1. Instant answers

Tesco Mobile made over 10,000 responses in two months. It takes a brand an average of 3 hours to respond to a mention, and more than 60% of responses are made within one hour. They also have a uniform reply cycle, meaning they reply to as many tweets as possible (?) on any given day and respond quickly on any day of the week. While a regular call center is usually only open five or six days a week, the Tesco Mobile Twitter support center is open all week.

2. Bold lines make up the entire content strategy

You'd be surprised how much people enjoy bold and cheeky answers. It's safe to assume that many brands impose strict rules on what can and cannot be said, subjecting every tweet from the official owner to multiple rounds of scrutiny, but in the case of Tesco Mobile, the creative freedom led to a positive response.

Aside from a handful of tweets that include a link, almost all of their replies are plain text written to order. Tesco Mobile uses mischievous lines and irreverent remarks to grab the reader's attention. Their humor has become so popular that people are now tweeting the brand for absolutely no reason.

As a result, the brand engages in different conversations with their end customers, so their markets are about conversations. Thus keeping in line with the Cluetrain Manifesto.

AdWeek recently did a feature on Tesco Mobile and caught up with their agency Jam, who explained that the brand's funny Twitter is no joke and that the strategy is a conscious effort to reinvigorate the brand's online presence. Speaking to AdWeek, Daniel Deeks-Osburn, brand manager at Jam, said: “By creating content that is authentic to the brand and the consumer, we create a story that people want to engage with. That's true brand advocacy.” The strategy has gone a long way in making Tesco Mobile a leader in customer service as the brand's efforts have been appreciated by many.

3. Exclusive customer service handle

Although Tesco Mobile responds and resolves issues under the Tesco mobile handle itself, the brand has also set up a special handle (Tesco mobile care) that focuses solely on support. This Twitter account clearly identifies the faces behind the tweets and complements the brand's main handle. The only downside to the handle is that it only works during the day shift.

So does it make sense for brands to have separate Twitter handles for customer support and redirect users to a different handle? Micah Solomon, customer service expert and author of High-Tech, High-Touch Customer Service, believes this strategy works as long as no one falls through the cracks, "redirect" should be something other than "ignore." Proper redirection includes a) doing the redirection correctly and b) making sure nothing gets lost through the follow-up."

According to Solomon, it is unacceptable when a customer's complaint is forgotten or help is refused due to a lack of information or authority. “There are a few different ways to approach this, but 'freeing' calls is not acceptable. Nor what the airline did to me recently: they said "lost luggage is not handled through this account."

Conclusion

So what is the result of all this focus on social media customer care? Interestingly, in a recent mobile network provider satisfaction survey, which? The magazine recommended Tesco Mobile and praised its customer service. The brand was also voted the 12th best brand in customer service in Marketing Week's Top 100 Brands for Customer Experience.