It's simple enough to attract new audiences with good content. How though do you keep them interested and engaged? How do you show that your company is caring, helpful, and trustworthy?
Enter 'The Community Manager'.
It is all about engagement
Digital marketing is constantly changing and expanding to accommodate the needs of a successful online marketing campaign. New engagement tools are popping up every day to keep up with the current trends. Social Media Managers and Community Managers (CMs) use these tools to create online buzz and engagement.
However, Social Media Managers and Community Managers should not be confused with one another! During the past five years, the demand for Community Managers has gone through the roof. Companies around the globe realize the necessity of not just this position, but the good results that they yield.
A Community Manager not only increases the company's online engagement and interactions but also speaks for the company as a member by being a part of online discussions, finding new customers, and constantly listening to the audience.
While a Social Media Manager and their duties are valuable and important, a Community Manager needs to go one step further; immerse themselves in the persona of the customer and the people they are trying to engage online.
Ultimately they aid the customer by being the catalyst in enabling them to make the desired conversion and helping them make the right choice for themselves.
The role of a Community Manager
1. Pay attention to what the discussions on the internet are saying about their brand.
2. Inform the company of new trends.
3. Respond to the digital community.
4. Find new clients on the internet and understanding audiences' needs.
5. Create new content to attract and capture more followers.
6. Know how to manage a crisis on the company's social platforms.
7. Monitor and evaluate the results on the platforms periodically.
What makes a Community Manager?
Guiding Conversations
CMs create content on behalf of the brand to give more insights to the customers about products and their functions, or shed more light on the benefits of using the product or service.
A community manager posts as a brand ambassador under their own account. In this way, they work on developing a community by participating in discussions, finding new customers, and listening to the current ones. Another role of the CM is to establish community guidelines and facilitating and moderating conversations between members.
Approachability
The community manager often works on new ways to engage the digital community. As advocates of the brand, they become the approachable face of the brand. It is a personal connection rather than a faceless company account. While not necessary, the community manager may also create a separate social account with the brand name in the username. This helps link them to the brand while creating a more individual voice that can engage as a member of the community.
Listening
A big part of the Community Manager's role is listening to and understanding their audiences' problems and doubts. By understanding their concerns, tailored content can be adapted to answer their questions and clarify a certain topic.
Sentiment
Community managers engage with their audience and digital community while being themselves, promoting buzz about their company and its services. They act as an evangelist amplifying effectively a brand hype and feel. The increase of sentiment that is then created makes the brand more relatable and approachable.
The end result of all these actions is to sway a customers' purchasing decision. Being engaging, listening, and creating content can be the difference between a customer buying or not buying.
The skills needed to be a great Community Manager
Communication
An important aspect of community management is the difference between being a good writer and someone who is a skilled communicator. For example, community management is not just about crafting creative or engaging tweets, it's also about listening to what members are saying and using this to shape future messages. The role is basically digital networking, so requires excellent people skills.
Empathy and judgment
Following on from this, a community manager must be able to empathise with the customer and know how to respond in a manner that reflects the brand's values and identity. Again, this is different from a social media manager or executive who might post as the brand, whereas a community manager is always speaking on behalf of the brand, and as a human being.
Organisation and data analysis
While community management is based on a lot of human and emotional attributes, it also requires organisational skills and the ability to manage a fast-paced workload.
With multiple platforms to monitor, it is important to keep on top of how communities are responding in real-time, using analytics tools to measure things like reach, traffic, and engagement.
Do I need a Community Manager?
The CM looks after the online community and guides their opinions. When it comes to deciding on the necessity of a community manager for your business, you need to understand how much you can benefit from someone guiding your online audiences.
The majority of the time, audiences online corral like sheep and need someone to help shepherd them to the right conclusion or point of sale.
This small amount of encouragement and engagement can be the difference between 5 or 100 new customers.
Further reading:
Ashleigh Armstrong: One certainty in life, and that is change by Huizhu Irrthum
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