Factors Impacting Adoption of Social Media Channels for Customer Service Management: A Review

The number of active social media users as of 2022 is estimated at 4.62 billion, accounting for 58% of the global population and registering rapid growth. This growth can be attributed to various factors such as advances in smartphone technology, cloud, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and rapid progress in network access mediums. Furthermore, social media platforms provide rich, collaborative ways for consumers to stay connected and to express their experiences, feedback, and sentiment on products and services across both public and private forums. This has a direct impact on enterprise brand valuations, and as such, it is becoming increasingly important for enterprises to actively track such public expressions. This has led to the rapid proliferation of social media management platforms and their adoption by enterprises to monitor and analyse social media trends and is a key aspect of digital transformation. This includes various use cases, for example, the ability to run marketing campaigns to boost brand awareness and to analyse consumer trends and brand perception through social media analytics. However, given the impact social media can have on enterprise brand valuations, it is now becoming increasingly important for businesses to re-evaluate their Customer Experience (CX) management strategies to include social media channels for customer service, beyond marketing and social insights. This is in addition to contemporary customer service channels such as online, contact centres and branches. This study aims to explore the key factors impacting the adoption of social media channels for customer experience management. It does so by way of a literature review conducted on the evolution of social media channels, their usage by consumers and the corresponding impact on enterprise brands, and the application of social media management tools. The study notes that social media adoption by enterprises depends on various factors such as usability, response strategies, blending with other customer service channels, technology integration and corporate governance. These factors are formulated in the form of research questions which could form the basis for future studies and be validated empirically. The paper contributes by providing practical insights to enterprises on factors to consider for adopting social media channels for customer service management.