，也使用户能更容易地试用新产品。这些云工具一般更加直观也更易用，就像Facebook和其他消费型应用一样（这种趋势又被叫做IT的“消费化”）。

    所有这些趋势意味着，虽然很难预测明年哪些应用会真正大红大紫，但是下一波重大的社交媒体创新，可能已经在你的公司里悄然酝酿。正如现在已经非常普及的效率社交应用Yammer（用于内部社交）、Dropbox（用于文件分享）和谷歌的Hangouts（用于电话会议）等应用首先在一线员工中流行起来一样，下一波更好的社交媒体工具也会从企业的底层先火起来。

    想看看你的公司以后会用哪种社交媒体吗？不妨找一个刚进公司的新人（有19岁左右的实习生更好），把她的笔记本电脑或手机借来，看看她正在使用哪些应用。（财富中文网）

    本文作者莱恩•荷姆斯是Hootsuite公司的CEO。

    Customer service: Social media and phones work in tandem

    Airlines, Internet, cable providers and many other industries have reported significant benefits from handling customer service on social media. Consumer satisfaction goes up because the experience is more personalized and responses are often much faster than communications via traditional channels like 1-800 numbers or email. Because conversations are generally public, clients with legitimate gripes have a better shot at equitable treatment and companies that handle problems well get instant recognition on social media.

    But those same benefits can be liabilities. Lots of customer information is too sensitive to discuss openly on social media. Complex problems can be hard to resolve in a series of 140-character Tweets. And, of course, not every company is eager to have its dirty laundry aired to the world. New offerings, however, are bringing together the best elements of social customer service and phone service, while reducing potential blowback.

    One new option you can expect to see in the year ahead is the riseof personalized Tweet-to-call links. Say a customer reaches out via Twitter with a tricky problem. This technology enables a company to Tweet back with a custom link that works only for that particular customer. Clicking on the link leads to a special phone number that connects directly with a service rep, who can handle the issue. Once the conversation has ended, the phone number is deactivated.

    In this way, customers get the quick response times of social media coupled with the privacy and versatility of traditional phone service. And companies can offer discrete, on-demand phone service for those special problems that can’t be handled effectively via low-cost social channels.

    The biggest social media innovations will come through the back door

    The cloud has changed the way software and technology – includingsocial media – enters companies. In the past, IT directors called the shots. Now, however, employees in all departments are actively seeking out the apps and services that let them do their jobs best. Freemium pricing, which allows access to basic versions of software at no cost, makes it easy to test-drive new products. And these cloud-based tools tend to be intuitive and easy to use, just like Facebook and other consumer-oriented apps (a trend known as the “consumerization of IT”).

    All of this means that, while it’s near impossible to predict exactly which apps will take off in the year ahead, the next great social media innovation may already be percolating through the ranks of your company. Just as it was frontline employees who spurred the adoption of now ubiquitous time- and money-saving social tools like Yammer (for internal social networking), Dropbox (for file sharing) and Google Hangouts (for conference calling), so will the next, best social media tools rise from the bottom up within companies.

    Want a peek into the social media future at your business? Ask to borrow the laptop or phone of the newbie straight out of college (or, better yet, the 19-year-old intern) and see which apps she’s using.

    Ryan Holmes is CEO of Hootsuite.