The "voice" of companies in the social media era, according to Qualtrics research

[nusratjahan]

Qualtrics , a company acquired by SAP specializing in experience management (XM) software , recently conducted a survey of over 1,000 people in the United States. According to the study, 85% of respondents believe a company appreciates feedback left online, but paradoxically, only 34% believe their comments have an impact. Two-thirds said the companies they contacted ignored their comments and, even if they noticed, took no action. That said, there are small steps you can take to increase your chances of being among the third of people who were heard and whose posted content resulted in action.

Choosing the right platform
About a third of respondents prefer to contact a company via email. Although email is the preferred contact method, the expectation of receiving a response is low, especially among millennials . The sample reported expecting a response within a day: 80% of respondents wanted to receive shop a response within 24 hours. However, people between the ages of 18 and 24 said they expected an email response within an hour, and email tends not to guarantee this kind of speed.

Social media is where the fastest responses are obtained; about a quarter of respondents cite social media as their preferred place to receive feedback from a company. After all, social media is a public space, and interactions can't be ignored or put on hold. But not all platforms are created equal, so the methods for writing a comment or sending a message vary from channel to channel.

More than half of social media users use Facebook to leave comments on business pages, including complaints, compliments, reporting problems, or suggestions. But among the platforms surveyed—Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter—Facebook was the channel with the longest response times and the lowest response rates. Of those surveyed who use Facebook, 72% expected a response within 24 hours, and 68% actually received one. People and businesses who use Facebook to send feedback are twice as likely to receive no response.

The other three platforms, however, exceeded respondents' expectations in terms of response to their messages. On Instagram, for example, 60% of users want to receive feedback from the brand within 24 hours, and 78% of people reported that they actually received a response within that timeframe. Of all the social media platforms analyzed, companies responded most quickly on Instagram: an organization is 25% more likely to respond within minutes on Instagram than on Twitter, which is known to be the fastest platform for engagement.