Community management has become increasingly more important in recent years as social media platforms have optimised algorithms for engagement. The role of a community manager is to build, grow and manage a brand’s online community, which can range from responses on social media platforms and live chats to complaint management, among other things.
While any form of community management will benefit a brand, there are a few techniques the best community managers follow to get results. These range from fostering a bond between brand and consumer to adding a personal touch, and being relatable and responsive.
Create a brand personality
A fundamental step in successful community management is creating a brand personality. A company’s brand personality should remain consistent throughout all communication including media activity, event planning, social media content, and broader community management.
Your brand personability should be formulated based on your target audience, products or services, values, and company culture. Perfecting brand tone is key for any community manager when operating on social networking platforms.
Wendy’s is a great example of an international brand with a powerful social media personality. Based in the US, the fast-food chain’s strategy won it the Fast Company’s 2019 Most Innovative Companies list in the social media category. The brand’s fun–loving and sassy approach allows it to generate a strong community of loyal fans who love to engage with the content.
Create a community
Social media platforms are social networking sites at their core, meaning users are online to connect not just with friends and family, but also with their favourite brands. It is important to foster a sense of belonging among followers and maintain the social connection aspect that these platforms are made for.
Building a community of loyal followers will also benefit a business page through engagement, and therefore optimise the social media algorithm to keep posts top of mind among fans. A great way to get started on building a loyal community is to be responsive, answer any comments and questions as often as possible, and respond in a way that encourages further engagement with the brand.
It is also important to be personal. Always refer to consumers by their name when possible and respond using a tailored approach, to show comments are not generic copy and paste responses. Make sure you are also reading shared posts and comments to ensure your responses are personal and relatable.
Create an internal frequently asked questions document
Providing your team of community managers with a go-to FAQ document will greatly enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of your responses. This technique not only reduces the workload on senior team members, but also allows for faster, informative and consistent responses.
Another content document to consider for internal purposes is a collection of sample responses to common questions. This will help new staff understand the brand’s tone of voice and personality, while also ensuring consistency in responses until new team members become familiar with the style.
Having said that, when using this technique, it is vital that you change up your responses slightly to match the specific need of the consumer. This will keep your brand authentic and limit the chance of sounding like an automatic, or copy and paste, response.
By incorporating these three techniques into your community management strategy and applying them in daily responses, you will go a long way to creating a strong group of loyal followers for your business.
ARABELLA WALTON
