One of the best and worst features of social media is its ability to give the customer a forum to praise or complain about one’s product or service. What many marketing and advertising professionals know and many businesses fail to realize, is that despite how much you think you control the message posted on a social media site, the truth is you don’t and will never be able to.

Social media is about customer engagement and with Facebook’s 400 million users, businesses in Dallas and nationwide, using the site need to realize that it is a great opportunity to interact with consumers, and use Facebook as an additional way to manage customer support. To help manage this important facet of business, Parature, an on-demand customer service software, has launched a customer service product for Facebook Pages.

Parature’s Facebook application allows businesses to integrate a “Support” tab on their page where customers can post a comment to a businesses’ Facebook Support wall, which is then fed into Parature’s software as a ticket with the Facebook customer listed on the ticket. Once received, the customer service representative can push an update by responding directly on the wall.

Further, the app includes the ability for companies to post FAQs about a product or service, allowing customers to search for an answer on the Facebook page. If the question has not been answered, or the customer is unable to locate an answer, Parature’s technology allows a user to create a ticket that will be pushed to a representative.

One of the best features of Parature’s Facebook application is the option for a customer to start a live chat with a customer service representative from the Facebook page itself. Instant customer care is one of, if not, the most effective ways to create brand loyalty and doing so within the framework of Facebook allows the customer to share their positive experiences with their social network.

As a business, marketer or advertiser, is Parature’s app something you will implement on your page? As a consumer would you use a company’s Facebook page to seek assistance or support regarding a product or service? Comment below, submit any questions to us via Formspring, follow us on Twitter, and “like” our Facebook page, for the latest in social media, and technology news!