Social customer service is becoming increasingly important to consumers, according to the latest report from Nielsen – entitled ‘State of the Media: The Social Media Report 2012’.

It found that around one-third of those using social media prefer to contact a brand or company via that medium, rather than picking up the phone, business2community.com reports; demonstrating that businesses need to do more than sell or market on these channels.

In fact, it’s crucial that those who’ve decided to start a franchise or independent business in 2013 to ensure they have a customer service process set up for social media channels – particularly as Nielsen predicted small or medium-sized businesses will find consumers reach out to them more than ever next year.

“It’s vital for businesses to monitor their social media pages regularly and respond to customer questions, complaints and more as soon as possible,” writer Tamara Weintraub – who reported on Nielsen’s findings – explained.

The Nielsen report also confirmed which channels consumers are most likely to go through in order to reach out to a company’s customer care service. Just under 30 per cent will contact the company via its official Facebook page, whilst 28 per cent will take to their own page to comment – typically within their own personal status update.

A further 15 per cent will leave a comment on the company’s blog, Nielsen.com revealed; whilst 13 per cent will take to Twitter to voice their thoughts, including the company’s official handle (their name on Twitter) in order to ensure all the company will see the tweet.