10 Brands Using Twitter for Customer Service

In addition to social media marketing, Twitter offers companies an easy way to expand their customer service efforts. Twitter provides shoppers with a simple and immediate tool to get help from a brand. Twitter also provides companies with a good way to find out what consumers want.

Here is a list of brands using Twitter for customer service. Each of these Twitter feeds has strengths. While some are more familiar and even fun in tone, others focus on providing solutions for their customers.

Xbox Support

Xbox Support on Twitter.

@XboxSupport holds the Guinness World Record for most responsive account, having responded to over 5,000 questions in one week with an average response time of 2 minutes 42 seconds. Operators end their tweets with their initials, and their names are listed on the dedicated-support Twitter page.

—

UPS Customer Support

UPS Customer Support on Twitter.

@UPSHelp is the official UPS customer support feed on Twitter. It’s staffed seven days a week. Each tweet ends with the initials of customer support representatives, and the names of the customer support team are listed on the conversation page. This is a good feed to follow if you’re curious to see a high volume of anxious customers, particularly during the holidays.

—

JetBlue Airways

JetBlue Airways on Twitter.

@JetBlue combines friendly customer service with fun travel content, such as its #FlyingItForward initiative to provide fliers with tickets to spread goodwill. Its customer conversations are warm, but, more importantly, they seek to get travelers where they’re going. @JetBlue has nearly 2 million followers.

—

Nike Support

Nike Support on Twitter.

@NikeSupport is a dedicated support feed, in addition to the regular @Nike feed on Twitter. @NikeSupport is about athletes helping athletes, seven days a week. This feed is a good example of how brands need to provide new levels of support as their products and customers become more technological. The conversations are not just about shoes — they’re about athletes needing support with sophisticated devices to monitor and enhance extreme athletic performance.

—

ComcastCares

ComcastCares on Twitter.

@ComcastCares is the support feed for Comcast’s XFINITY TV, Internet, and home media services. It offers daily support from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. EST. Despite its promotional tweets, many conversations involve upset customers with service problems. To instill customers with more accessibility and accountability, support representatives have their own Twitter pages, such as @ComcastWill and @ComcastCamille.

—

Amazon Help

@AmazonHelp engaging a customer with service options.

@AmazonHelp answers Amazon support questions seven days a week. Surprisingly, it doesn’t have a huge number of followers (71K), but it’s another good place to see a high volume of conversations between merchant representatives and anxious customers. In the above conversation, the representative does a good job of engaging the customer with the right service options, helping to convert an annoyed customer into a relieved one.

—

Zappos.com

Zappos.com on Twitter.

@Zappos_Service is the dedicated support feed for Zappos.com, which also has a standard @Zappos feed. Staffed 24/7, @Zappos_Service provides a uniquely hands-on and personable voice, tweeting when a support rep’s shift starts and ends, similar to the programming of radio DJs. In the above example, Matt’s signing on, and he’ll be there if we need him. Questions have timely responses, and support reps make full use of Zappos.com’s quirky reputation.

—

AskTarget

AskTarget on Twitter.

@AskTarget is the dedicated support feed for guest service questions at Target. The retail giant also has a general @Target handle. @AskTarget has a relatively small number of followers, and a large number of conversations are about problematic experiences at its store. However, the support feed deftly handles complaints, feedback, and requests for help. It actively solicits comments on store locations to improve its customer experience.

—

Tesco

Tesco on Twitter.

@Tesco is the feed for Tesco, the U.K. grocery giant and one of the world’s largest retailers. However, the friendly and helpful support representatives create a much more personal experience. Its representatives go out of their way to resolve issues and provide practical help for customers, rather than forwarding problems on to other service departments.

—

Lululemon

Lululemon turns a shipping error into an opportunity on Twitter.

@Lululemon, the Twitter handle for Lululemon, the athletic apparel company, may not handle the volume of customer issues as the others, but a recent snafu demonstrates the power of social media. In the above conversation, Angelo Lagdameo mistakenly received 19 running torques. Instead of returning the items, Lululemon had him gives them to friends, turning the error into a found promotion for its #NationalYogaDay campaign.

—