Companies are increasingly using social networks for customer service.

Brands that rely on parcel delivery and courier services to ship products are increasingly using social media to engage employees and strengthen relationships with customers, a report has said.

More than half of companies (58 per cent) plan to invest in their presence on social media sites this year, according to the 2011 Online Customer Engagement Report from Econsultancy and cScape.

In addition, a third (32 per cent) of firms are using social networking to communicate with employees.

Over half (51 per cent) of companies now use social networks for customer service improvement, up from 36 per cent a year ago.

Econsultancy research director Linus Gregoriadis said: "Broadly speaking, businesses are now more likely to be using both social media and mobile channels to deepen customer relationships and improve levels of service, including through the use of social networks, Twitter, mobile applications and location-based marketing."

The news comes as IMRG advises that brands and retailers will have to adapt to new shopping technology to keep pace with consumer demand.

Posted by Rob Elliott

Article Added: 17/01/2011 16:54:58