Voice of the customer grows louder through social media.

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (04/06/2011)(readMedia)-- April is customer service month, a time to celebrate the myriad ways companies can delight their customers. Today's customer may be reached through multiple channels, both online and off; in turn, there may be the expectation on the part of the customer that the brand is similarly accessible, even responsive thanks to social media.

It is with the proliferation of public online platforms and an increasingly socialized culture that new opportunities and responsibilities emerge in the area of customer satisfaction. Gone are the days in which a company simply maintained a customer call center or monitored a generic email box for customer queries and complaints, keeping any displeasure within the walls of the organization. The always-on, ever-reaching web introduced us to new ways of sharing brand experiences, and to the chagrin of many brands, both positive and negative sentiment can be seen and absorbed in real time by anyone with a smart phone or broadband connection.

Platforms like Twitter, user forums, blogs, and others have shifted the power from brands to customers eager to share their delight and disappointment. Research suggests that while trust in brands has eroded, trust in peers, endorsements, and confidence in rating & review systems has strengthened.

Insights & Ingenuity Principal Heather Rast has written an opinion paper that provides perspective on the topic of customer satisfaction and its impact on brand image in the age of social media enablement. Titled "The Rant Heard 'round the World," the high-level view explores how a new complaint aggregator service may influence the way companies structure customer service frameworks and the manner in which social media impacts service delivery and customer loyalty programs. Brand image can strengthen or deteriorate in accordance with the attitudes and behaviors demonstrated by customer service personnel; leadership teams will be well by learning more about the intersection of satisfaction, social media, and brand image.

Rast's customer satisfaction paper is available in PDF format for download.

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Insights & Ingenuity is a Cedar Rapids brand management consultancy led by principal Heather Rast. We partner with companies to build enduirng brand identities and breakaway market positions.

We create brand-building strategy, remarkable content, and plan needle-moving digital marketing programs. And we do it with moxie. Call 319-573-5452 or visit our web site to learn how. We're building a community of marketing, web, and writing professionals on our Facebook page - come join us!