It’s not an exaggeration to call social media a behemoth in terms of its presence in the marketing landscape. Even if you aren’t on social media, you can’t deny that it influences day-to-day life in a way we’re all still learning how to navigate. That puts social media professionals in an interesting position. How do you utilize these massive platforms to their utmost potential? While there’s no one “right” answer to that question, one of the solutions comes in the form of community management, a deceptively simple phrase referring to an often-overlooked aspect of social media success. As any social media manager knows, there is so much more to a brand’s social media presence than just the content it publishes.
In today’s marketing landscape, social media channels serve as resources for consumer research, central hubs for customer service and a brand’s voice at a virtual meeting place for its various communities – hence the the phrase, “community management.” When a social media manager executes a truly well-rounded strategy, they foster a community with fans and prospective consumers, as well as industry leaders and partners, to allow these channels to serve as a true extension of the brand itself.
So what exactly goes into an effective community management strategy? Let’s take a look.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Social media channels have become the preferred avenue for customer support among consumers, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated digital involvement in the consumer journey. Who wants to spend an hour on the phone when a simple Instagram DM will do? A 2022 study comparing social media usage before and after the pandemic found that 35% of surveyed consumers use Instagram as their first means of customer support; additionally, 74% of consumers said they felt more connected to a brand when they could message them directly on social media, and 66% agreed that direct messaging is their preferred method of doing business.
It’s clear that consumers expect brands to meet them in a digital space, and that the days of listening to an endless loop of hold music for the privilege of interacting with someone directly are becoming a thing of the past.
Consumers expect prompt replies on social media; 69% of those surveyed said they expect a response from a brand within 24 hours of sending a message or leaving a comment, and according to Salesforce, 89% said they are more likely to stay loyal to a brand after a positive customer service experience. Our secret to ensuring this? To start, we recommend developing automated replies to direct messages. Not only do these instantaneous replies make customers feel as though they’re immediately making progress toward a solution, but they also guide the customer to elaborating on their problem so a brand can be more readily actionable when addressing the message. Automated messages can also guide users through FAQs and brand resources that can provide a real-time solution for the customer.
Most social media CRM tools allow social media managers to centralize their messages and notifications across all the channels they manage, and this can also help simplify customer service efforts in a timely and organized manner.
CULTIVATING A VIRTUAL COMMUNITY
The larger goal of social media as a concept is and has always been cultivating community within an online space. It’s important to remember that brand channels represent the brand in this larger digital community, and their presence in that community can also sway the opinions of prospective consumers. When a brand cultivates this presence well, they transcend from a simple brand to a persona that social media users want to engage with.
Roughly 90% of community managers surveyed noted that branded communities played a “significant role” in achieving their business goals. Cultivating (and participating in) these communities helps brands strengthen trust with consumers, gain valuable insights directly from consumers and increase brand recall.
Fostering these communities goes beyond a brand’s notifications tab. Of course, being an active participant in comments on a brand’s post will strengthen a connection fans feel to that brand. But jumping into the comments of others’ content in a way that’s true to brand voice and personality can take this even a step further. Think, Wendy’s on X (formerly Twitter) back in the day – as the official Wendy’s account, this brand’s social media manager managed to create a widely-known persona that kept people talking about the brand. Now, you don’t have to take such an aggressive approach. Sometimes, it can be as simple as leaving a comment on an influencer’s post if you see them using your product. Join the conversation on the same terms as actual users, and you are well on your way to establishing yourself within the community.
LET’S WORK TOGETHER
Our Visioneers have extensive experience leading community management efforts for brands both large and small across many industries and business verticals. If you’d like to take your brand to the next level, let’s talk.