Just last week, Twitter announced its improved features for followers.
Twitter has a new feature. It enables businesses to tell their followers and other app users the times when they are most active. Cool, right? This means that businesses can now display their hours of availability on their profile.
Twitter officials said its users regularly want the choice to communicate about support issues via Tweets or Direct Messages since sometimes support issues require sharing personal information or longer descriptions of issues.
The new features, announced Thursday September 16, 2016, allow business accounts to indicate that they provide support. Twitter will then add that information to suggestions when people search for a business. The same is true when they mention a business in a tweet, or search for it in direct messages. Once this option is enabled, the words “provides support” will become visible on the company’s profile. Opting for this feature also activates the account’s ability to receive direct messages from anyone — even those who are not following it.
Even the direct message button has been enlarged to make it more prominent.
“This release builds on previously released Direct Message links and Customer Feedback cards to help businesses provide better service on Twitter. Each has shown great success,” Twitter said in a blog post Thursday. “Early use has also shown that customers who are sent a Direct Message link actually send a message 30% more often than those who are asked to send a message via text only.”
This is not the first time Twitter has sought to shift the interaction between customers and companies to a private channel rather than a public tweet. In February, the company rolled out a feature that allowed businesses to add a deep link to their Tweets. The link automatically displays a “send a private message” link. This allows the customer to send a direct message to companies. Some of the smaller companies now have a better chance to contact bigger corporations.
Direct Messages are a great way for customers to have a private conversation with a business. Customer service conversations often start in Tweets. But then they need to transition to a private channel when personal information is required. Twitter said in a blog post at the time, “We’re making that transition as easy as a single click.”
Special thanks to IBTimes.com and Twitter.com for much of the content found in this article. Next up, information on Twitter’s new “Moments.” Look for content about it this weekend over on Epic Ecommerce Tools.
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