Hootsuite CEO：改變企業社交媒體使用方式的五大趨勢

????客戶服務：社交媒體與手機齊上陣

????航空、互聯網、有線電視以及許多其他行業都表示，把客戶服務搬上社交媒體后，給他們帶來了顯著的效益。消費者的滿意度之所以會增加，是由于社交媒體的客服體驗更加人性化，同時也比“800服務電話”或通過電子郵件聯系更加方便快捷。由于對話基本上都是公開的，因此有合理的理由發牢騷的顧客往往會獲得更好的待遇，同時企業如果處理得當，也會很快在社交網絡上得到認可。

????但這些好處也可能成為負擔。很多客戶信息非常敏感，不能在社交媒體上公開討論。另外有些問題比較復雜，很難在140個單詞的微博里完全解決。當然，也不是每家公司都想把不體面的事情公諸于世。不過，一些新的產品正在整合電話服務和社交媒體服務的長處，同時還能減少潛在的負面影響。

????明年有可能出現的一個新功能，就是所謂的“推文回電”鏈接。比如一個顧客通過Twitter反映了一個棘手的問題，一家公司就可以發送一條單獨的鏈接。點開該鏈接，用戶會得到一個單獨的電話號碼，可以直接聯系到能夠解決問題的某一位服務代表。一旦通話結束，該號碼就會失效。

????通過這種辦法，用戶既能享受社交媒體帶來的快捷的響應時間，又能享受到傳統電話服務的隱私與全面性。另外企業可以繼續提供獨立的電話服務，以解決那些通過低成本的社交渠道無法有效解決的特定問題。

????最大的社交媒體創新或從“后門”而來

????云計算改變了軟件和技術（包括社交媒體）進入企業的方式。過去一切都是IT總監說了算，但是現在，所有部門的員工都在積極尋找能讓他們的工作做得更好的應用和服務。很多應用使用的免費增值模式使用戶可以免費使用一些應用或服務的基本版，也使用戶能更容易地試用新產品。這些云工具一般更加直觀也更易用，就像Facebook和其他消費型應用一樣（這種趨勢又被叫做IT的“消費化”）。

????所有這些趨勢意味著，雖然很難預測明年哪些應用會真正大紅大紫，但是下一波重大的社交媒體創新，可能已經在你的公司里悄然醞釀。正如現在已經非常普及的效率社交應用Yammer（用于內部社交）、Dropbox（用于文件分享）和谷歌的Hangouts（用于電話會議）等應用首先在一線員工中流行起來一樣，下一波更好的社交媒體工具也會從企業的底層先火起來。

????想看看你的公司以后會用哪種社交媒體嗎？不妨找一個剛進公司的新人（有19歲左右的實習生更好），把她的筆記本電腦或手機借來，看看她正在使用哪些應用。（財富中文網）

????本文作者萊恩?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.