In today’s experience economy, where the quality of many brands’ customer experience (CX) has become their chief differentiator, consumer opinions aren’t just shared — they’re broadcast. With every tweet, tag and post, consumers are shaping how brands are seen, trusted and remembered. And often, it begins with one experience worth talking about. 

According to the 2025 “State of Customer Experience” report from Genesys, 41% of consumer respondents said they’d recommended a company in the past year because of a positive service interaction. And one-third say the most likely reason they’d mention a brand on social media is because they had a great experience. In other words, people talk — and when they do, great service becomes one of the most powerful forms of marketing.

Of course, those social media conversations don’t always consist of glowing praise. Negative experiences, unmet expectations or even a delayed response can just as easily trigger a wave of public criticism. In an age where visibility is constant and sentiment spreads fast, brands can’t afford to just listen — they need to respond, learn and adapt. That’s where social listening becomes a critical part of the customer experience strategy.

What Customers Are Sharing — and Why It Matters

It’s easy to assume that social media is where people go primarily to vent their frustrations. But the data tells a more nuanced story.

According to the State of Customer Experience report, 46% of consumers who’ve shared a service interaction on social media did so because they had a positive experience. Only 19% say they posted because of a negative one. In fact, a third of consumers say the most likely reason they’d post is to highlight great service.

That means much social sharing is actually rooted in loyalty — not complaint. When customers feel seen, supported or surprised in the best way, they turn to their networks to amplify the moment. For Gen Z and millennials in particular, social media is where brand affiliation becomes personal. It’s how advocacy is expressed.

This is more than anecdotal feedback. These posts, comments and shares are high-signal moments that shape perception at scale. One customer’s great experience can quietly validate a brand’s promise to hundreds or thousands of others. Conversely, a single unresolved issue aired publicly can damage trust in ways no Net Promoter Score (NPS) could fully capture.

For CX leaders, the takeaway is clear: Social media is not just a customer service channel — it’s a real-time feedback loop. And every moment shared can be a moment of either amplification or erosion. Treating these interactions as strategic signals, not background noise, is essential to building lasting brand loyalty.

The CX Opportunity: Listening Beyond the Contact Center

When most companies think about customer service, they focus on traditional, one-to-one channels like email, phone or web chat — and for good reason. The State of CX report shows that 71% of consumers still prefer phone when they need help, with email and web chat not far behind. But a closer look reveals an emerging shift in how and where customers want to engage.

A growing number of brand-related conversations aren’t happening in the contact center at all. They’re unfolding in public digital spaces — on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and X. These posts might not originate as formal support requests, but they often reflect real experiences, questions or pain points that directly influence public perception.

This shift is especially noticeable among younger generations. While phone and email remain in the top three for Gen Z and Millennials, they’re also significantly more likely than older generations to embrace messaging apps and social platforms as part of their service toolkit. Preferences are broadening — and, with them, expectations for how and where brands show up.

The problem is, most organizations can’t hear these signals. Unless a comment comes through as a direct message or tagged mention, it typically slips through the cracks. Forums, influencer threads and untagged posts remain blind spots — full of tremendous insight but invisible to many CX teams.

That’s where social listening changes the game. It’s not just about hearing more; it’s about understanding more and responding strategically.

Social Listening: Turning Conversations into Action

Of course, hearing customers on social media is only the beginning. What matters more is what you do with what you hear. That’s where social listening goes beyond simple monitoring. It’s not just about collecting mentions or comments — it’s about interpreting sentiment, surfacing themes and identifying intent in a way that can guide real business decisions.

This capability is fast becoming a CX essential. Social listening enables brands to spot emerging issues before they escalate, identify product pain points or feature requests, and uncover unexpected moments of delight that could shape future messaging or strategy. It gives CX leaders a richer view of the customer voice — one that includes not just what’s said to you, but what’s said about you, across the social sphere.

To help businesses harness this potential, Genesys Cloud™ Social offers an AI-powered solution dedicated to social listening, analytics and engagement. The solution tracks keywords, hashtags and mentions across public platforms like X, Facebook and Instagram, offering deep insight into brand sentiment and relevance.

With support for over 30 languages that includes AI-led sentiment analysis, Genesys Cloud Social surfaces the trends that matter most. Teams can configure real-time alerts, build dashboards and drill into sentiment across specific product lines, geographies or campaign moments.

But this isn’t just a marketing tool. CX teams can establish escalation rules that assign directly to agents, in real time, social posts demanding attention. Agents are then able to engage with these posts using the same unified workspace used for other interactions, like voice or email. Furthermore, they can manage public and private replies, and even seamlessly switch between them.

For example, a post might start with someone asking for an update over a public post, and then the agent can also respond publicly, but they might advise the customer to look for a direct message providing more details. The agent can then effortlessly switch the same conversation to private, allowing additional interactions within the same conversation thread and with a clear path to mention more specific details about the customer that might not be appropriate to share in a public space. It’s a way to meet customers where they are — and turn passive mentions into proactive service.

Personalized Journeys Start with Better Listening

Genesys Cloud Social doesn’t just add another tool — it connects a missing piece of the experience puzzle. With social signals unified alongside voice, chat, email and digital channels, brands gain a 360-degree view of the customer journey. Social media becomes more than a standalone function; it becomes another orchestrated channel, fully integrated into your engagement strategy.

But social listening helps CX teams do more than monitor social media. It empowers agents to respond quickly and with full context, which can span interactions across multiple channels. Automated responses and intelligent routing reduce manual triage, while built-in analytics help supervisors track team performance and optimize resources over time.

The result? Faster responses, less customer effort and more chances to turn casual mentions into standout moments of service. And because these exchanges often play out in public, every resolved issue or thoughtful reply can become a visible win — boosting brand reputation, loyalty and long-term advocacy.

Social Media Is a New Frontline of CX

In the experience economy, brand loyalty is forged in moments that are emotional, often public and rarely scripted. A single helpful response — or a missed opportunity — can echo far beyond the original interaction. Having a social media CX strategy is no longer optional. It may well be the biggest social arena where brand reputations are made, shared and amplified in real time.

That’s why listening can’t be passive. With Genesys Cloud Social, CX teams can turn unstructured conversations into structured action — spotting trends, responding quickly and delivering experiences that resonate.

It’s no longer enough to meet expectations behind closed doors. You have to exceed them in the open. Learn how Genesys Cloud Social can help your brand stay informed, listen better and take the lead in the moments that matter most. Contact us for a demo of Genesys Cloud Social.