An organization’s social media presence is an extension of its brand, personality and culture. If well managed, a brand’s social media profiles foster community with its audience. The expertise of online community managers can– and should– humanize an organization to its stakeholders.
While a social media manager focuses on creating and scheduling content to promote the brand, a community manager fosters engagement and builds relationships with followers. On smaller teams, these roles often overlap, with one person handling both strategy and interaction.
Community management is about relationship building, and an opportunity to tell the organization’s story. Community managers infuse voice and humanity into an organization’s social media content. They create conversation, moving beyond simply pushing information into the digital ether and toward engaging stakeholders, fostering conversation and encouraging feedback. They respond to comments, answer direct messages, and encourage dialogue with clear calls to action.
Excellent community managers also…
- Invest the time to build an online community
Community building, whether online or in person, is not a passive act. It requires continual care and attention. Online community managers build into their daily schedule the time to dialogue with stakeholders online. By responding to comments and direct messages regularly, community managers give audiences a direct line to share their feedback and feel heard.
If running a paid campaign, responding to comments in a timely manner is especially important. In the case of ad campaigns, a brand’s content is served to hundreds or thousands of new people. By regularly reacting and replying, community managers have the power to convert these potential stakeholders into supporters.
- Establish clear, developed brand standards
Community managers speak on behalf of their organizations online. Great community managers build or implement a set of communications standards which keep all social engagements on-brand. These standards include the organization’s tone and voice, and also outline policies for when (and when not) to reply to comments or direct messages.
- Are an extension of the communications team
Community managers protect the brand by reinforcing their organization’s position on certain topics. Community managers must be aware of the company’s stance on relevant issues so they can appropriately respond to comments or concerns posted publicly.
As an integral part of the communications team, community managers are also a resource for stakeholders. Often, followers of a brand will post legitimate issues of concern on a brand’s page. It is up to the community manager to address and redirect these concerns to the appropriate internal team. For instance, on a park’s social media page, a user may post about a fallen tree blocking a trail. The community manager should thank the user for bringing the issue to attention, share the issue with the correct internal party, and offer the user appropriate next steps.
- Act as the eyes and ears for the organization
While community managers are responsible for pushing out a brand’s messaging, they are just as importantly receiving information to share back with the communications team and executives.
Community managers see the conversations happening on the page as well as industry chatter across the internet. If a trend is taking off, or consensus or outrage on a particular industry topic is growing, the community manager alerts the communications team and C-Suite so they can prepare for and get ahead of potential issues.
Whether via a dedicated internal team member or an agency partner, a good community manager is critical to building and maintaining the reputation of your organization online. As a strategic partner, Elmore knows what it takes to effectively manage online communities of all types. Reach out to learn more.
