Socialbakers > Blog > Socially Devoted > Why Brands Can't Fake Social Customer… 
Social Customer Service is all about making fans feel secure and connected to your brand. By answering their questions quickly, in a considered and thorough way, brands can grow their relationship with existing customers and attract new ones through positive word of mouth. So why would anyone cheat the system?
Take a look at the following conversation, inspired by a disheartening trend we’ve noticed – as have some of our Socially Devoted clients – that some brands are following:
User: Hey, Brand! been having some problems with your product lately. Can u help?
Brand: User: Yes, I’m also
Brand: User: …..
Not too nice to see. It turns out that these brands, in an attempt to appear Socially Devoted, have taken to posting a couple of automatic responses to everything customers ask them on their Facebook wall. Instead of really helping their customers, they are trying to build up the appearance of helpfulness.
The problem with that strategy? Social Customer Service is all about your customers. They know the difference between an unhelpful automatic response, and one that really addresses their questions. With poor quality responses, businesses risk losing actual value.
Some brands post these automatic responses as “fillers,” to keep their Question Response Time (QRT) low, while they wait much longer to give real answers – if they give them at all. The same problem comes up here, even if fans know that at least you are aware of their question: the answers they need and expect to come quickly aren’t there.
Brands can claim to be Socially Devoted all they want, but it’s always going to be the customers who provide the real feedback. Social reporting may be focused on numbers, but customer care has to be judged qualitatively. Our awards are meant to reflect brands that have great interactions with their customers, not brands that try to make a system for ignoring fans without repercussions.
That’s why we recommend trying Socialbakers Builder for brands that want to be Socially Devoted, but don’t have the human resources necessary to get there on their own. Builder lets you manage hundreds of conversations across multiple social networks with ease, and makes it incredibly easy to give real, thoughtful answers to everyone that connects with your brand on social.
Because giving real customer support is worth it all the time – it’s just Smart Social Marketing.